The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Thomas Adams, Jr., with Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle.

Thomas Adams

Thomas Adams (May 4, 1818 – February 7, 1905) was a 19th-century American

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

who is regarded as a founder of the

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 ...

industry. Adams conceived the idea while working as a

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

to former Mexican leader

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (; 21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. usually known as Santa Ann ...

, who chewed a natural gum called

chicle Chicle () is a natural gum traditionally used in making chewing gum and other products. It is collected from several species of Mesoamerican trees in the genus ''Manilkara'', including '' M. zapota'', '' M. chicle'', '' M. staminodella'', and '' ...

. Adams first tried to formulate the gum into a rubber which was suitable for making

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

s. When that didn't work, he turned the chicle into a chewing gum called New York Chewing Gum. In 1870, Adams created the first flavored gum, black licorice, which he named Black Jack. In 1871, Adams patented the first chewing gum making machine. In 1888, his gum was the first to be sold in vending machines.

Company history

2 women operating gum-wrapping machine at the American Chicle Company Plant LCCN2004667713

The company was incorporated in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.preferred stock Preferred stock (also called preferred shares, preference shares, or simply preferreds) is a component of share capital that may have any combination of features not possessed by common stock, including properties of both an equity and a debt ins ...

and 6% with cumulative dividends. The business was composed of the chewing gum concerns in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

(Adams Sons & Company);

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

(W. J. White & Sons);

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

(J. P. Primley);

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

(Kis-Me Gum Company); and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(S. T. Britten & Co.). The corporation operated factories and gum forests in Yucatan. On January 8, 1920, Dr. Don Ricardo Moreira, of

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

of the Coldwell & Moreira firm, registered American Chicle Co. trademarks in

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. American Chicle utilized

Dancer Fitzgerald Sample Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (DFS and later DFS-Dorland) was a Madison Avenue advertising agency during the 20th century. It was founded in Chicago in 1923, and was acquired and merged into the Saatchi & Saatchi network in the 1980s. History The ag ...

in 1950 to promote its products via radio, newspapers, and television.''Advertising News and Notes'', ''The New York Times'', July 25, 1950, pg. 42. American Chicle was acquired by the pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert in 1962; Warner-Lambert was acquired by

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

in 2000. The American Chicle Company was renamed Adams in 1997;

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

purchased Pfizer's candy brands in 2003. Kraft Foods (now

Mondelez International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational confectionery, food industry, food, holding and drink industry, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an ...

) purchased Cadbury in 2010. Many of American Chicle's brands are out of production. Its best known product was probably

Chiclets Chiclets is an American brand of candy-coated chewing gum manufactured by Mondelez International. The brand was introduced in 1900 by the American Chicle Company, a company founded by Thomas Adams. History The Chiclets name is derived from the ...

chewing gum which was discontinued in the early 2000s.

References

External links

* — ''(not yet digitized) {{Authority control Chewing gum Confectionery companies of the United States Companies based in Trenton, New Jersey American companies established in 1899 Food and drink companies established in 1899 1899 establishments in New Jersey Cadbury Adams brands Mondelez International brands History of Queens, New York Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state) 1962 mergers and acquisitions

Thomas Adams

Company history

See also

References

External links