DAY 154 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

Good Morning, Class of ‘64
 

RL Perdue
 

Mary Had Some Bubble Gum

Anonymous

Mary had some bubble gum,

she chewed it long and slow,

and everywhere that Mary went

her gum was sure to go.

She chewed the gum in school one day,

which was against the rule,

the teacher took her pack away

and chewed it after school.

We were gum chewers. No doubt, in our lifetimes, we've chewed our share of the gum produced in the world. Maybe you had a preference in flavor or you were an indiscriminate gum chewer. Whatever somebody had in their pocket at the time would suit you. When you had to put your own money down, though, would you have chosen Juicy Fruit, Doublemint, Teaberry, Clove, Cinnamon, or some other kind (were there other kinds? Dentyne? No, you wouldn't have chosen that.)

There were times when we might have wanted something more to chew on. With chewing gum all you can do is chew. When the flavor is gone, the fun is gone. That is, unless you were a nervous or inattentive chewer and just kept chewing away only because it was in your mouth. But bubble gum, with a wad of that in your mouth, you were provided a whole different world of chewing pleasure. With a strong tongue and lungs full of air, you could actually blow bubbles that would burst all over your mouth or your nose or most of your face - depending on how good you were at blowing bubbles and how much gum you had in your mouth. Now, chewing gum couldn't do that for you, could it?

Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor 
(On the Bedpost Overnight?)

  A novelty song by Lonnie Donegan, an English performer. 
Released in 1959, it peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. 
It was also Donegan's greatest chart success in the United States,
 reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Does_Your_Chewing_Gum_Lose_Its_Flavour_%28On_the_Bedpost_Overnight%3F%29

Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor

Lonnie Donegan - 1961

Bazooka

The Topps company started selling Bazooka gum after WW II. In 1953 they started including comic strips featuring "Bazooka Joe" with the gum. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazooka_%28chewing_gum%29

1950s CHEWING GUM COMMERCIALS

Two 1950s era television commercials for varieties of Beech-Nut chewing gum.

 

HOW TO MAKE BUBBLE GUM

Make Your Own Bubble Gum

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/30/Make-Your-Own-Bubble-Gum74922.shtml 

 Serves/Makes: 0.5 lb.          Ready In: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients:
1/3 cup gum base
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon glycerine
1/2 teaspoon citric acid
5 drops flavoring

Directions:
Into a microwave safe or heat resistant dish, place the gum base, citric acid, corn syrup with glycerine and flavoring mixture.

Microwave Method: Place all of the gum base into a microwave safe dish. Heat the gum base on high for 1 minute. Remove the gum base from the oven and stir it. If it has not melted, place it back in the oven and heat for 30 more seconds. Stir it again and repeat heating until the gum base is gooey.

Stove top Method: Place the gum base in a heat resistant dish that will fit in a sauce pan of boiling water. Cover the pan and bring the water to a boil. Turn the heat down so the water is at a simmer. Heat the gum base until it becomes gooey. This can take up to 10 minutes. Be sure not to let the water boil dry.

Measure out 1 heaping tablespoon of powdered sugar and set it aside for later. Pour out about one half of the remaining powdered sugar onto your work surface. Make a well in the middle of the pile.

Pour the melted gum base mixture into the well. The gum base may still be hot but it will cool quickly.

Dip your fingers in the powdered sugar and begin kneading the gum base and sugar together. Work it as if your are kneading bread dough. Add more of the powdered sugar when ever the dough gets sticky. Continue adding sugar until you have a smooth, stiff dough. You must knead the gum dough until all the sugar is worked in. This will take at least 15 minutes. The more kneading the better. Kneading too little will cause the gum to break up when chewed.

Now it's time to roll out your bubble gum and cut it into pieces. You can make a rope about 1/2 inch in diameter and then cut individual pieces about 1/2 inch long. Using a scissors make this very easy. If you like your gum in sticks, roll out the gum with a rolling pin and then cut out the strips with your scissors.

Dust all of the gum pieces with the tablespoon of powdered sugar we set aside. Store your bubble gum in a ziplock bag. You can wrap individual pieces in wax paper too! 

Homemade Bubble Gum Recipe

http://ingoodcents.com/2012/03/sundays-at-home-homemade-bubble-gum-recipe.html

Vintage Valentine

Bubble Gum Poem Audio
http://lwlewispoetry.com/mp3s/BubbleGum.mp3

How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?
 Dr. Seuss