American Chicle Company

The American Chicle Company was a chewing gum trust founded by Edward E. Beeman and Jonathan Primle.^[1]

History

It was incorporated in Trenton, New Jersey on June 2, 1899.^[1] Its market capitalization was $9,000,000 with one third of its stock preferred and 6% cumulative dividends. The business was composed of the chewing gum concerns in Brooklyn, New York (Adams Sons & Company), Cleveland, Ohio (W.J. White & Sons), Chicago, Illinois (J.P. Primley), Louisville, Kentucky (Kis-Me Gum Company), and Toronto, Ontario (S.T. Britten & Co.).^[2] The corporation operated factories and gum forests in Yucatan.^[3]

American Chicle utilized Dancer Fitzgerald Sample in 1950 to promote its products via radio, newspapers, and television.^[4] American Chicle was acquired by the pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert in 1962; Warner-Lambert was acquired by Pfizer in 2000.

The American Chicle Company was renamed Adams in 1997; it is currently owned by Cadbury, who purchased Pfizer's candy brands in 2003. The unit is now known as Cadbury Adams. Many of American Chicle's brands are out of production.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Chewing Gum Has Stuck Around For A Long Time". Deseret News. April 24, 1988. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=NewsLibrary&p_multi=DSNB&d_place=DSNB&p_theme=newslibrary2&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F35F6DBD54174BD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2010-12-14. "Adams and other chewing gum giants of the 19th century Dr Edward E Beeman and Jonathan Primley founded American Chicle in 1899 ..." 
2. ^ The Chewing Gum Trust, New York Times, June 3, 1899, pg. 3.
3. ^ American Chicle, Wall Street Journal, December 16, 1901, pg. 3.
4. ^ Advertising News and Notes, New York Times, July 25, 1950, pg. 42.