The Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation was a Pennsylvania corporation formed on August 12, 1947, to manufacture
candy
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...
,
chewing gum
Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its te ...
, and specialty
confectionery
Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...
The company was established by Edward P. Fenimore, Sr., a former professor of engineering at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and vice president of Bowman Gum Company. The company built its plant in 1948 in
Havertown, Pennsylvania
Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. Havertown's ZIP Code is 19083 and "Havertown" is a posta ...
. The initial product was the twist-wrapped "Swell" brand pink bubble gum, sold for a penny. The Company then came out with the brown colored "El Bubble" candy cigar that sold for a nickel.
In 1954 the Magic Color chewing gum cigarettes that sold for a dime. During election seasons, the Company sold specialty boxes of chewing gum cigars with the candidates’ names. Other products manufactured by the Company included Cry Baby extra-sour gum, Gold Rocks Nugget Bubble Gum and various other novelty items.
From 1964 to 1967, the company had a license from the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
to produce
trading cards
A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...
of leading football players, while
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures chewing gum, candy, and collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of American Football Card, American football, Baseball card, baseb ...
produced cards for the rival
American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
(AFL). The company also produced a set of 55 self-adhesive stickers of
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
superheroes, as well as trading cards based upon "
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
," "Men of the
Green Berets
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...
," "The Story of Robert F. Kennedy," Daktari (TV show), and many others. It briefly produced novelty baseball items, including
baseball cards
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, sta ...
.
Fenimore's son Edward L. Fenimore, Jr., served as president of the Company and for a period, as the Chairman of the National Association of Chewing Gum Manufacturers. His sons, Edward P. II & Richard L., later joined him on the management team, making the company a third generation family owned and operated business.
In July 2003,
Concord Confections
Tootsie Roll Industries is an American manufacturer of confectionery based in Chicago, Illinois. Its best-known products include the namesake Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally in ...
acquired the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation and its brand names and shortly after closed the Havertown plant. Concord was then acquired by
Tootsie Roll Industries
Tootsie Roll Industries is an American manufacturer of confectionery based in Chicago, Illinois. Its best-known products include the namesake Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally in ...
in 2004. Recent products include bubble gum cigars aimed at the 2008 presidential election.
All Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation products were manufactured in a factory in
Havertown
Havertown is a residential suburban unincorporated community in Haverford Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia. Havertown's ZIP Code is 19083 and "Havertown" is a posta ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, a western suburb of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. After the sale of the Company, the Fenimore family retained ownership of the 6.2 acre former plant property, and began negotiating to develop it, proposing to the Township to donate a portion to them for use as a
public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants.
There are ...
site or for other public use; with the remaining part re-zoned for a commercial use.
On March 31, 2009,
Haverford Township
Haverford Township is a Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality Township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.