The Post Quiz: Chewing Gum - Answers

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Some facts to chew on.

The Post Quiz: Chewing Gum

Blowing bubbles.

Chewing gum. In German, Kaugummi. Which might explain its lack of popularity there. Schoolteachers and janitors hate the stuff. Do you remember when your older relatives taught you how to blow bubbles, thus thoroughly disgusting your mom? Sure, you do.

Here are the answers to the quiz.

  1. Who invented chewing gum? The Aztecs. Early Spanish explorers were simply amazed.
  2. Why were the first commercial gums pink? It's the only food colouring the manufacturer had on hand. It became a popular 'chewing gum' colour.
  3. What record was set on 19 July 1994 by Susan Montgomery Williams of Fresno, California? The world's largest gum bubble. Twenty-three inches in diameter. She didn't do it in metric, she was in California.
  4. Why should you chew gum while preparing food? You won't cry while chopping onions. This handy household tip is a public service of the h2g2 Post.
  5. Why was the 1906 product Blabber Blubber unsuccessful? It was too sticky. Ugh, enough said.
  6. Who spread chewing gum around the planet? American GIs. One German author remarked that this was the most terrifying aspect of the US Army on the march: the constantly moving jaws.
  7. How long does it take chewing gum to dissolve in your stomach? Trick question: it doesn't. That stuff stays around for days. Your mom was right. Spit it out.
  8. Will chewing gum make you smarter? Possibly. Chewing has been shown to improve memory.
  9. Why did chewing gum become so popular in the US in the 1920s? It covered up 'alcohol breath'. During Prohibition, sales shot up.
  10. What was the problem with chewing gum in the Soviet Union before 1976? It was illegal. Mind you, you could chew in Prague. The Czechs started making their own in 1957.

We bet you chewed that quiz up and spit it out. At least, we hope you didn't swallow it. Pass the word along, and share these intellectual titbits.

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Post Quiz and Oddities Archive

Dmitri Gheorgheni

03.03.14 Front Page

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