During the 1920s, Walter E Diemer, an accountant at the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, spent his spare time inventing new recipes.

Advertisement

All of them had to be pink as that was the only food colouring the company had. He claimed his discovery of a formula both pliable enough to blow bubbles and smooth enough not to stick to your teeth was an accident.

Fleer sent a batch of Diemer’s invention to a local sweetshop in 1928, where it sold out in a single day.

Advertisement

Delighted, Diemer personally taught salespeople the correct way to blow ‘Dubble Bubble’ so they could teach clients – and pass on the information to the children of the United States.

This article was first published in the May 2016 issue of History Revealed.
For more fascinating questions and answers, pick up a copy of History Revealed – available in print and for digital devices.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement