Tuesday’s Top Ten: Bubblegum Flavors

Before I get into the important part of today’s post, just know that I am now a tweeting twitterer.  @shawnsmucker.  I still don’t really know how it works.  Or where these things go.  But I’m giving it a shot.

Anyway, on to an over-140-character communique.

I love bubblegum.  I think – I think – that if given the chance I could survive on it.  Eating nothing else.  Just bubblegum.

But while I won’t take the time to argue (or try out) that premise, the following are my top ten types of bubblegum, in particular order:

10) Bazooka – even though these small rectangular pieces of gum needed to be warmed up in your hands before they were soft enough to chew, they came with small comics to help you pass the time.

9) Juicy Fruit – for some reason, nothing reminds me more of childhood birthday parties than Juicy Fruit bubblegum.  Go figure.

8) Fruit Stripe Gum – perhaps the most unique tasting bubblegum on the list, both for the actual flavor itself as well as for the absurdly small amount of time the flavor lasted.  But since uniqueness counts for something on Top Ten Tuesday, I’m putting it at #8.

7) Big Red – this was my mother’s bubblegum of choice; I probably love this gum because its sugar-filled juice was leaking in through my umbilical cord when I was in the womb.

6) Bubble Tape – Bubblegum Flavor – what could be better than a gum that allows you, the childhood chewer, to decide exactly how large that piece can be (up to 6 feet)?  Better yet, take the whole thing out of the package and simply gnaw out a bite-sized chunk.

5) Bubbalicious (Watermelon) – this is summer deliciousness in a small paper wrapper.

4) Hubba Bubba (Strawberry) – my affinity for Hubba Bubba gum comes from the fact that 1) it tastes amazing, and 2) Hubba Bubba was our family password when I was young – this was initiated in the early 80s and I think America’s Most Wanted was responsible.  Did anyone else have a family password, or was my childhood stranger than I thought?

3) Chiclets – tiny, crunchy, chewy pieces of sugar-laced awesome

2) Big League Chew (Bubblegum Flavor) – nothing made me feel more like a real, live Major League Baseball player when I was kid than stuffing a bunch of this shredded gum into the space between my lips and my teeth, as if I were Lenny Dykstra and it was chewing tobacco.  Nothing, that is, except . . .

1) Big League Chew (Grape) – a few weeks ago I had some Grape BLC for the first time in YEARS.  Usually, when you experience or taste something from childhood that you always loved, there is something about it that has diminished or doesn’t feel quite the same.  Fruit Stripe bubblegum is like this.  Grape BLC is not like this.  It was better than ever. 

Honorable Mentions: 

Double Bubble

Wrigley’s Spearmint

Trident – Cinnamon

So what’s your favorite bubblegum of all time?

17 Replies to “Tuesday’s Top Ten: Bubblegum Flavors”

  1. Big League Chew was how I consoled myself during the soul-numbing boredom of playing Right Field in little league. Grape flavor and the smell of cut grass are inextricably linked for me.

    Fun post.

    1. Big League Chew definitely helped with the boredom of baseball. Interesting connection with cut grass. Thanks for commenting.

  2. Great list Shawn! I am a HUME gum freak as well. Big League Chew & Hubba Bubba…oh yeah. There are a few important ones that you left off though, and they were some of my favorites:

    1. Bubble Yum – similar to Hubba Bubba, but their watermelon was better (I think it was the spider eggs! – http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/bubbleyum.asp?print=y).

    2. El Bubble – Individually wrapped cigar gum. It wasn’t just about the taste…image is everything!

    2. Blow Pops – Lollipop AND bubble gum all in one! Sour Apple was/is my favorite!

    1. blow pops . . . that’s a tough one, because if they qualify as gum i’m not sure they can be beat. but the candy hybrid may give it an unfair advantage.

      1. awesome. Blow pops are definitely my #1. and they are stupendous as they can be put in both the candy OR gum category.
        not ok with your double bubble choice. that stuff has the potential to break your teeth by just trying to bite thru it :(
        chiclets tho.. now thats some dangerous stuff, one packet is just not enough!!!

  3. Juicy Fruit, hands down. This old man at my childhood church used to give us pieces before the service. On good days, I got too.

    But I will say that while I never thought of it, I do love all of the kinds of gum you mention. In fact, I may have to buy some gum. Thanks.

  4. Right on about the Fruit Stripe, that stuff never lasted long. I remember my parents giving us that on the rare occasions that we went to Green Dragon as a child. I have to agree though that Big League Chew should be number one. Whenever I think of that I remember going into the Nickel Mines store in the summer in my barefeet and mom would let us get a pack of Big League Chew. Even now I can feel that cold tile floor under my feet and I remember and long for how simple childhood was.

  5. Hey Shawn,
    I LOVED bubble tape… you gave me a flashback to the beach snack shack that i would get it from along with my all time favorite childhood candy favorite: Fun Dip. What could be better than dipping a hard stick of sugar into little packets of pink, purple and yellow sugar? Anyway, I have a miserable BLC experience- i had a huge pack of cherry cola big league chew right before a stomach bug and to this day cannot bear one sip of cherry coke… 25 years and counting!
    oh- and I am putting Angle of Repose on my list… just read “Shadow of the Wind”… very interesting and reminded me of Sam Smith- which is always a good thing :)

    1. I think I sense a top ten candy post.

      Sorry about the BLC experience – I actually forgot they did cherry cola.

      And if I remember anything about you or your reading taste I think you will really like Angle of Repose – be sure to let me know what you think of it whenever you do get the chance to read it (honest opinions only, please).

  6. Как хорошо было Адаму: когда он произносил что-нибудь умное, он был уверен, что до него никто этого не говорил.
    What a good thing Adam had. When he said a good thing, he knew nobody had said it before. (С) Twain
    Думаю, Вы уловили к чему я привёл эту цитату…..

  7. Wow.. Great post! Also the act of chewing speeds up our heartbeat and blood pressure just enough to wake up both left-and right hemispheres to work together. Anyway, thanks for posting!

  8. I agree.. Besides freshening your breath, bubble gum can relieve boredom and increase your ability to concentrate on things. It can even make you smarter by improving your short-term memory.

  9. ¡Gran poste! Gracias por tardar la época de escribir algo que está realmente digno de la lectura. Encuentro demasiado a menudo el Info inútil y no algo que es realmente relevante. Gracias por su trabajo duro.

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