The gum that was included in baseball cards from the late 1880s through the 1960s was most often a simple chewing gum made primarily of chicle. Chicle is a rubber-like substance extracted from the sapodilla tree, which was used as the main ingredient in many chewing gums during this time period. Baseball card companies would partner with large chewing gum manufacturers to produce the gum that was included alongside the cards in wax-paper wrapped stick form.
Some of the most famous brands of gum that were included in baseball cards over the decades included Fleer, Goudey, Topps, and Bazooka. Fleer partnered with Adam’s chewing gum company to include their gum in packs from 1912 to 1956. Adam’s gum was a standard stick gum made primarily of chicle. Goudey Gum Company began including gum with their cards starting in 1933. Their gum sticks matched the bright colors and cartoon characters featured on the Goudey cards of the 1930s. Topps, the dominant baseball card company since the 1950s, started with a line of Bazooka bubble gum in 1938. Their gum sticks contained bubble gum centers surrounded by chicle chewing gum.
The inclusion of gum served both as an incentive for children to purchase the card packs as well as a means to distribute the cards more widely. Since gum was a cheap product to include, the baseball card companies were able to sell the wax-paper wrapped gum and card packs for only a penny or few cents. This allowed the packs to be found alongside candy and chewing gum in corner stores, gas stations, barber shops and other outlets across America. Children would eagerly buy the packs for the gum as much as the cards, often consuming the gum before even looking at the cards inside. The combination of gum, cards, and an affordable price point helped baseball cards become one of the most collectible items for American youth throughout the 20th century.
While chicle-based stick gums were the most typical, some card companies experimented with other types of gum formulations over the decades as well. In the 1930s, Goudey produced several series that included bubble gum as opposed to stick gum. Their 1938 and 1939 Goudey Baseball Card series included multiple bubble gum pieces packaged with each trading card set. In the 1950s and 1960s, Topps and other companies began including different flavors of gum, such as grape, lime, and berry flavors, creating a more unique and fun unwrapping experience from pack to pack. Chicle-based stick gums remained the most steady and affordable ingredient that could be mass produced for inclusion with cards nationwide throughout the classic era of baseball card and gum combos from the late 19th century into the 1960s.
The inclusion of gum with baseball cards declined in the 1970s as collectibility replaced play value as the main draw for buyers. High-end illustrators and photography replaced cartoon imagery on cards as the hobby grew. By the 1980s, environmental factors contributed to many large gum producers like Topps removing gum from sportscards due to the non-biodegradable plastic wrappers. The nostalgia of finding that stick of Fleer, Goudey or Topps gum wrapped inside classic cardboard packs from the golden age of baseball cards remains an iconic memory for many collectors and former card-chewing youth from the early to mid-20th century. The simple chicle gum sticks were an perfect two-cent treat that helped grow the baseball card collecting phenomenon in America.
