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The History of Bubble Gum

Blowing Bubbles

Learning to Blow a Bubble

I was eight years old when my cousin, Thomas, taught me how to blow a bubble with bubblegum. We were on the porch of my grandparent's country house on the river, and the delicious pink gum was Dubble Bubble. Days were slower back then and learning how to blow a bubble was a childhood milestone, maybe even a rite of passage.

Today, bubblegum comes in a wide assortment of colors, shapes, and flavors. The non-stick wonder has evolved into a long-lasting dessert-like pastime. And we still blow bubbles. So, who discovered bubblegum? How did it all begin?

Bubblegum Trivia


  1. Which bubblegum brand was introduced by LifeSavers and now is produced by Hershey?
    • Hubba Bubba
    • Bubble Yum
    • Bubblicious
    • Dubble Bubble
  2. Which bubblegum brand sports flavors such as Twisted Tornado, Lightening Lemonade, and Savage Sour Apple?
    • Hubba Bubba
    • Bubble Yum
    • Bubblicious
    • Dubble Bubble
  3. What is Bubble Gum Pop?
    • a type of catchy pop music geared toward teeny boppers
    • a type of music from the 1950's
    • a new Pepsi product
    • a new Coke product
  4. Which bubblegum brand first introduced comic strips in the packaging?
    • Bazooka
    • Dubble Bubble
    • Hubba Bubba
    • Chiclets
  5. Dubble Bubble's original comic strips featured which twin brother characters?
    • Dub and Bub
    • Hal and Pal
    • Mike and Ike
    • Chu and Stu
  6. Which bubblegum brand was the first to be sold in five-packs?
    • Hubba Bubba
    • Bubble Yum
    • Bubblicious
    • Dubble Bubble
  7. The Dubble Bubble logo is called what?
    • Red and Blue
    • Blue and Red
    • Crown and Oval
    • Oval and Crown
  8. The Guiness World Record's largest bubblegum bubble ever blown (without using hands) was how big?
    • 11 inches
    • 14 inches
    • 17 inches
    • 20 inches
  9. Which flavors did Walter Diemer use to make Dubble Bubble?
    • peppermint
    • vanilla
    • cinnamon
    • wintergreen
    • all of the above
  10. El Bubble "It's a Girl" and "It's a Boy" bubblegum cigars are made with which brand of gum?
    • Hubba Bubba
    • Bubble Yum
    • Bubblicious
    • Dubble Bubble

Answer Key

  1. Bubble Yum
  2. Bubblicious
  3. a type of catchy pop music geared toward teeny boppers
  4. Dubble Bubble
  5. Dub and Bub
  6. Dubble Bubble
  7. Crown and Oval
  8. 20 inches
  9. all of the above
  10. Dubble Bubble

Who Invented Bubblegum?

Bubblegum was invented in 1928 by Walter Diemer, who worked for Fleer Company, a candy manufacturer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You might imagine the father of bubblegum to have been an eccentric candy-making scientist like Willy Wonka, but he was not. In fact, he was an accountant, and his invention of bubblegum was quite by happenchance.

The Fleer Company produced chewing gum, but they brought the gum base in from an outside source and simply added flavor to the product. In an effort to save money in the mid-1920s, Fleer's president, Gilbert Mustin, decided to search for a way to produce the gum in-house. This was a challenge, as the company's founder, Frank Henry Fleer, had already made an unsuccessful attempt back in 1906. The prototype, Blibber Blubber, failed because it was too sticky and lacked cohesiveness.

Gilbert Mustin set up a small gum laboratory that happened to be next to Walter Diemer's accounting office. Mustin did not have any luck in creating a successful gum recipe, and soon began to lose interest in the challenge. One day, Mustin was called down to the office's first floor to take a call on the building's only telephone. Diemer was asked to babysit the kettle of gum in the meantime, and thus began his fascination with discovering the elusive gum recipe. Diemer had no training in chemistry, so he used trial and error in his experiments with the gum. In his spare time, he worked on the gum recipe for about one year until something wonderful happened.


Double Bubble?

  • Many people today misspell the name of Dubble Bubble.

Dubble Bubble

One day, to his delight, Diemer came up with a soft non-stick gum that not only was pleasant to chew, but was perfect for bubble-blowing. That day at work, his co-workers sat around laughing and enjoyed blowing bubbles with the new invention. Unfortunately, the batch of gum did not maintain its consistency and the next day was too hard to blow bubbles.

Diemer did not give up, though, and worked several more months on improving his recipe. He experimented with latex and finally found a gum that worked and would not turn to stone. The office bubble-blowing celebrations continued. Once Diemer was confident with his product, he abandoned the little laboratory and made a big batch using the factory's heavy duty machines. It was perfect, except for its drab grey color. Diemer started over the next day and added the only shade of food coloring in the plant. You guessed it - pink!

Diemer cut the gum into small pieces and, using a packaging machine designed for salt water taffy, wrapped the gum. Diemer sent 100 pieces over to a local candy store, and they sold out by the time the day was done. In the first year, Fleer sold 1.5 million dollars worth of bubblegum, which, at 1 cent each, was a lot of gum. The new bubblegum was called Dubble Bubble.

Original Fleer Company Plant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Blowing Bubbles

Diemer never glanced back at his accounting job, and was promoted to Senior Vice President at Fleer. He spent most of his time training salesmen and traveling. The biggest part of the sales pitch was to demonstrate blowing bubbles with the gum, so Diemer had to train his team in bubble-blowing. The new inexpensive bubblegum was a big success, even in the face of the Great Depression. Diemer traveled extensively, starting a plant in Spain and marketing his gum around the world.

During World War II, Dubble Bubble was even distributed in military rations to American soldiers. Unfortunately, bubblegum production was soon halted due to the unavailability of two key ingredients - sugar and latex. When business resumed in 1951, new flavors were added, and Fleer sponsored bubble-blowing contests to promote the bubblegum. The gumball concept was created, and is still very popular today.

Dubble Bubble Assortment


Dubble Bubble Today

Fleer was eventually sold to a Canadian company, Concord Confections, in 1998, and a new Dubble Bubble recipe was created. The new company reintroduced the bubble-blowing contests and held them at Wal-Mart stores across the country. The contests were discontinued soon after the company was sold to Tootsie Roll in 2004. Ironically, it was Tootsie Roll that had been bumped to second place back in the 1920s when Dubble Bubble took over as leader of the 1 cent candy.

As for Walter Diemer, he never bothered with a patent or royalties. He was satisfied with his position as inventor of bubblegum, and dedicated the rest of his life to promoting the gum. Even in retirement, he was known to pedal around the neighborhood on an adult-sized tricycle, handing out bubblegum to children. Maybe he was a bit like Willy Wonka after all.

Willy Wonka



L.A.D on May 24, 2016:

Thanks... I really didn't know all of this

Sarah Johnson (author) from Charleston, South Carolina on April 19, 2012:

Thanks, teaches12345. Yes, I remember my mother using peanut butter to get the bubblegum out of my hair!

Dianna Mendez on April 19, 2012:

Double Bubble was a childhood favorite of mine. I loved blowing bubbles, but often ended up with it all over my hair when they popped. Your quiz was fun and I enjoyed the history lesson on bubble gum.


Thanks, rahul0324! It was fun to imagine the employees back in the 20's with only one telephone and popping all those bubblegum bubbles at work.

Jessee R from Gurgaon, India on April 19, 2012:

Very nice hub! Didn't know so much about the history of bubble gums...

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