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Tells the dual story of the growth in popularity in the United States from the 1860s onwards and the remarkable role it played in Central American history as a result of the chicle used in its production farmed on the Yucatan peninsula.
Chicle is a history in four acts, all of them focused on the sticky white substance that seeps from the sapodilla tree when its bark is cut. First, Jennifer Mathews recounts the story of chicle and its earliest-known adherents, the Maya and Aztecs. Second, with the assistance of botanist Gillian Schultz, Mathews examines the sapodilla tree itself, an extraordinarily hardy plant that is native only to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. Third, Mathews presents the fascinating story of the chicle and chewing gum industry over the last hundred plus years, a tale (like so many twentieth-century tales) of greed, growth, and collapse. In closing, Mathews considers the plight of the chicleros, the "extractors" who often work by themselves tapping trees deep in the forests, and how they have emerged as icons of local pop culture -- portrayed as fearless, hard-drinking brawlers, people to be respected as well as feared. --publisher description.
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A warm, tender, and richly nostalgic look at growing up in a remote village in a postwar Italy on the brink of modernity.
Americans began chewing gum long before 1850, scraping resin from spruce trees, removing any bits of bark or insects and chewing the finished product. Commercially-made gum was of limited availability and came in three types--tree resin, pretroleum-based paraffin and chicle-based--the latter, a natural latex, ultimately eclipsing its rivals by 1920. Once considered a women-only bad habit, chewing gum grew in popularity and was soon indulged in by all segments of society. The gum industry tried vigorously to export the habit, but it proved uniquely American and would not stick abroad. This book examines the chewing gum industry in the United States from 1850 to 1920, the rise and spread of gum chewing and the reactions--nearly all negative--to the habit from editorial writers, reformers, religious figures, employers and the courts. The age-old problem of what to do with chewed gum--some saved it in lockets around their neck; some shared it with friends--is also covered.
Find out how gum became everyone’s favorite chewing candy in this fact-filled nonfiction book, part of the How It Happened! series. Baseball stadiums, movie theaters, underneath your desk at school—gum is everywhere. But how did this gluey glob become everyone’s favorite candy to chomp on? Readers will love gobbling down the story of gum, from its ancient origins to its influence on “pop” culture . . . and everything in between!
First Published in Great Britan by Oberon Books 2013.