The Origins of Chewing Gum An ancient pleasure People have enjoyed chewing gum-like substances from very early times and in many lands. Some of these materials were thickened resin and the milky juice (latex) from certain kinds of trees. Others were various sweet grasses, leaves, grains, and waxes. For centuries, the ancient Greeks chewed mastic gum (or mastiche, pronounced "mas-tee-ka"). This is the resin obtained from the bark of the mastic tree, a shrub-like tree found mainly in Greece and Turkey. Grecian women, especially, favored chewing mastic gum to clean their teeth and sweeten their breath. Native American treat From the Native Americans of New England, the early colonists learned to chew the gum-like resin that formed on spruce trees when the bark was cut. Lumps of spruce gum were sold in the eastern United States during the early 1800s, making it the first commercial chewing gum in this country. In about 1850, sweetened paraffin wax became popular and eventually exceeded spruce gum in popularity. Chicle, the modern gum Modern chewing gum began in the late 1860s when chicle was brought to the United States and tried as a chewing gum ingredient. Chicle comes from the latex of the sapodilla tree, which grows in the tropical rain forests of Central America. This tree is found mainly in those parts of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize that lie within the Yucatan Peninsula. Gum made with chicle and similar latexes soon won favor over spruce gum and paraffin gum. It made possible a smooth, springy, satisfying chew that the others lacked, and it held flavors longer and better. By the early 1900s, with improved methods of manufacturing, packaging, and marketing, modern chewing gum was well on its way to its current popularity.