There is no denying that we all used to love chewing gum when we were younger.
There were so many different brands about when we were little! I think the thing we loved the most was the fact that chewing gum used to last for ages. There was nothing that gave us more pressure than deciding what we would spend our dinner money on once we’d saved it for the newsagents. We used to skip lunch so we could buy ourselves some treats from the shops on the way home. If you thought ahead, you would invest in some chewing gum. This was because it lasted the longest and you’d still have some for the day after at school. The only issue with taking chewing gum into school was the fact that once one person knew that you had some chewing gum, you weren’t going to have a single piece left. People began swarming round you when word spread that you had some chewing gum! So, when you were giving one of your mates a piece of chewing gum, you REALLY had to do it on the down low so no-one else caught on that you had some. The teachers at school must have had the biggest stash of chewing gum in their desks with the amount they used to confiscate off of us! It was never allowed in the school buildings, was it? I remember me and my friend used to chew ours when the teacher had their back turned whilst they were writing something down on the board.
Did anyone else try and be like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when we were younger and blow big bubbles? I remember once I tried to stick it behind my ear, like she used to, and it got completely stuck in my hair. My mum was completely mortified and had to cut a chunk of my hair off! That was the last time I ever tried doing that! Whatever memories we have from chewing gum, we were definitely blessed with the best ones back in the 80s, weren’t we? Here are 13 different packets of chewing gum that we all used to love when we were younger. This will definitely take you on a trip down memory lane!
1. Beach-nuts
Who remembers these from their youth?! These bring back so many memories from my childhood. My absolute favourite was the spearmint one. I don’t think that I had ever had spearmint before that! I always thought that these were nuts when I first saw them in the Newsagents… and I used to hate ANYTHING that had nuts in them. Whenever anyone asked what I had I would lie and say ‘nuts’ because then I wasn’t technically lying.
2. P.K
I swear that this used to cost about 2p each! Remember the days when everything was so much cheaper?! There was nothing better than buying this for such a cheap price then getting to sit and enjoy it! Peppermint chewing gum… you used to be able to get four pieces at once with these.
3. Dentyne
Me and my friend used to bring this into every maths lesson and try and go through a full lesson without the teacher seeing us chew. We had to chew loads when she turned around to draw on the board. We always used to get caught out! Although we must have had an endless amount of detentions for doing this, we still thought that it was hilarious. It is the little memories like this that you will treasure for life! My mum and dad weren’t best pleased with the amount of detentions I got back in the day, but my Grandma always used to stick up for me and say it was character building!
4. Bazooka
The best part of this bubble gum was the fact that you got a miniature comic with it when you bought it. There was nothing better than this as kids, was there?! I remember I tried to keep all the little comics every time I got one! It was really annoying when you got the same comics multiple times in a row. Either way, it was the small stuff like this that we miss incredible from our childhood, isn’t it? I must still have some of these wrappers in my memory box from when I was younger!
5. Fortune Bubble
Who remembers this from when they were younger?! I absolutely loved this when I was little. I remember it was my aunty that gave me the first piece of this that I ever had. From then this chewing gum always reminded me of her! This was the best because you got a little fortune that came with it, didn’t you? I always thought that the fortune I got told was so significant in my life.. but it never was!
6. Beemans
This was back when all your chewing gum came in little sticks. Who remembers Beemans chewing gum?! I used to love this one. This will forever remind me of my dad, he always used to carry a pack of this around with him. Adults used to buy chewing gum for the real reason to keep their breath clean… I think that us kids used to buy it just so we looked more mature!
7. Gold Rush
Who remembers this when they were younger? There was nothing better than this as kids, was there!? This was my favourite purely because you got your own little cotton bag to keep with it! I remember I used to store all types of weird things in the little cotton bag once I had eaten all of the chewing gum. I used to fill it up with little sweets and sneak it into church sometimes when we weren’t allowed to take sweets.
8. Mini golf balls
These tasted incredible. I used to completely obsessed with these when I was younger!! However, the taste on them really didn’t last that long. They used to make your tongue go so white when you first ate them. They still make these though, thankfully!
9. Topps Bubble Gum
These were the best when we were younger?! Who else used to be completely obsessed with this when they were younger? There was just something so exciting about eating your chewing gum from little cartons! I loved these as kids and I think every 80s kid used to love these!
10. Bubble-yum
Who remembers this from when they were younger? The best part was the name of these, wasn’t it?! I will never forget when I first had Bubble Yum. My mum let me because they actually had no sugar in them!
11. Anglo Bubbly
Who remembers these little ones from when they were younger? You could never just have one of these. It was always a case of buying a few of them and to start eating a new one once the flavour had ran out of the others.
12. Happy tattoo
There was nothing better than this, was there?! I don’t even know what flavour this was as a kid but you got a little free tattoo. I think we all used to buy this just for the fact that we got a free tattoo with it. Who else used to love this one? And if not, which one was your all time favourite to have when you were little?
13. Gold Nuggets
These were exactly like the Gold Rush chewing gum pieces. I don’t know which one of these came first?! With these you also got a little bag to put them in, didn’t you? I think that this was the only reason that I bought these types of chewing gum – for the free bag!