Hey everybody. Welcome to Retell Seller, an ephemera podcast where I uncover forgotten stories and the ephemera people leave behind. I'm Angie a reseller of 10 years, and I'll share one of those snippets with you. Let's see what today's find has to say.
I purchased a sample 3 pack of Wrigley chewing gum from a local online auction with some other ephemera and it was a random mix of items and I didn’t recognize what the card was until I had it in my hand and opened it up to find 3 original packs of WRIGLEY’S gum still attached.
The card is a thicker card stock material and opens just like a greeting card. The front cover has a gold colored background with pops of red, white, and black. In the upper left hand corner in an off-white color it says 1936, which is within a red colored rectangle.
The design on the front consists of an arrow pointing down and within the arrow’s outline are numerous faces of people. They all look famous, but I can't pinpoint them. Along the left side of the arrow it says WM. WRIGLEY JR. CO.
When you open the card, on the inside of the cover, there are 4 rows of yellow silhouettes of people and overlaying each row of people, it says:
“MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
Yearly Enjoy one of these Famous Flavors...There is probably nothing else at so little cost that affords so much Pleasure.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
Prefer the Tempting Flavor of Real Mint Leaves.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
Enjoy DOUBLE MINT because it has the Flavor which only comes from Genuine Double distilled Peppermint.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
Select JUICY FRUIT because they like a Sweet Flavor.”
The 3 packs of gum are on the inside right of the card. Each stick is wrapped in its original packaging and packaged again within a peachy or pinky colored plastic which is then what’s pasted to the card.
The wording above the gum says: “SELECT YOUR FLAVOR WITH THESE THREE STICKS OF WRIGLEY’S QUALITY GUM
The wording below states: The Standard of Quality in CHEWING GUM”
The top piece is Wrigley’s Spearmint, the middle is Wrigley’s Double Mint, and lastly Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit.
Along the Spearmint and the Juicy Fruit wrapper’s edge, you can see the copyright date of 1935 along with made in the U.S.A. and then the abbreviation for Registered U.S. Patent Office.
The back page is filled entirely with an image of people. It definitely makes me think of “Where’s Waldo” and he is most definitely lost.
At 90 years old too, I’m quite shocked this little sample card is still in tact and the pieces of gum are still attached and so I do not handle it often because I'm afraid I'm going to knock them off. So they’re tucked away right now.
The creator of WRIGLEY’S gum, William Wrigley Jr., was born in 1861 in Philadelphia and he was apparently a pretty defiant kid being kicked out of school multiple times. His dad, a soap manufacturer, put him to work in the factory but by 13 years of age, Wrigley Jr. was done with it. He ended up getting a horse, a wagon, and left home, and began traveling door to door, to sell his dad’s soap throughout Pennsylvania and New York.
By the time he was 30 he moved from Philadelphia to Chicago because he wanted to start his own business and since he knew his dad’s business so well, he started off selling “Wrigley’s Scouring Soap,” with an add on of baking powder.
When he realized this “add on” was more popular than the scouring soap, he moved to selling the powder. And he then would tack on a couple of sticks of chewing gum with the baking powder and when the gum surpassed the powder in what people actually wanted, he was off to the races and began focusing on the manufacturing and sales of the gum.
While the gum itself wasn’t patented, he knew he needed to protect the name so, Wrigley’s trademark was registered December 9, 1924.
And just a reminder, you can see some of the images I'm looking at either on the blog or on my YouTube, where I also make videos of the podcast too. So check it out.
In the early to mid 30s, Wrigley’s had a campaign where they’d send out representatives, a Mr. Spear and a Miss Mint to various cities gathering opinions on what people thought of Wrigley’s Chewing Gum.
The cities were publishing in their local papers about how the 2 reps were going to be in town, what you needed to do to be prepared if they were to approach you, and what they were most likely going to ask you was, “Have you an opened pack of Wrigley’s gum?” If you were able to show you had a pack of gum in your purse or pocket, they’d give you a crisp $1 bill.
Chewing Wrigley’s gum was also promoted as offering a healthier lifestyle and a way to help with things like efficiency and keeping morale up according to “Actual factory tests in Canadian war plants”.
It helped with false thirst and could help you quit smoking. It also claimed chewing gum could help keep your face and jaw line structurally sound.
I agree with using gum as a way to help you quit smoking as I myself am a former smoker but, keeping your face and jaw line sound? I don’t think so.
I purchased a few Wrigley Advertisement clippings off of eBay. One is of a toddler sitting there with her doll and the ad says:
“Man’s work lasts till set of sun. Woman’s work is never done – yet while doing other things you can enjoy Double Mint gum – Helps keep your face young and lovely.”
Another ad shows 2 girls standing next to each other and I’ll say they both have the most unhappy facial expressions. 1 looks nervous and the other just looks mad. This ad states:
“Grandma Says: Today when little girls grow up they can stay young longer because they can go to their beauty shop weekly...and, to help facial muscles keep young, they can enjoy Double Mint gum daily.” Maybe that’s why the one girl looked mad. She already knew she was being duped.
I also have a magazine snippet from Christmas time where there’s a family decorating cookies around the table. It includes directions and assures the reader they can certainly buy “store bought” cookies if they prefer.
It’s an ad for Wrigley’s saying it’s a “Wholesome Holiday Treat” and it was suggesting putting them under the tree and within stockings. It was easy. Welcome. Not rich or filling. And, aids in digestion.
And as I've said before, I am not an expert of any kind and I'm certainly not a doctor and did not delve into Mr. Wrigley's health history, but I find it interesting that William Wrigley. Jr. Died of heart disease and acute indigestion.
The following stories are some of the moments where WRIGLEY’S stops being just a gum company and becomes something broader.
On January 15, 1927, Wrigley Jr. created what was called “The Wrigley Ocean Marathon.” He’d hoped to make Santa Catalina Island, which he owned, a winter destination where people wanted to visit for this event.
102 people showed up to swim and Wrigley offered $25,000, which would be the equivalent of about $450,000 today, to the winner which ended up being a 17 year old boy from Canada. When there was only 2 swimmers left, women by the names of Margaret and Martha, still trying to finish the race, Wrigley said he’d award $15,000 to the first woman to cross the line. Both ended up quitting within a mile, mile and a half but, they were each then awarded $2,500 which would be about $45,000 today.
Wrigley Jr. became majority owner of the Chicago Cubs in 1921 and when he died An article published about his death in 1932, talked of a moment at one of the Cubs’ training camps where a player was flattened by a grounder and William, along with his chauffeur, were parked right by where it happened. He ran over to the boy and they placed him in the car to get him to the hospital. They said, “He was bustling about with all the concerns of a mother hen herding a flock of young chicks.” They said Wrigley was upset about it for hours.
Upon his death, WRIGLEY’S Co. and the Cubs went to his son, Philip. Since both they were both pretty much marketing gurus, during WWII Philip founded the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. We all remember the movie A League Of Their Own, right? It was a great movie.
The claims of Wrigley’s gum being good for your health have, of course, changed over the years going from, it can help “keep your face young and lovely” we know or “aids digestion,” to claiming a patent in 2003 for Sildenafil Citrate chewing gum which is the ingredient in Viagra. As of today, it doesn’t appear they ever did anything with it.
I found so many articles and various info about Wrigley’s that I can’t possibly talk about it all in the podcast so please don’t forget I offer more details, links, photos on my blog retellseller.com that’s Retell, R-E-T-E-L-L Seller.com. And I do also have a lot of fun creating those YouTube videos to go alongside so check those out as well.
Out of all the topics discussed today, what stood out to you? We’re you or are you obsessed with chewing gum? Did you take over a family business? Were sports ever your thing? Do you think your jaw line is svelte and can you thank gum for that? Let me know.
Thank you for joining me. As I shared a snippet of the past, I'd love to know if it connected with you in some way. Did it spark a memory or make you see something differently? If so, consider sharing it. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional info, links and ways to connect. It's not nostalgia, it's human.
Until next time, may you find something worth holding onto.
