Tag Archives: gum

Jun17

bazooka.

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when we were young

bazooka gum 

was the most popular

bubble gum

hard as a rock

we loved how sugary it was

the little comics inside

reading our fortunes

we had all summer

to play games 

think up things to do

one day

my sister, my friend and i

had a contest to see who

could get the most pieces of gum in their mouth 

bazooka was really really hard to chew

it took a lot of work 

to chew it and chew it and chew it

to make it soft

to make a bubble

 our friend won the contest

 ten pieces in her mouth 

while chewing it 

she won nothing but the glory

we all had

very, very sore teeth

very sore jaws

but what a contest

so worth it!

—

Bazooka bubble gum was first marketed shortly after World War II in the U.S. by the Topps Company of Brooklyn, New York. The gum was packaged in a red, white, and blue color scheme and originally sold for one penny. Beginning in 1953, Topps changed the packaging to include small comic strips with the gum, featuring the character “Bazooka Joe”. There are over 1,535 different “Bazooka Joe” comic-strip wrappers to collect. Also on the comic strip is an offer for a Premium and a fortune.

“if summer had a flavor, it was pink bubble gum.” — Goodreads
Random Recent Comments:

“Bazooka Joe gum: It’s like chewing a mountain that someone shot a freeze ray into.” — Reddit / 30 Rock

“I think my jaws still ache from chewing all that bubble gum when I was a kid.” — Facebook 

Jul1

thrills on canada day.

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Canada has given the United States a lot of fantastic things through the years. Some are easier to embrace than others, like this soap-tasting gum. It’s called Thrills, and it’s actually gum that’s flavored with rose water, but the result seems to taste like soap to a lot of people. Thrills got so much feedback on the taste that instead of changing the formula, they decided to run with it. Now they proudly say, “It still tastes like soap!” on the front of every pack of gum. While it likely turns a lot of people away, it must be a selling point for some since it’s been around since the 1950s.

Thanks, Canada and Happy Canada Day!

—

“the age of your children is a key factor in how quickly you are served in a restaurant.

we once had a waiter in canada who said, ‘could I get you your check?’ and we answered,

‘how about the menu first?’”

-erma bombeck

 

 

—

 tourism windsor

Aug23

perfume and purse dirt.

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yes, i found this old piece of gum

on the bottom of my purse

half-opened with glittery stuff and crumbs of unknown origin stuck to it

what might you find in the bottom of your/your mother’s purse?

 

—

“when your mom gives you a pre-ripped half piece of doublemint gum

and it tastes like perfume and purse dirt. “

– author unknown

Nov8

my summer of the beatles, chains, and lots of gum.

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way back in the day (1964)

I was six and 3/4, not yet seven

my sister and best friend and i

spent much of our entire summer

‘working’ for free for our friend’s teenage sister

who had plans to go to see the beatles

at olympia arena

when they landed in detroit.

we were recruited by her

to spend our time creating

‘the world’s longest gum wrapper chain’

that she planned to present with her fan club

to the beatles at the concert.

she funded our gum and provided us each with a cigar box

and we sat in the yard for hours upon hours

just talking and laughing

and listening to music on her transistor radio

and creating the chain

until we’d get called home.

we never questioned the project

as were we caught up

in the whirlwind of her excitement

 when the time came

she went to the show and presented the chain

 later regaling us with the stories and craziness of the concert

and suddenly it was over

our summer of working for free had ended

and I looked forward to my own concerts ahead

wondering who I could recruit to make my paper chains.

—

 

The Beatles

“It was like hearing the future.”

–Tom Hanks

“They blew the walls down for everybody else.”

–Barack Obama

“We’ve never seen anything like this before, ever. Never. Not even for kings and queens.”

–Unnamed airport official

how to make a gum wrapper chain:

what you’ll need:

  • Gum Wrappers: You’ll need a ton of these. We made our dress using paper wrappers, but you can use foil too. The process is the same!
  • Patience: You’ll also need a lot of this.

1. Fold It in Half

Take a single wrapper and fold it longways, or hot-dog style. Do this three times. Try to fold the jagged edge inside because it can get in the way when making the chains.

2. Fold It Through the Middle

Fold the wrapper in half the other way, right through the middle. It should make a “V” shape. Next, fold the sides into the middle, making a little “v.” This little guy will be one link on your chain.

3.. Repeat

Before you proceed, you’ll have to repeat these steps to make another chain link. Once you have two, you’re ready to connect them!

4. Connect the Pieces

Just take the two ends of one and push it through the two holes in the other. This is why you’ll want your gum wrappers to be folded neatly—if the jagged ends stick out, it can get difficult to see what you’re doing or where to push the wrappers through and connect them. Keep it neat!

5. Keep Going

Keep on going forever and ever this same way. Eventually, you’ll have a long and fairly sturdy chain!

 

credits: ‘The Beatles’ Patrick Julian – Beyond Olympia Stadium, Pinterest, felt magnet

 

Feb17

sticky business.

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i bought this gum

because is was $1.00 and it was sugarless.

 it also read “truth or dare – censored”

on the front of the package

and like a 13 year-old

i couldn’t resist seeing what it was all about.

inside the package

each piece of gum

was wrapped in a series

of fill-in-the-blank sentences

meant to be provocative in some way

with some of the words ‘censored’ out. 

i thought that i must have been the only one to buy this

because it was on sale and there was still a full shelf of it left

until i went to lunch and shared it with my friends

and one told me

that she had bought the “uncensored” version for her office.

what?  i mean #$% what?

“the only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen”

– tom smothers, 1960s