ABSTRACT
The American love affair with chewing gum has a narrative sweep
like that of other better-known products, such as gasoline, spices,
and coffee, although its use was not so immediately obvious.
Indeed, chewing is an often overlooked aspect of everyday life,
despite its ubiquity. But the development of the product that
made chewing easy-and enjoyable-opened up an extraordinary
series of events. The history of chewing gum is bound up with
some of the most important facets of American society in the late
nineteenth century, and it played at least a small part in the
cultural globalization of the twentieth century.
