I'm not a huge fan of chewing gum these days.
As an adult the pleasures of the lengthy chew elude me, unlike the Missus who loves to masticate.
I did however love certain brands of spuggy as a kid.
I quite liked trading card gum. You know, the powdered rectangles that came inside those waxed wrappers for shows like Batman and Land of the Giants. I'm not entirely sure what the powder was but I imagine it was a light dusting of sugar to make the gum extra delicious on entry. The cards on the other hand were awesome and I'm sure entire banks of websites are dedicated to them.
I also enjoyed Wrigley's Tutti Fruity [is that the spelling?]. It tasted amazing and the long sticks of gum in a foil packet thing was a marketing wonder. The ritual of taking out a stick, peeling off the outer paper and unwrapping the foil was addictive and a schoolkids' rite of passage from primary to big school.
Rather than sticks my next favourite gum had thick ingots or bricks of pink yummyness inside a plasticy wrapper. I am of course talking about Bazooka Joe!
BJ wasn't just a gum, it was a way of life. If you got into it Joe could change your outlook. He provided food, always pink and chewy; literature: a beautiful cartoon strip inside every wrapper and toys. The one I remember was the mail away Whistle ring, which went Schwuueeeeeeeeeeee when you blew it!].
Bazooka Joe also had badges and the neatest logo since Pepsi Cola. Joe was kind too: the pink gum loaf was perforated down the middle so you could share it in class! Bazooka Joe for president I say!
The baseball-capped Joe was the high water mark of gum culture for me so other brands were mere flotsam in comparison.
But there were further gems for the gums if you looked.
Gold Nuggets were small pebbles of gum, which came in a small muslin bag tied at the top. It looked like gravel and tasted divine. The more you dropped in your gob the better the sweet sensation. The full goldrush came when you tipped the whole bag in! It was a thoughtful brand too since you could re-use the small bag as a kit sack for Little Big Man!
But what of the biggest lump of chuddy around at the time, the Grand Chew so to speak? Well, it was Fab1 pink and shaped like a small oval footstool. It came packaged in a plasticy wrapper twisted at either end. On the front in huge letters was the single word BUBBLY!
I am of course referring to Anglo Bubbly, the king of chews. To place the bubbly cake in the mouth was to swear allegiance to the pink monarch. From that point on he ruled your drool. Only after chewing like a heifer for an hour could you bring the king under control and restore order. The staple diet of Stretch Armstrongs everywhere, Anglo Bubbly was the chuddy of champions, the Gobfather.
What did you chew readers?
