The American Chicle Company, known for their famous Chiclets chewing gum, started producing baseball cards as an advertising inclusion with their products in the late 1880s. In 1948, the company spun off its non-confectionery products into a new company called The Gum Inc. This marked a new era for the sports cards they had been producing as a side product for decades.
Gum Inc. began ramping up baseball card production in the post-World War II era, seeing the growing interest in the sport across America. Their most iconic baseball card series during this time was the 1951 Bowman set, featuring vivid photos on a colored background. This innovative design set the standard that remains influential to this day. Bowman was one of the first card manufacturers to include rookie cards of future Hall of Famers like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente in sets distributed with gum.
Throughout the 1950s, Gum Inc. released numerous baseball card sets under the Bowman and Red Man brand names. Some of the notable releases included their 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1957 sets. These continued the colorful photographed-front design and helped expose a new generation of fans to players through cards inserted in packages of chewing gum. Stars of the era like Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Warren Spahn, and Duke Snider captivated young collectors.
In 1961, Topps Chewing Gum usurped much of the baseball card market. Topps had been producing competitor cards since 1952 but struck an exclusive deal with Major League Baseball for rights to player images starting in 1961. This led Gum Inc. to focus more on non-MLB players and teams over the following years in sets with the Play Ball, Red Man, and Leaf brands. They added cards highlighting Negro League stars, minor league players, and international athletes to fill the void.
Through the 1960s, Gum Inc. still found success with their various non-Topps card lines. Notable releases included the 1961 and 1962 Play Ball sets, 1963 and 1964 Red Man sets, and 1965 and 1966 Leaf sets. These featured a mix of MLB, Negro League, minor league, and international stars. Icons of the era like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, and Roberto Clemente had some of their final card appearances issued by Gum Inc. during this period before they largely moved to the exclusive Topps model.
Gum Inc.’s waning baseball card production through the late 1960s reflected a declining gum and candy business sector overall facing more health-conscious consumers. In 1970, they made their last baseball card release with a 120 card Play Ball set highlighting Negro League stars and other non-MLB players.
The American Chicle Company re-gained control of Gum Inc. as a subsidiary in 1974. By this time, Gum Inc.’s baseball card output had dwindled significantly due to the Topps monopoly. In the late 1970s, Topps would start branching out by acquiring the makers of rival brands like Bazooka and Bowman.
In 1980, frustrated with declining gum sales, American Chicle sold its Gum Inc. division to the Beatrice Foods conglomerate. Beatrice owned the World Wide Gum corporation that made products like Dentyne and Trident. They merged Gum Inc.’s assets into World Wide Gum to become a stronger competitor in the shrinking gum market. With baseball card production no longer part of their strategy, this marked the end for Gum Inc. as they faded out of the industry that started with their Chiclets origins.
While relatively brief compared to industry giants like Topps, Gum Inc.’s involvement in baseball cards helped grow the hobby during critical eras after World War II and into the 1960s. Their colorful, well-produced sets under Bowman, Red Man, Play Ball, and Leaf brought the sport to new audiences through the innovative marketing strategy of rewarding gum customers with enclosed collectible cards. Legends from Hank Aaron to Roberto Clemente had their rookie cards distributed to mass audiences that sparked lasting interest in the stars of their time through Gum Inc.’s cardboard contributions alongside candy and chewing gum. Although no longer an independent entity, Gum Inc.’s influence on the early development of baseball cards as a mass-market product left an impact still recognized today within collectible card history.
