Who Is The Father Of Chewing Gum

William Wrigley Jr., now referred to as the “father of chewing gum,” made chewing gum known to the world. He is known for his Wrigley Chewing Gum and starting the William Wrigley Jr Company, a manufacturing business without even going to college. The company took previously invented gum, and made it into its own very successful business. William Wrigley Jr. was born on September 30, 1861 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were William Wrigley and Mary A. Ladley Wrigley. He was the oldest of nine children. Four of his siblings were Byron, Anna Jennie, Edward, Charles. His dad, William Wrigley, was a successful soap maker who opened, owned, and was president of the Wrigley Manufacturing Company. Their number one product was Wrigley’s
This back fired on him when he lost his train ticket, and had to return to his dad and continue to work for him. Wrigley got married at a young age to a girl named Ada, and had two kids: a daughter named Dorothy then a son, Phillip Knight Wrigley. Shortly after having his daughter, he moved his family to Chicago in hopes of starting his own soap company there at the age of twenty-nine. He named it the William Wrigley Jr Company. Wrigley went to Chicago with only $32. That was not enough money, but his uncle offered him a loan to get started, and in return, Wrigley had to partner with his uncle’s son. So Wrigley partnered with his cousin to get the business started. The business opened on April 1, 1891.
William Wrigley Jr. came up with the idea to give a bonus or premium with all the soap he sold. When someone got soap, he would get some baking powder as well. As a result of this, Wrigley commonly said, “Everybody likes something extra, for
Wrigley decided that because no other company had been successful in selling their mint gum (at this point in time) that his business would mainly focus on advertising Wrigley’s Spearmint gum. The company made the recognizable Wrigley’s Spearmint logo. He put a huge amount of money in advertising in this product, and even though it was during the great depression, it was worth it. He put a total of $248,000 in advertising Spearmint gum and made a profit of over $1 million just off of the Spearmint gum he sold in 1910. Today it is sold in North, Central, and South America, all over Europe, and many Asian countries. Wrigley’s Chewing Gum became the number one gum company with revenue of $3 million with all the flavors of his gum