Bowman Gum, Inc.
After meeting a salesman on a boat to Detroit, Jacob Warren Bowman decided to
enter the chewing gum business. In 1926, Bowman sold "junk chewing gum" with
premium prizes that included butcher knives and Indian blankets. In 1927, Warren Bowman became part owner of The True Blue Gum Company
in Lansing, Michigan, selling Tri-Mint and Ju-Ce-Kiss for one-cent each.
Warren Bowman left True Blue and purchased 180 pinball machines in
Philadelphia. Bowman hired former Wrigley machinist Charles Dellenbarger to
convert the machines into gum prize dispensers. The plan was economically unfeasible, so Dellenbarger lent a loft shop of older gum equipment to
Bowman. After borrowing $300 from a finance company, Bowman formed The By-Gum
Company in 1928.
Cigarette cards were introduced in 1877 by New York manufacturer Thomas H. Hall. Baseball cards were first sold with chewing gum in 1888 by G&B Gum in New York and H.D. Smith & Co. in Cincinnati. Trading cards were commonly packaged with tobacco products, caramels, or other candies until the introduction of Dubble Bubble from Fleer in 1930. One of the earliest known bubble gum card releases is a baseball and film star series from Marble Bubble Gum Novelties of Philadelphia (W553).
Cigarette cards were introduced in 1877 by New York manufacturer Thomas H. Hall. Baseball cards were first sold with chewing gum in 1888 by G&B Gum in New York and H.D. Smith & Co. in Cincinnati. Trading cards were commonly packaged with tobacco products, caramels, or other candies until the introduction of Dubble Bubble from Fleer in 1930. One of the earliest known bubble gum card releases is a baseball and film star series from Marble Bubble Gum Novelties of Philadelphia (W553).
Bowman and the By-Gum Co. soon began selling bubble
gum under the name Blowney. The By-Gum Co. was succeeded by Gum, Incorporated on May
5, 1932, and the bubble gum was renamed Blony.
In 1932, Gum, Inc. released the Wild West Series (R172), a 24-card collection with a piece
of Blony in each pack. An additional 25 cards were later added, including a premium prize card. Later that year, Bowman oversaw
equipment installation and training for gum manufacturing in Japan. In 1937,
Bowman claimed more than 60% of penny gum sales in America, a figure
disputed by
Fleer sales
manager William B. Hunt.
On February 19, 1938, Gum, Inc. released the Horrors of War series
illustrating the violence of contemporary conflicts around the world. The
cards were conceived by Warren Bowman and designed by George Moll
Advertising, Inc. and art director Charles Steinbacher. The complete set was originally priced at $1. The first series
consisted of 240 pictures with another 48 added later. An estimated 100
million Horrors of War cards were printed. The card series was featured in the May 9, 1938,
issue of Life magazine.
The Japanese embassy protested the depictions of battles in China during the
Second Sino-Japanese War. The U.S. State Department approved of the card
series for highlighting the 1937 sinking of the USS Panay by Japanese
bombers. On May 20, 1938, a shipment of Horrors of War cards was
seized in Yokohama. Bowman theorized that the cards were reshipped from
Manilla or Hawaii by Chinese merchants "to make propaganda." Warren Bowman
was banned from the empire and denounced as an enemy of Japan.
Gum, Inc. released popular Play Ball baseball card sets each year
from 1939–1941. The high series printing of the 1940 Play Ball set
contains six different advertisements for
Superman Gum. Newspaper advertisements for Downy Flake Donuts offered free
Superman Gum and cards as early as October 3, 1940. The 72-card
Superman Gum series was illustrated by Fred Ray.
In 1941, Gum, Inc. issued various national defense themed sets and a
132-card War Gum series. During
World War II,
latex and chicle supplies were diverted to the defense effort, sugar was
being rationed to households, and paper scrap drives were held to salvage
pulp. American Chicle, Beech-Nut, Leaf, Walla Walla, and Wrigley were
contracted by the government to supply gum for military rations. Gum, Inc.
was forced to temporarily suspend production until 1944. After D-Day, gum
from American and Canadian soldiers became widely popular throughout the
Netherlands.
In March 1944, Gum, Inc. rebranded as Bowman Gum, Inc. Post-war marketing
shifted towards adults and chewing gum. The field sampling staff was
mostly comprised of unpaid female volunteers that reported taste test
findings to the sales department. Surveys indicated that more people
preferred Warrens Mint Cocktail gum over competitor brands. An extensive
advertising campaign for Cin-A-Mint, Fruit Cocktail, and Mint Cocktail
included celebrity endorsements from Esther Williams, Jinx Falkenburg, Lady Iris
Mountblatten, and Lana Turner.
Worldwide supply chains remained irregular after the war. Bowman resumed
bubble gum production in January 1947, marketing fruit-flavored Bub. In
July 1947, Topps Chewing Gum introduced Bazooka bubble gum.
Bowman sports cards returned in 1948 with the first NBA card series, as well as sets for MLB and NFL
players. Former Bowman vice president Edward P. Fenimore, Sr. formed the
Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corporation and released a series of baseball
cards with the Swell brand. In June 1948, former Bowman chemist Harlan H.
Hill founded the
Fo-Lee Gum Corp.
in Philadelphia. Fo-Lee Gum produced a new Superman Bubble Gum, a license
previously held by Bowman.
Fleer,
Leaf, and Topps began competing with Bowman for exclusive rights to
professional athletes. Leaf released baseball and football sets in 1948
and Bowman pursued legal action for contract interference. A settlement
was reached and Leaf agreed to cease production.
In 1950, Bowman released colorful baseball and football sets designed by
George Moll Advertising, Inc. On April 13, 1951, rookie slugger Mickey
Mantle signed a $100 contract to appear on Bowman cards.
In May 1951, Warren Bowman sold his interests to Haelan Laboratories, Inc.
Bubble gum card sales dropped roughly 15% from 1951–1952. Topps
aggressively pursued licensing deals to control the market.
While a legal battle ensued between Haelan and Topps in 1955, Haelan was acquired
by Connelly Containers. On January 20, 1956, Bowman Gum and the
player contracts were purchased by Topps for $200,000. The Bowman brand
was immediately discontinued. Blony bubble gum remained in production
until 1972.
Jacob Warren Bowman passed away on February 9, 1962, in St. Petersburg,
Florida, at the age of 67.
In 1977, Topps employees Woody Gelman and Len Brown released
The Great Old Bubble Gum Cards and Some Cigarette Cards. The punch-out book contains perforated reprints of cards from
American Beauties, Horrors of War, Lone Ranger Gum,
Mickey Mouse Bubble Gum, and
Superman Gum. Gelman and Brown created the popular Mars Attacks trading cards
for Topps. Gelman is also the co-creator of Bazooka Joe and associate
editor of Jefferson Burdick's 1960 edition of
The American Card Catalog: The Standard Guide on All Collected Cards
and Their Values.
Three prototype Bowman cards were glued to pages of the
1956 Baseball Card Preference Study, a 24-page report from S. E.
Zubrow Company. The prototypes were shown to 324 boys in Chicago,
New York, and Philadelphia. One of the designs later appeared in a 1958 baseball series from Hires Root Beer. Two copies of the report were rediscovered in
1983 among the personal files of Woody Gelman. The prototype designs were later used in the 2003 Bowman Heritage Baseball '56 Edition
from Topps.
The Bowman brand remained dormant until Topps released the 1989 Comeback
Edition of Bowman Baseball Bubble Gum Cards. Topps stopped
including bubble gum with retail card releases after 1991. Modern Bowman trading card sets
are known for issuing the first cards of young sports prospects.
| Gum, Inc. : 1933–1944 | |||
| 1932–1933 | R172 | Wild West | 49 |
| 1933 | PX3 | Double Header Buttons | 43 |
| 1935 | R48-1 | Film Funnies | 24 |
| 1935 | R48-2 | Film Funnies | 24 |
| 1935–1937 | R60-1 | G-Men & Heroes of the Law | 168 |
| 1935 | R89 | Mickey Mouse Bubble Gum | 96 |
| 1935 | R90 | Mickey Mouse with the Movie Stars | 24 |
| 1936 | R109 | Pirate's Picture | 72 |
| 1938 | R189 | Tintype Cartoons | 24 |
| 1938–1939 | R69 | Horrors of War | 288 |
| 1939 | R334 | Play Ball | 161 |
| 1939–1940 | R165 | War News Pictures | 144 |
| 1939 | R173 | World In Arms | 48 |
| 1940 | R83 | Lone Ranger Gum | 48 |
| 1940 | R335 | Play Ball | 240 |
| 1940–1941 | R145 | Superman Gum | 72 |
| 1941 | R336 | Play Ball | 72 |
| 1941 | V277 | Home Defence | 48 |
| 1941 | R157 | Uncle Sam | 96 |
| 1941 | R158 | Uncle Sam's Home Defense | 48 |
| 1941–1942 | R164 | War Gum | 132 |
| 1944 | R59 | American Beauties | 24 |
| Bowman Gum : 1948–1956 | |||
| 1948 | R405 | Basketball | 72 |
| 1948 | R406-1 | Baseball | 48 |
| 1948 | R701-9 | Movie Stars | 36 |
| 1948 | R407-1 | Touchdown | 108 |
| 1949 | R701-6 | America Salutes the FBI - Heroes of the Law | 36 |
| 1949 | R406-2 | Baseball | 240 |
| 1949 | R701-4 | Movie Flip Book Pre-Vue | 24 |
| 1949 | R406-3 | Pacific Coast League (PCL) | 36 |
| 1949–1950 | R701-18 | Wild Man | 72 |
| 1949–1950 | R701-19 | Wild West | 180 |
| 1950 | R406-4 | Baseball | 252 |
| 1950 | R407-2 | Football | 144 |
| 1951 | R406-5 | Baseball | 324 |
| 1951 | R701-12 | Fight the Red Menace | 48 |
| 1951 | R407-3 | Football | 144 |
| 1951 | R701-13 | Jets, Rockets, Spacemen | 108 |
| 1952 | R406-6 | Baseball | 252 |
| 1952 | R407-4-1 | Football Small | 144 |
| 1952 | R407-4-2 | Football Large | 144 |
| 1952 | R701-14 | Television and Radio Stars of NBC | 36 |
| 1952 | R701-7 | Uncle Miltie | 36 |
| 1952 | R701-17 | U.S. Presidents | 36 |
| 1953 | R701-1 | Antique Autos | 48 |
| 1953 | R406-7 | Color Baseball | 160 |
| 1953 | R406-8 | Black & White Baseball | 64 |
| 1953 | R701-3 | Firefighters | 64 |
| 1953 | R407-5 | Football | 96 |
| 1953 | R701-5 | Frontier Days | 128 |
| 1953 | R701-15 | Television and Radio Stars of NBC | 96 |
| 1954 | R406-9 | Baseball | 224 |
| 1954 | R407-6 | Football | 128 |
| 1954 | R701-10 | Power for Peace | 96 |
| 1954 | R701-16 | U.S. Navy Victories | 48 |
| 1955 | R406-10 | Baseball | 320 |
| 1955 | R407-7 | Football | 160 |
| 1955 | R701-8 | Magic Pictures | 240 |
| 1956 | 1956 Baseball Card Preference Study | 3 | |
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Allen, Frank Hales. "Penny Sales Pay Dollar Dividends." Nation's Business, vol. 26, no. 8, August 1938, pp. 33–36, 68–69.
Bolt, Jr., B.A. "Domestic market wide open, penny gum invades 5c. field." Printers Ink, 14 July 1944, pp. 22, 80–83.
"Bowman's Bub." Pathfinder, vol. 54, no. 19, 10 September 1947, p. 39.
"Bowman's Bubbles." Time, vol. 30, no. 11, 13 September 1937, p. 60.
"Bubble Trouble." Newsweek, vol. 57, no. 26, 26 June 1961, pp. 73–74.
Burdick, J. R. The American Card Catalog: The Standard Guide on All Collected Cards and Their Values. Nostalgia Press, 1960.
"Chewing Gum." Nation's Business, vol. 26, no. 12, December 1938, p. 52.
Cullinane, Leo. "He Drives Parents Crazy." The Saturday Evening Post, 1 November 1947, pp. 20–21, 45–48.
"Food Bargain Parade Ends up at Kuebler's." The Oshkosh Northwestern, 3 October 1940, p. 18.
Gelman, Woody, and Len Brown. The Great Old Bubble Gum Cards and Some Cigarette Cards. New York, Prime Press, 1977.
"Gum, Inc. Changes Name." Advertising Age, vol. 15, no. 13, 27 March 1944, p. 56.
Jamieson, Dave. Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession. New York, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2010.
"Japan seizes Phila. gum for 'propaganda pictures'." The Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 May 1938, p. 3.
Hylton, J. Gordon. "Baseball Cards and the Birth of the Right of Publicity: The Curious Case of Haelen Laboratories v. Topps Chewing Gum." Marquette Sports Law Review, vol. 12, no. 1, Rev. 273, 2001.
"Speaking of Pictures... This is Bubble Gum's War in China." Life, vol. 4, no. 19, May 9, 1938, pp. 4–6.
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Gum, Incorporated v. Gumakers of America, Inc., 12 May 1942.
"Warren Bowman, Gum Maker, Dies." New York Times, 11 February 1962, p. 18.