You’ve probably chewed gum in all sorts of flavors, colors, and even scents. But did you know that chewing gum originated in the Yucatán Península? Let’s take a journey through its fascinating history.
The Maya origin of chewing gum
The cultural contributions of the pre-Hispanic Maya go far beyond their incredible achievements in astronomy, architecture, and mathematics. One of their creations has reached a global audience and can be found quite literally “in everyone’s mouth”: chewing gum. Bet you didn’t see that one coming! The Maya’s chewing gum, known as sikte’ or cha’, was completely natural—white in color and free of added flavors or sugars.
Evidence of chewing gum use among the Maya dates back to around 200 A.D. Their method of extracting and crafting gum was passed down through generations for centuries and, though less common now, is still practiced in small-scale production today.
It’s worth noting that the Maya weren’t the only civilization to discover the benefits of plant-based resins. According to Serious Eats, ancient Greeks chewed mastic, a substance derived from the lentisk tree, which is common in the Mediterranean. Scandinavians used birch sap, while North Americans favored spruce resin. However, it was the gum from the chicozapote or sapodilla tree that truly conquered the world.
The traditional process of making chewing gum
You are probably asking yourself if the Maya used gum for hygienic reasons. The answer is “yes,” because the chewing gum that they obtained from trees was mainly used to clean the teeth and mouth after eating. Not everybody had access to this product, only the high class, as the government and councils members used it. This custom was transmitted to other regions of México, and there were even commercial trading with gum. That’s is how it reached the Aztecs and later the Spaniards during the conquest. It was used for hygienic purposes all over Europe.
The use of chewing gum among the Maya
The Maya also used chewing gum to relieve hunger and thirst. Over time, its use spread to Aztec territory and beyond. By the time the Spanish arrived in the Americas, Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún documented the “etiquette” surrounding the use of chewing gum as a tool for oral hygiene in his “Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España (General History of the Things of New Spain).” According to him, it was acceptable for young girls to chew gum in public, but adult women were expected to do so in private. As for men, they only chewed gum in secret, so as not to be perceived as effeminate.
Yucatecan gum makes its way to the U.S.
Legend has it that the commercial boom of chewing gum began with an encounter between a young Thomas Adams and former Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna, then in exile in the United States. Initially, the goal was to use gum as a substitute for rubber, but its chewable properties were what truly caught on.
This marked the beginning of a successful export era for the resin produced in the Yucatán Península. It was in high demand by companies like Adams and Wrigley. And when we say “high demand,” it’s no exaggeration. According to the Smithsonian Magazine, between 1880 and 1930, one-fourth of the chicozapote trees in southeastern México had been tapped for their resin; at that rate, they were predicted to have been extinct by the 1970s.
The decline of Yucatán’s gum industry
In the 1950s, however, the invention of synthetic gum replaced natural resin, leading to the economic decline of the chicozapote tree industry. This shift was accompanied by a wave of flavor experimentation by the brands we know today.
Nowadays, the ancestral production methods inherited from the Maya are preserved by brands that aim to commercialize artisanal, biodegradable, and sustainable gum. This allows you to enjoy chewing gum just as it was made 1,800 years ago.
By Violeta H. Cantarell and Yucatán Today
Phots by chicza.com
First published in Yucatán Today print and digital magazine no. 349, in February 2017.
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