Did You Know the First Chewing Gum Was Made in Maine?

As a guy who drinks coffee in the morning, beer at night, eats a lot of garlic, and works with the public, gum is a must.

Having gum is as important to my daily life as making sure I brush my teeth and put on deoderant before leaving the house in the morning.

I am definitely not alone in my need for gum.  According to Snack and Bakery, over 1.2 billion packs of gum were sold in the United States in 2023.  That equates to almost $4 billion in gum sales.

So, yes, we all love our gum, but did you ever wonder where and when the first chewing gum was made?

The First Chewing Gum Was Made in Maine

While people had been chewing spruce tree resin for thousands of years, the first commercially available chewing gum did not come around until the 1850s.

According to a article on the History Channel website, John Curtis came up with the first commercial spruce tree gum by boiling resin and cutting it into strips.  He then coated those strips in cornstarch so they wouldn’t stick together.

By the early 1850s, he had built the world’s first chewing gum factory right in Portland, Maine.

The problem was spruce resin wasn’t the best for gum.  It didn’t taste very good and it turned brittle when chewed.  After a few years Curtis, along with others who followed him into the gum business, moved on to different ingredients like paraffin wax.

After making the change, the Curtis Gum Company continued to grow.  By 1904, the company had several facilities, including one located in the image below.  At that time, the company employed 16 men, about 100 women, and made 5,000 pounds of gum per day.

While there have been hundreds of gum companies since John Curtis opened his Portland, Maine factory, he holds the title of being the first person to open a commercial chewing gum factory.