This juicy handbook answers these questions and more - - from the gum the ancient Greeks and Mayans chewed to bubble gum’s role in American history.  You’ll also take a tour of a gum factory, get wads of information on how new brands are brought to market (and tested by kids!), and tips on how to blow a world-record-size bubble. A gum recipe for class projects is included, plus the facts on damage control:  how to get gum off clothes, furniture and hair - -and how not to get it stuck there in the first place!
    
Reviews

"A zany history of the discovery and the development of the bubble-gum industry. Filled with facts and trivia . . . the humorous writing style and eye-catching graphics further invite browsing."

                                       - School Library Journal

"As complete a compendium of information about bubble gum as anyone is ever likely to want . . . Even for those who don't chew, the book has a certain fascination, due in large part to sprightly writing, but also to the surprising complexity of what only appears to be a simple subject . . .  a lively and enjoyable treatise on a subject close to most kids' hearts." - Kirkus Reviews

Gum Trivia

 On July 19, 1994, Susan Montgomery Williams holds the Guinness World Record for blowing the largest bubble gum bubble: a whoppin’ 23 inches in diameter!  To see Susan in action, visit her website: http://come.to/bubblechamp

The best way to remove bubble gum from your hair is by rubbing a little peanut butter on the wad.  The oils in peanut butter may soften the gum enough to pull the goo off with your fingers.

There are about 20 calories in each piece of bubble gum.

Chewing gum first went into orbit when astronauts Edward H. White II and James A. McDivitt smuggled the stuff onboard their space capsule during the Gemini IV mission in June 1965.

For 12 years, the selling, importing, manufacturing and chewing of gum was illegal in Singapore.  The ban was lifted in 2004 - - but the chewy stuff can only be bought at pharmacies.  Customers must give their names and show an identity card before receiving their gum.  Pharmacists who don’t follow these rules can be jailed for up to two years and fined $4,700!

Walter Diemer invented the first bubble gum in December, 1928.  He colored it pink because that was the only dye he had on hand.

At one time, English police officers received orders from Scotland Yard forbidding them to chew gum while on duty. The reason?  Gum might get stuck in their whistles during an emergency!

A Pennsylvania man lost several teeth while chewing bubble gum in 1944 when the chunk he was chomping mysteriously exploded!

When a New York pre-schooler rammed a toy fire engine into a gas pie, causing a dangerous leak, his twelve-year-old baby-sitter kep her cool - -and plugged the leak with a wad of bubble gum!

Swedish archeologists discovered the world’s oldest piece of chewing gum in 1993:  made from tree resin and sweetened with honey, the primitive wad bore the teeth marks of a Stone Age teenager - - and was calculated to be at least nine thousand years old.