Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas, From the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley

by Jennifer P. Mathews

Although Juicy Fruit® gum was introduced to North Americans in 1893, Native Americans in Mesoamerica were chewing gum thousands of years earlier. And although in the last decade “biographies” have been devoted to salt, spices, chocolate, coffee, and other staples of modern life, until now there has never been a full history of chewing gum.

Chicle is a history in four acts, all of them focused on the sticky white substance that seeps from the sapodilla tree when its bark is cut. First, Jennifer Mathews recounts the story of chicle and its earliest-known adherents, the Maya and Aztecs. Second, with the assistance of botanist Gillian Schultz, Mathews examines the sapodilla tree itself, an extraordinarily hardy plant that is native only to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. Third, Mathews presents the fascinating story of the chicle and chewing gum industry over the last hundred plus years, a tale (like so many twentieth-century tales) of greed, growth, and collapse. In closing, Mathews considers the plight of the chicleros, the “extractors” who often work by themselves tapping trees deep in the forests, and how they have emerged as icons of local pop culture—portrayed as fearless, hard-drinking brawlers, people to be respected as well as feared.

Before Dentyne® and Chiclets®, before bubble gum comic strips and the Doublemint® twins, there was gum, oozing from jungle trees like melting candle wax under the slash of a machete. Chicle tells us everything that happened next. It is a spellbinding story.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

142 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jennifer Mathews is a Maya archaeologist and Associate Professor of Anthropology at Trinity University. She began studying ancient Maya roads in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, when she discovered they had been used by the chicle industry in the late 1800s as routes for their railroads. When she started researching the history and interviewing local chicleros, she realized that there was truly a fascinating story behind the industry."

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the cover shows four different packs of chicle, the book is divided into four separate sections - the history of chewing gum with a focus on the Maya (chewing chicle was to be conducted in private, if you were chewing chicle in public, you were *ahem* not a respectable person) and chicle's voyages to the Old World; the biology of the sapodilla tree which extrudes the milky sap which results in chicle after processing; the American chewing gum industry (with a side trip into the addition of cards of various topics along with stickers); and finally, the chicleros or harvesters.

Not surprisingly, once American commerce got it's proverbial hands into the chewing gum industry, economic exploitation of the Latin American governments as well as the working class made them rich. Even with the indigenous Maya attempting to gain some control of their historic homes only forced the military to move in to violently repress these threats to foreign business concerns.

Mathews really doesn't go much into the differentiation between resins - for example, incense (think frankincense); amber; perfumes; wine (Greek restina) - latex for example, rubber and latex gloves, etcetera and the chicle that makes the base of chewing gum along with opium - while saps provide such treats as maple syrup.

Today, most of the chewing gum bases are derived from petroleum - one more reason why the world is likely not to completely give up our oil dependency - although you can find natural chicle-based chewing gum. There are several foreign companies who supplies those populations that prefers an organic version and provides Fair Trade benefits to those few chicleros that still venture into the forests to tap and harvest chicle. That is when they are not being guides for the archaeologists searching for Mayan ruins if they're not looting those same ruins.

Definitely a microhistory but certainly gives a view into a topic not many would consider while also providing some pointers to more extensive resources. . . or at least, topics to research.

2022-102

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2009, this popped up as a suggested read on one of the many F&B sites/feeds/blogs I follow.
Matthews is an archaeologist who also covers history (warfare and rebellion), politics, economics, art (songs), and sociology here. Nods to her for including Gillian Schultz as a co-author - she did the chapter on the botany of the plant. And in the Notes, nods to anonymous peer reviewers who made suggestions, or provided her with additional information.
At 92 pp of text, this is hardly the "comprehensive" story of chicle she says it is in her Intro - but it is a really good, quick, enjoyable intro. Plus 20 pp of Notes (read as an ebook, they worked well), some just citations, some informative. Illustrations. And a 25 pp Bibliography.
Also thanks to the U of AZ Press for publishing this academic, yet approachable, story of chicle - and for making it affordable for the non-specialist in both their ebook and pb formats.
I wish there had been a few pages given over to the change from actual chicle to produced chicle, but.....
An enjoyable, and informative read on the plant base of chewing gum - and a thumbnail history of the the industry in America. Recommended, but more as an introduction, rather than as a "comprehensive study".

[Darnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underrated. This is short, but in my opinion it's better for niche history to stay compact than to overstay its welcome.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across this interesting book by accident. Insightful, quick read. I went out and purchased gum with a chiclé base. Checked the label on Bazooka - just says gum base. Proprietary coverup? I chewed tons of Bazooka in my life. Questionable petroleum gum based. Also author was in graduate school at UCR when I was in graduate school there. different fields. Don't think we crossed paths.