A little gum history to chew on.
I just read that Topps will no longer include Bazooka Joe comics with its iconic bubble gum candy. At Blast From The Past we sold our last piece of individual Bazooka gum with the comics last week. I should have held some sort of ceremony, but I’m not sure I could have held back the tears.
I was not a huge fan of chewing gum as a kid, but I never attempted to play a game of baseball without first chomping on a wad of Bazooka. It was essential to improving balance and hand eye coordination. Well, it seemed like it helped.
Though very hokey, I loved the silly little comic episodes of Bazooka Joe and his gang. It was quite a bonus for a product that was already cheap at a penny. The original Topps bazooka gum even had a crease that would allow you to easily divide and share with a friend, so you really got a lot of bang for your buck–or your penny, as was the case.
Fortunately, Abrams publishing had the wisdom to put a collection of the strips in the above pictured book. The timing of the cancellation coinciding with the books release seems fairly odd, but then what decision by the current crop of soulless corporate pencil pushers does not?
I’ll bet Joe would have a clever quip for this situation. But, alas, now we will never know.