Chewing Gum

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 24 MAY 2004

A scholar in ecology and social theory, Redclift traveled the Yucatan to research this in-depth, richly detailed history."The story of chewing gum is very much a Mexican-American affair," he notes, beginning with Mexico's 75-year-old General Santa Anna on Staten Island in 1869. Believing Yucatan chicle's rubber-like qualities could launch a rubber tire industry, the ambitious Santa Anna struck a deal with inventor Thomas Adams. Failing to concoct a rubber substitute from the springy sap, Adams instead succeeded with his licorice-flavored Black Jack gum. Consumers went wild, and other entrepreneurs leaped in, including, in 1893, William Wrigley. With free gum samples mailed to millions, Wrigley's innovative ad campaigns made him one of America's 10 wealthiest men. His factories produced 280 million sticks of gum weekly, which had far-reaching implications in the Yucatan jungles:"The production and sale of chicle on the part of rebel Mayas Indians... was allowing them to buy arms to fight the Mexican government." American gum manufacturers were dependent on supplies from land controlled by the Mayan rebels, and since"the geopolitics of hemispheric relations lies at the heart of the story of chewing gum," the book has 75 pages on military conflicts, impoverished forest workers, the chicle economy and international harvesting and production methods. With gum added to WWII service rations, 150 billion sticks were shipped overseas, but bubble gum synthetics brought the era of Mayan-harvested chicle to a close. While some readers may be interested in the book's concluding chapters (which cover abandoned chicle camps, tourism possibilities and renewed interest in chicle for natural organic products), the omission of Bazooka's contribution to the chewing gum world, as well as the book's overall dry tone, take away from this book's general appeal. B&w illus.