Favourite brands of bubble gum!

[Hepcat]

Wow! Cool mask!

[Sean]

Grape Bazooka

[Hepcat]

Hmmmmm. My memory may be hazy here but I seem to remember Topps (O-Pee-Chee in Canada) releasing Graperoo first:



And then Ton 'O' Grape Gum:



I'm not sure I actually remember Grape Bazooka specifically.



I doubt of course that there was any difference in the formulation among the three products.

[Hepcat]

I remember seeing Ton 'O' Gum on store shelves beginning in about 1970:





I'm not sure whether I specifically remember seeing the Ton "O" Grape Gum or the Bazooka Cherry Gum in a thick slab as opposed to a Graperoo type roll though:



Maybe these other kinds of gum were not specifically marketed in Canada or maybe I just don't remember them because by the 1970's I was already in university and a new kind of bubble gum was not so much of a big deal to me that the event seared itself into my memory. I'm not saying I stopped buying bubble gum once I passed a certain age; only that a new brand wasn't such a big deal to me any longer.

One thing's for sure though. The Ton 'O' Gum and the big Bazooka wrappers are now themselves highly collectible, and I'd sure love to add some specimens to my own bubble gum card wrapper collection!

[Scatter]

Grape Bazooka

We are, as usual, copacetic.

[Hepcat]

I wasn't aware that Li'l Abner once acted as a pitchman for Bazooka bubble gum:

[Count Zero]

a couple staples from childhood:





i also enjoyed ANY gumball machine that i crossed paths with. i always tried to keep some quarters in my pocket for this reason.

i never got to try those ghostbuster slimer gumballs that had green goo in them. nor did i get to try those black dracula ones that had the red goo in them...

maybe one day

[Hepcat]

a couple staples from childhood:

Why are you using the past tense? Are they no longer made?

i also enjoyed ANY gumball machine that i crossed paths with. i always tried to keep some quarters in my pocket for this reason.

i never got to try those ghostbuster slimer gumballs that had green goo in them. nor did i get to try those black dracula ones that had the red goo in them...

My word! Ghostbusters, slimers, LeBron, quarter gumballs, you're a real youngster!



Many of us here go back to the days when gumball machines required only a penny. And these two staples of every red-blooded young kid's existence were a penny each:

[Monsters For Sale]

I wasn't aware that Li'l Abner once acted as a pitchman for Bazooka bubble gum:

I don't recall Li'l Abner being associated with Bazooka.  Every Halloween was sure to include a handful of Bazookas in the treat bag.  Every Bazooka I remember had a Joe Bazooka Comic inside the wrapper.  Don't remember ever seeing a Li'l Abner strip inside.  And I would have remembered that. 

I was a huge fan of Li'l Abner as a kid.  Partly, it was because I loved the artwork and the funny characters.  But, also because I was enthralled with the gorgeous female characters - still am.

I never chewed gum.

   

[Hepcat]

I don't recall Li'l Abner being associated with Bazooka.... Every Bazooka I remember had a Joe Bazooka Comic inside the wrapper.  Don't remember ever seeing a Li'l Abner strip inside.  And I would have remembered that.

I don't believe there ever were any Bazooka Li'l Abner comics. The above item was part of sales catalogs distributed to merchants only.

I was a huge fan of Li'l Abner as a kid.  Partly, it was because I loved the artwork and the funny characters.  But, also because I was enthralled with the gorgeous female characters - still am.

I prefer the more delicate featured early renditions of Daisy Mae and the other female characters such as the one below before Frank Frazetta started ghosting for Al Capp.

[Sean]

As kids, our favourite was called "Big Charlie", which was a thick, pink strip about 12" long. Lasted a looooooong time.

By the way, I'm famous in a chewing gum book:

http://therinofandor.blogspot.com/2007/05/discount-price-of-fame-forgotten.html

You look a lot different without the blue make up.

Never had you figured for a little girl.

[Hepcat]

Many of us here go back to the days when gumball machines required only a penny. And these two staples of every red-blooded young kid's existence were a penny each:

Sadly everything has changed. I haven't seen Bazooka Bubble Gum in the little bricks for thirty or so years.

Tubs like this of Dubble Bubble can still be found in some variety stores in Toronto:



It's usually this stuff though labelled "America's Original":



While it has a very pleasant tutti-frutti taste, the flavour doesn't last. Moreover I have a serious problem with the word "Original" on the label. The original Dubble Bubble that I remember from the late fifties and early sixties was sold in the little rectangles with white wrappers for a penny and had a very long lasting spicy sweet flavour. The Dubble Bubble I remember is still available in the buckets in the occasional store but has purple-pink wrappers and now costs a dime:



To be fair the little rectangles are about 50% bigger than the ones I used to buy as a kid.

Nor is Dubble Bubble produced by Fleer anymore. The Dubble Bubble name brand was purchased from Fleer by Concord Confections just north of Toronto in 1998.  Concord was then acquired by Tootsie Roll Industries in 2003.

Dubble Bubble - Wikipedia

Like I say, most everything has changed.

[Hepcat]

The Swell Bubble Gum Cigarettes and Cigars were big favourites of mine when I was a kid:








Sadly the fascist anti-smoking brigade has managed to force the Cigarettes off the market and make the Cigars very difficult to find outside of (expensive) specialty stores in my neck of the woods. Bastards! Just because I don't smoke doesn't mean I should be denied my bubble gum!

[Mord]

 I was never a gum chewer, but I loved chocolate cigarettes. Btw, I've never been a smoker  (of cigarettes).

[Hepcat]

I used to like bubblegum cigarettes....

Yes, likely the Swell Bubble Gum Cigarettes produced by the Philadelphia Chwing Gum Corporation!



While the Swell Bubble Gum Cigarettes in the proper name brand packs are not produced anymore, bubble gum cigarettes made by World Confections of Macedonia are still available in some candy stores and online:







While no proper name brands are featured, they're adorned with a filter and puff realistic looking smoke! That still might not be enough to sway me from my regular chaws though....