‘A nice gift in each packet’. Malabar bubble-gum. 1983. France.
This morning I was surprised to see our office cat Wooof floating inside what can only be described as a pink balloon of bubble-gum.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m floating inside a pink balloon of bubble-gum,” replied the cat.
It seemed perfectly reasonable for me to ask, “Why?”
“I was scanning some adverts for a blog post about bubble-gum and chewing-gum when I stumbled across several old packs of the pink stuff which accidently on purpose fell into my mouth.”
“You mean you’ve been chewing vintage gum again?”
“Yes. Forty-seven pieces to be precise.”
“Gloria Gaynor, Wooof! I know TVTA has been accused of being trapped inside a worthless vintage bubble, but you’ve taken that criticism to a whole new level.”
“If I don’t stop floating upwards I may reach a new level entirely – like outside,” said the cat nervously. “I see you still haven’t replaced the missing roof tiles. How about you poke me with a big stick, quick, before I end up fighting for air space with the starlings, drones and police helicopters.”
“Poke you with a stick?” I said. “I’d hate to deflate your ego dear cat.”
“This is no time for your ridiculous puns.”
“Office cat bubble-pun gum-filled trip to the sun?”
“Just poke me!”
And so I grabbed a nearby bargepole (for some reason we have nine of them in the TVTA office) and I deflated the cat, who landed on the floor with such a wallop that Mrs Coldkettle the tea lady dropped the coffee urn on her big toe and delivered a volley of such fierce oaths that it immediately began to rain. But back to the poor cat… and post-explosion Wooof had made a terrible mess on the office floor – all pink, sticky fur and candyfloss tail and globs of gum and retro adverts strewn about like an 80s Barbie party gone mad.
“Look at the state of me,” moaned the cat. “How will I get all this gum out of my fur?”
“Looks like I’ll have to leave you in the office fridge-freezer overnight,” I said.
“No way! You know we have an angry polar bear in the fridge!”
“Wooof, stop linking to that old post! It’s ancient history.”
“You’ll be ancient history if you don’t hurry up and get this gum out of my fur.”
“Alright. Calm down. Now, where’s your Hello Kitty grooming brush? I’m afraid this is going to hurt you more than it’s going to hurt me…”
Hours later
So, after much cat-a-wailing the cat finally got de-gummed, and we even had time to finish scanning all those bubble gum and chewing gum adverts he’d found. Phew!
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- Bubble Yum. 1980. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1981. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1983. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1981. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1981. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1982. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1982. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1982. US.
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- Bubble Yum. 1983. US.
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- Punch ‘n Juicy. 1983. US.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1979. US.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1980. US.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1981. UK.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1980. UK.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1984. UK.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1980. Denmark.
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- Hubba Bubba. 2005. US.
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- Hubba Bubba. 1981. UK.
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- Bazooka. 1978. France.
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- Bazooka. 1980. UK.
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- Bubbly. 1978. UK.
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- Bubbly. 1983. UK.
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- Sor-Bits. 1986. Sweden.
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- Sor-Bits. 1981. Denmark.
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- Fantastic Four. 1983. US.
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- Brach’s Gum Dingers. 1986. US.
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- Blow Up. 1983. Denmark.
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- Blow Up. 1983. Denmark.
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- Freshen-Up. 1970s. France.
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- Soft. 1987. Denmark.
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- Stimorol. 1986. Denmark.
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- Stimorol. 1984. Denmark.
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- Jawbreakers. 1985. UK.
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- Rain-Blo. 1987. US.
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- Wrigley’s. 2001. US.
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- Pac-Man bubble-gum dispenser. 1983. UK.
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- Malabar. 1985. France.
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- Malabar. 1985. France.
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- Dandy. 1970. Denmark.
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- Bubblicious. 1983. UK.
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- Onion gum. 1969. US.
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- Hollywood Spring Gum. 1980. France.
Hollywood chewing gum 2001 Star Wars promotion
Hollywood Star Wars promotion. 2001. France. Front of box.
Hollywood Star Wars promotion. 2001. France. Rear of box collectable images.
That’s all from us today folks. Beep-beep!
Thank you for masticating with us 🙂
Malabar gum. 1983. France.
The Vintage Toy Advertiser 
When Hubba Bubba first came out, I was beyond frustrated that it wasn’t available in Canada, only in the USA, where it was advertised on Saturday morning TV, and in comic books.
After about 2 years of waiting, I finally found it… in a vending machine, on the first observation level of the Eiffel Tower, during a family trip to Europe. Even at the tender age of 10, I saw the irony in having to travel thousands of miles across the ocean to get something that was available just across the border from Canada.
As I chewed my first piece of it, I discovered it delivered what it promised: long-lasting flavour, and big bubbles that didn’t stick to my face. During that trip to Europe, I also got Hubba Bubba in Venice, where it sold for 25 lire (about 2.5c) a pack.
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Hi Larynxa. What a cool Hubba Bubba story! So crazy you ended up having your first taste of it in Europe after a two-year wait lol! Some things are worth waiting for, ay? So cool you found it in a vending machine, too. I’ve never seen that.
My memories of it in the UK are as you say – it had a long-lasting flavour, and I loved how it was rock-hard to begin with then mellowed in your mouth as you chewed. Alas, I was rubbish at blowing bubbles!
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers, TVTA
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Hey mate, your prose is constantly sharper and of higher level !
Guess that pink bubble works after all…
Have a great weekend.
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Thanks so much my friend, what a cool compliment! You have yourself a good weekend too. I’m off looking for more gum now 🙂
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Hubby Bubba and Bubbly were big bubblegum hits at my family home when I was a kid. Bubbly might have just pipped it.
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Yes, Bubbly was very popular but I’d forgotten about it till I saw the ad – instant nostalgia blast 🙂
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Hi TVTA, If I didn’t know better I would swear you make up these (cat) tails but I do know how crazy your office is! Back to the ads, I remember the old Hubba Bubba and as Jacob says the flavour didn’t last long. I was lucky as my mother used to run the local church’s Youth Club and it had a snack bar so I had many visits to the wholesale warehouse to buy sweets to stock the bar. And we used to buy Bubbly Tongue Twisters!
But I don’t recall seeing those Star Wars promo packs of Hollywood, I’d have bought a set in an instant! Thanks as always.
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Hi FT. Yes, the office is as crazy as ever. I didn’t know the Bubbly Tongue Twisters. Some chewing gum I remember is Orbit, Freedent and Airwaves.
The Hollywood Star Wars collection was available in France, not sure if it went out elsewhere in the world. I have some Empire Strikes Back Topps cards which also came with gum – have to see if I have a pic of those to add as a late entry 🙂
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Hi TVTA, I never saw the Star Wars Hollywood packs in the UK or I’d have pounced. I did see the Topps packs but my parents didn’t like those card games because “you’ll only argue with your brothers over who owns which cards…you’re not having any!” so I didn’t get them.
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Topps were good. I had some Star Wars ones, Battlestar Galactica and Superman The Movie. I also remember having packs of football trading cards which came with a stick of gum too.
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Hi TVTA, I tried to get a few of these trading card and “TopTrumps” stats gaming cards but my parents didn’t like them (or Panini football sticker albums) as they said they just caused arguments. I’ve managed to get a few packs since my childhood days to make up for lost time.
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Punch ‘n’ Juicy did make me chuckle 🙂 Growing up my sisters always seemed to have a stash of Hubba-Bubba, but I remember being a little underwhelmed when I finally got to try some; the flavour seemed to be disappear quickly, and I was beyond hopeless at blowing bubbles. Atomic Apple was nice while it lasted, though, and just the name gets the nostalgia going!
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I remember buying Hubba Bubba and Bazooka. Funny when I saw the ad for Bubbly because I’d forgotten about that one until I saw the wrapper again. Atomic Apple is such a good name, and yes I was also rubbish at blowing bubbles. And whistling ear-splittingly loud through fingers and thumb.
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