By James F. Cotter

Remember the Alamo?  In an indirect way, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna contributed to the development of chewing gum.

In exile in New York, the former dictator plotted to raise an army and return to power in Mexico.  To do this, he would need money;   and to acquire money, he would sell chicle, a substance made from the sap of the sapodilla tree.  The chicle would be added to rubber, which was quite expensive.  If he could reduce the cost of natural rubber, he would become rich and make his triumphal return to Mexico City.    That was the plan.  (1)

So he had chicle brought in from Mexico.  At the time, Santa Anna was the houseguest of Thomas Adams, a struggling photographer and glassmaker who had been assigned to assist him during his exile in New York.  (2)

 After more than a year of trying to make various items like carriage tires, rain boots and toys with chicle, without success, Adams had decided to throw the remaining chicle into the East River.  Then he remembered that Santa Anna enjoyed chewing the substance.  That night, he mixed a batch of chicle gum in his kitchen and tried it.  (1)

Most chewing  gums at the time were paraffin gums.  Adams found that the gum made with chicle was softer and better-tasting than the paraffin gums—not that there was much taste to it.  (1)  He decided to market this chicle gum, and  by 1871, Adams had to invent what became known as the gumball machine to keep up with demand for his gum.  (3)

 It still didn’t do Santa Anna much good.  He was granted amnesty in 1874, returned to Mexico, and died two years later. 

Although the original intentions of Adams and Santa Anna were not realized, the U.S. Census Bureau advises that “Americans chew about 1.8 pounds of gum per person per year.”  (4)

 This was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that something popular was invented quite by accident.

REFERENCES

1.  http://www.agilewriter.com/Biography/ThomasAdams.htm
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_L%C3%B3pez_de_Santa_Anna
3. http://www.essortment.com/all/chewinggumhis_rdjz.htm
4. http://www.extramarks.com/blog_view.php?blog_auto_id=2368

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