The first chewing gum made in stick form was introduced in 1884.  The name of the gum was Black Jack Gum introduced by Thomas Adams who lived in Staten Island, New York.  The gum was flavored with licorice making it the first gum in America with flavor.  Too firsts were the result of Thomas Adams creativity: flavored and stick form gum.  When you bite into the futuristic Orbit or Trident Splash Gum remember good old Thomas Adams.  Without this man you might still be chewing flavorless gum made from rough gum substances.  Black Jack Gum was discontinued in the 1970s as sales slowed disappointing the licorice gum chewers of the day.  John Trivolta, disco, and Freshen-up gum was happening while licorice gum was a fading.  The Adams Company then merged with the American Chicle Company which then became a part of the Warner-Lambert Company.  Warner-Lambert had the insight to start selling Black Jack Gum again in limited runs bringing back Black Jack Gum, Clove Gum, and Beemans Gum every few years.  Guess what?  Warner-Lambert merged with Pfizer and they continued the limited roll outs.  Guess what?  Pfizer sold the Adams gums to Cadbury.  Guess what?  Cadbury still owns the brand!  You thought I was going to mention another company didn’t you?  That’s it for the history of the brand.  The good news is Cadbury continues to sell the brand every few years.  No new runs for 2007 though so lets hope the tradition continues. 

Unfortunately stick gum is becoming a gum of the past as pellet form gum becomes more popular.  Opening a clean crisp blue pack of black jack gum is an incredible experience.  The graphic is simple and a lovely color of blue.  Taking the paper off the gum to reveal the foil surrounding the gum makes my taste buds start to flow.  I take the foil off to reveal the actual gum and it smells wonderful!  I take the gum and break it up in my mouth and the texture is soft and firm.  I start chewing and the licorice flavor is absolutely amazing.  I wish they would make the licorice taste last forever but in two minutes the gum starts to become flavorless.  No problem!  I’ll just get another stick.  I love this gum because I love the taste of licorice.  The flavor is unique and full of history thanks to my new friend Thomas Adams.