Definition of chewing gum

The origin of the term "chewing gum" can be traced back to the early 19th century when Native Americans used to chew on the sap of spruce trees as a form of gum. The sap, also known as spruce gum, was rich in resins, which gave it a sticky and chewy texture. The first recorded use of the phrase "chewing gum" appeared in an 1848 medical journal, where a doctor wrote about a patient who suffered from a "chronic habit" of chewing spruce gum. The term then gained popularity in the late 1850s when John B. Curtis, a Connecticut-based dentist, began marketing a product he called "State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum". Curtis' product was so popular that it led to the creation of other spruce gum brands, such as Birch Bark Chewing Gum and The State of Michigan Pure Spruce Gum. Although spruce gum remained popular for several decades, it began to fall out favor in the late 1800s due to the discovery of chicle, a sap harvested from the sapodilla tree that was much softer and more pliable than spruce gum. This new gum, initially sold as Chiclets, quickly surpassed spruce gum in popularity and for many years was marketed as a natural and healthful alternative to tobacco. Today, chewing gum is a multi-billion dollar industry with a diverse assortment of flavors and materials, from classic bubblegum to modern fruit-flavored variations and sugar-free options.