Continuing this week with fun posts acknowledging CollectingCandy.com’s two-year anniversary, today we’re presenting a photo spread of unopened Bubble Yum bubblegum packs from the 1970’s! Unlike yesterday, today’s post will be light on historical facts as this is a topic I’m still researching and still hoping to learn a lot more about. So make the jump to get an eyeful of the colorful Bubble Yum packs of the 1970’s!
Before starting, I want to make special note that all but one of the packs photographed for today’s post originate from the amazing Dianne H. Barnes Bubblegum Collection. Dianne’s collection is an extraordinary gathering of bubblegum items spanning over 30 years and containing many pieces I’ve never encountered anywhere else. I’m excited to be taking over as curator of this special collection and as such, you can count on seeing and learning more about it right here in the coming months and years.
Bubble Yum was first sold in the mid-1970’s and is responsible for birthing the soft-chunk gum category, the popularity of which spawned competing brands from other manufacturers like Hubba Bubba and Bubblicious. Though Bubble Yum launched with just one flavor, it would eventually be joined by a second (Grape) and then Spearmint, Tropical Punch, and Wild Cherry – all before the end of the decade. The 1970’s would also produce the very first Sugarless Bubble Yum release.
You may notice some surface wear on the following packs – it’s typical for these types of packages as the wrappers are foil-based and show damage easier than others. I am of the opinion that such surface damage does not detract from their striking, vibrant beauty. With that said, let’s get to em!:
Bubble Yum – Soft ‘n Juicy – 15-cent bubble gum unopened pack – 1976
Bubble Yum – Now Yummier – Regular – bubble gum unopened pack – 1970’s
Bubble Yum – Soft ‘n Juicy – Grape bubble gum unopened pack – 1978
Bubble Yum – New Soft ‘n Juicy – Spearmint bubble gum unopened pack – 1978
Bubble Yum – New Soft ‘n Juicy – Tropical Punch bubble gum unopened pack – 1978
Bubble Yum – New Soft ‘n Juicy – Wild Cherry bubble gum unopened pack – 1979
Bubble Yum – New Sugarless Bubble Yum bubble gum unopened pack – 1979
Those are the individual portraits of each 1970’s Bubble Yum pack. But that’s not everything for today. Next up is a straight-on group shot of all of these 1970’s packs together. [Note that one pack from 1980 made it in – the Sugarless Bubble Yum Strawberry flavor pack – whoops!]:
1970’s Bubble Yum Unopened Packs – Group Shot
Since I had these out and was shooting them, I wanted to have a little fun arranging them in different ways and taking all kinds of photographs. I came away with a nice variety of shots of these wonderful 1970’s Bubble Yum packs that I want to share. I hope you enjoy them:
Bubble Yum Packs of the 70’s
Bubble Yum Packs of the 1970’s
Here’s that 1980 Sugarless Strawberry pack sneaking in again!
Bubble Yum Packs of the 1970’s
Bubble Yum Packs of the 1970’s
Bubble Yum Packs of the 1970’s
Bubble Yum Packs of the 1970’s
Bubble Yum Packs of the 1970’s
And that’s all of ’em. The logo and graphic design of 1970’s Bubble Yum has to rank it as one of the greatest confectionery packages of all-time. If you were around in the 1970’s, these are iconic.
That’s everything for today’s post and our photographic look back at Bubble Yum packs of the 1970’s. Stop back tomorrow for another special CollectingCandy.com two-year anniversary post.
See you next time!
Bubble Yum Packs of the 70’s – behind-the-scenes
Great post! I always loved that logo too many memories tied in with that package – cool to hear you’re taking over that collection. It’s going into good hands. I hope when you eventually open the Collecting Candy Museum (it’s gotta happen eventually, right?) I can make it to the grand opening. Side note, I would love to see your filing system sometime. Look forward to tomorrows post!
so great! the 1970’s was a pretty special era for packaging.
Hi Jason –
Definitely agree on significance of Bubble Yum and the impact of its design. So much of what was available up to this time was more or less ‘Mom and Dads’ varieties (Wrigleys types), with the exceptions of Rain Blo or others like Bazooka. The consistency of a ‘soft chunk’ of Bubble Yum was a new concept to me at the age of 11, and I made the trip thru the woods and somewhat dangerous terrain to the ‘Open Pantry’ store about a mile from where I lived to load up on Bubble Yum – every paper route collecting day. Other gums of that time – like Fruit Stripe – lost flavor so quickly, but bubble Yum had true staying power ! Grape and regular were my favorites, but I did buy Spearmint and Tropical Punch too. An amazing time and great memories when this was released !!
This is an awesome week of posts but it may be hard to top these Bubble Yum pics. Look at those amazing colors & graphics!
I could stare at these pictures all day… It sure brings back that rush of Bubble Yumania from the 70s for me. It’s probably hard for people who didn’t experience it to understand the significance and impact of those original Bubble Yum offerings. Like Ross said, up till that point there were very few gums that didn’t feel like your parents’ or weren’t similar to gumball machine types… Bubble Yum sure was a game-changer.
Thanks Jason – Seeing my all-time favorites so nicely arranged and beautifully photographed is a real treat!
Sheeesh! Dianne H. Barnes gets the credit for collecting all this bubblegum but what about the kid who kept his hands off the stuff? I think he deserves a lot of credit for preserving this collection.
Adam,
Ha ha!! Yes – THANK YOU!! I can only imagine what that must have been like. 🙂
Woah, cool page !! Didn’t even know they did sugarless gum ! Is the 70′ era the first era that seen sugarless candy ? I grow up in a small city, and got diabete in the ’80 era, and sugarless candy was the hell to find. I have no difficulty to think you got difficulty to find those !!
Phil,
Thanks for the comment! I actually have evidence of companies producing sugarless options as far back as the 1960’s.
Amurol, a company best known as a novelty candy & gum manufacturer from the 80’s and 90’s, actually started out in the 60’s as a sugarless gum maker. So sugarless has been around quite a while, though as you said, I suspect it was tough to find.
I plan to devote an article to sugarless candy and gum at some point in the future. I’ve had fun tracking down many of the current name brand sugarless alternatives like Twizzlers, Reese’s PB Cups, and more.
-Jason
oooh I loved them , my dad always got an orange pack for me, before the movie started, this pictures reminded me of good times!!!
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I know things about graphic design and I can appreciate the typeface used for the Bubble Yum logo on those packages. That 1970s font lived well into the 1980s as I remember seeing that in stores and my cousin with packs of those.
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My FAVORITE was the spearmint!!! I remember every time my dad was making a run to the local Tot-A-Way for milk, bread, and cigarettes , I would jump in the car before he did so I could get my pack of Bubble Yum spearmint gum and a roll of SweeTarts! It’s amazing I never got any cavities, but I brushed my teeth all the time. I miss that spearmint gum to this day! When did they stop making it? It just totally disappeared one day, never to be seen again. ♀️
Grape! Someone needs to bring the original form back! So nostalgic for me! I just foun the old kissing potion lipglosses making a comeback these would be great to go with!