I'm not sure how popular this pastime is these days. I pretty much gave up gum chewing when it began to bother my teeth and their remaining razor-thin layer of enamel. I try the sugar-free variety once in a while, but I'm not a fan of the over-designed, European-style packaging.
But many years ago when I was a kid, I was a big fan of Beemans gum. It had a nice flavor and wasn't too sweet.
And the man who invented Beemans gum was a former resident of Wakeman, as explained in this article that appeared in the Friday, June 21, 1963 edition of the Journal.
"He signed his name, E. E. Beeman, M.D.
"For many years as a young doctor he was not too busy because people did not seek him out for treatment of their ailments.
"But he continued puttering in his small laboratory and found that a substance called pepsin, which was extracted from a pig's stomach, gave humans relief if they suffered from gastric ills.
"Doc Beeman admitted to friends that his fragrant bottle with the picture of a pig on the label, did not sell too well.
"Acting on the suggestion of a friend, Doc Beeman worked on a formula combining gum and pepsin and within a short time the Beeman Chemical Co. was launched to produce Beeman's Pepsin Chewing Gum."
The rest, as they say, was history. Beemans is still produced today (although it's not made in the U.S.) and is marketed as a nostalgic gum. Click here to visit the Gerrit J. Verburg Co. website to learn more about Beemans and where you can find it today.
But remember, it no longer contains pepsin – so you're on your own if you overindulge.
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By the way, it was fairly easy, thanks to Google Maps, to 'drive by' the former Beemans house in Wakeman, located on South River Street (State Route 60) just south of U. S. Route 20.
7 comments:
I was in Drug Mart yesterday and they had a "classic candy" display at the end of an aisle. I bought some Razzles and Creme Savers (strawberry flavor, although they had orange too). Dan, I don't recall if I saw Beemans on display but it definitely took me down memory lane.
A cool article!
We weren't big "gum chewers." I think, mostly, because if you got caught doing it in skool, they'd stick it on your nose for the rest of that half-day. And it always seemed a "low class" thing to do, even though we were never anything more than low class over in Pennsyltucky. A "lower-class" thing, maybe. All the bad guys in all the movies and cop shows were gum chewers. Not something to emulate.
Though, my first kissing girl-friend often chewed Juicy Fruit. To this day, more than half-a-century later, whenever I taste or smell the stuff, I'm right back a'smooching her.
A stick-of-gum-time-machine.
I stopped chewing gum when I was seven. I was at Scott's 5&10 with my mom, and I made the mistake of looking under the counter at the luncheonette; the sight of all those ancient wads of gum grossed me straight out.
My dad chewed Beemans because he had ulcers and the pepsin was supposed to help. I'm not even sure it had any pepsin left in it in the 1960s. I can't find a date when it was removed. I liked it along with Clove and Black Jack gums.
Amazon has a 20 pack "case" of Beeman's gum for $12.00.You get 5 sticks in a pack.So that equates to about .12¢ a stick after taxes.That's about the cheapest around.Maybe Jeff Bezos chews some when he's blasting off in his spaceship trying to be like a real astronaut.
About 1900, Beeman sold out to the so-called "chewing gum king," William J. White, and his American Chicle Company. The American Chicle factory building, now repurposed, is still in existence in Cleveland at 10307 Detroit Road.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/10307+Detroit+Ave,+Cleveland,+OH+44102
My dad chewed Beeman's sometimes. But mostly chewed BlackJack licorice gum. Brings back memories.
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