Manasi gathered the gum that she was chewing into a ball and pursing her lips blew the biggest bubble she ever had. Dadi was watching her intently all the time. Well I am in for a rebuke, she thought. But all that Dadi said was, 'When I was young, we had chewing gum too, but not the kind we could blow bubbles with.' Manasi was so overcome with surprise that she stopped chewing. She just could not imagine Dadi, with some of her teeth gone, as a young girl who had chewed gum. She exclaimed, 'But Dadi, surely chewing gum is not that old!' 'Well,' smiled Dadi, 'It is that old and even more. In fact, chewing gum is thousands of years old!' She went on to relate the story of chewing gum.

In Sweden, in 1993, the skeleton of a teenager was found. He was nine thousand years old and in his mouth was gum made of tree-sap sweetened with honey. It is the first-known chewing gum in the world.

The ancient Greeks chewed gum called 'mastica'. It was also a type of tree-sap. They believed chewing it kept them healthy. Women used it in order to sweeten their breath. Then in the 1st Century A. D. Mayan Indians discovered 'chicle' It was a gummy substance made from the sap of sapodilla trees. They wrapped it in leaves and popped it into their mouths. You might call it, if you like, the first packet of chewing gum! When the English came to America, they offered it to them, but it took a few hundred years after that to become really popular. It all started with a Mexican general, Antonio Santa Anna, who set himself up as a dictator in Mexico. When he was deposed, he took refuge in New York, taking with him a very large wad of chicle, which he was in the habit of chewing in times of stress. When it was safe for him to go back, he left the chicle behind. Thomas Adam, his friend, thought he could make a new kind of rubber with it. He failed in doing this, but what he did have on his hands was an improved version of Santa Anna's chewing gum. It was put to testing in a candy store and became an instant hit. The gum was made into ribbons and notched at regular intervals. Shop-keepers simply broke off pieces and sold them.

The sale of chewing gum was taken to a new high by William Wrigley. A high school drop-out, he became a successful traveling salesman. In order to boost sales of baking powder, he gave away free gifts. With each can of baking powder, he offered two sticks of chewing candy. People flocked to him not so much for the baking powder as for the gum. He now decided to concentrate on selling gum. He hired hundreds of pretty girls who handed out free gum in Chicago and New York. He also had huge electric bill-boards and signs. One of them was a mile long and ran all along the side of a train track. All this made the sale of chewing gum a runaway success.

During World War 11, soldiers were given gum to help them relax. In fact, in 1944, all gum production went to the U.S. army. The soldiers distributed it to children wherever they went. The popularity of gum thus spread to many countries. In fact, chewing gum was even taken into space by the first astronauts.

Many schools however ban or discourage this habit. This is because gum adheres firmly to hard surfaces and is very difficult to remove. Children tend to stick it wherever it suits them. So if you chew gum, make sure not to throw it around carelessly!