How America's obsession with chewing gum began with the Maya & supported our regional economy before tourism

     Before tourism came to the coastal regions of Quintana Roo, chicle harvesting was one of the main industries that fueled the economy of the area for over half a century. Chicle was used in the manufacturing of chewing gum until the 1950's, and is a natural latex produced by the sapodilla tree to protect itself from insects and animals.
     In 1898, Puerto Morales was established (20 miles south of present-day Cancun) to serve as an international port for shipping chicle (called Punta Corcha). At an inland jungle village west of the port, chiclero workers cooked the sap down into a white resin, molded it into bricks, and transported it to the coast in rail cars, drawn by horses or mules, for export to the United States. Another rail line brought the bricks of chicle to Puerto Juarez. (Isla Mujeres had been founded a half-century earlier in 1850.)
     For centuries, the Maya extracted chicle sap from the hardy sapodilla trees, which thrive in the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula. These huge, slow growing evergreens, also called "chicozapote", reach over 30 feet in height. The Maya had many uses for their very sticky resin, and exported it to other areas of Mexico. The Aztecs (Mexicas) use of chicle was documented by the Spanish, who noted that their prostitutes chewed it to distinguish themselves in public, and that it was given to children at home to clean their teeth. The Maya called their white, unflavored gum "tsictle " (also spelled "tziktli") or "sicté", which means "essential fluid" or "sticky stuff", and this is said to be the origin of the word chicle.

Americans "invent" chewing gum (adding flavor & making it commercial)
     In 1869, an American inventor was introduced to chicle by ex-Mexican president (and Alamo victor) General Santa Ana, who was visiting New York in hopes of raising money for an army to fight Maximilian, then Emperor of Mexico. The 74 year old former dictator, who chewed chicle, wanted the inventor to develop it as an alternative to rubber. Thomas Adams tried to make tires, toys, masks, and rain boots, but every experiment failed, until he was inspired to add flavoring to the chicle. Two years later, he was selling Adams New York Gum in drug stores, creating a family fortune, and General Santa Ana died penniless
     In 1898, the William Wrigley Jr. Company was founded and became a huge success, after advertising their product by sending packages of spearmint chewing gum to each of the 1.5 million people in the U.S. phone directory. Americans embraced this 'new' product, which became a symbol for baseball, movie stars, adolescent rebellion, and "attitude". Chewing gum was one of the first mass produced products of the 20th century, and one of the first to be featured on billboards (shaped like gum wrappers). When William Wrigley died, he was one of the ten richest men in America, and today his great grandson consistently appears on the Forbes list as one of the 50 richest Americans.
     Meanwhile in the Yucatan, this boom funded an indigenous revolution, with Mayan rebels using the cash it generated to continue the rebellion that began as the "Caste War". The largest stands of sapodilla trees were located in the Territory of Quintana Roo and black marketeers in nearby Belize were eager to exchange the bricks of chicle for arms, ammunition and alcohol, as well as providing opportunities for tax evasion to the intermediaries.
     In Quintana Roo, the chicle industry was a major source of employment, and fluctuations in price had a huge impact on local economies, leaving workers at the mercy of the American companies. Many laborers worked within a system of debt-servitude, where the chicle extraction companies purchased all of their food, clothing and equipment, and they were often unable to make enough money to cover these costs.
     To harvest the resin, chicleros climb the tall trees, slashing into the bark with a machete as they go up, leaving permanent scars, and the sap drains into a container at the base of the trunk. The season lasts from June to February, and the trees need to rest for at least five years between harvests. The workers lived in isolated camps in the jungle, working long days that started before dawn. They were frequently bit by snakes and disease-carrying insects, and often suffered from malaria, yellow fever, and a disease known as chiclero’s ulcer, which was similar to leprosy and ate away their skin if left untreated. There was no medical care available in the jungle when they suffered machete accidents and falls from trees. The chicleros were frustrated by their poor working and living conditions, and found they had few options for negotiating with their employers, except through uprisings.
     The chicle camps had a reputation for violence and fatal machete fights. After long, difficult periods of camping in the inhospitable jungle doing solitary, dangerous work, many chicleros traveled to local towns with pockets full of money and a need to blow off steam. Public drunkenness and disruptive behavior affected public opinion, and they were seen as people to be avoided. However, other chicleros had wives and children, avoided trouble, and made their living simply, in the solitude of the forest.
     In their daily work, chicleros came across numerous archaeological sites under the cover of the jungle, and for nearly a century, archaeologists often hired them as guides. Some of the most important Mayan cities, including Bonampak with its famous murals, were found with the aid of chicleros.
     During World War I, the US military began including gum in soldiers rations, spreading the habit around the world. Gum chewing was said to reduce tension, help keep soldiers alert, and distract them from thirst and hunger. Europeans quickly adopted the habit and US exports of gum to Europe soared from $200,000 before the war to nearly $2 million dollars afterwards.
     In 1918, American companies were given seven large land grants in the Territory of Quintana Roo, and three grants were given to Mexican companies. Production in the Territory leaped from 50 tons in 1917 to 350 tons in 1918. Within four years, workers were extracting over 1000 tons and chicle was one of Mexico's largest exports.
     This boom was having a significant political effect in Quintana Roo, where the Cruzob Maya had been rebelling against the whites, mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous blood) and the Mexican government since the time of the Caste war (1847-1901). After half a century of maintaining their military and arms by trading hardwoods with the British in Belize, the rebel Maya quickly realized that chicle was more profitable and easier to smuggle.
      By the ‘boom’ years of the late 1920s there were over fifteen hundred chicleros working at ‘Central Vallarta’, which was just one of six camps along the 40 km. railroad line to Puerto Morelos. During the 1920s, more than six thousand chicleros arrived from other parts of Mexico and Central America. (The 1910 census had reported there were 9100 inhabitants in Quintana Roo.)
      Across the bay from Isla Mujeres, Puerto Juarez was serviced by a 50 km railway. These narrow-gauge railroads were powered by horses or mules and many of them were built upon the ancient roads of the Maya. Due to the difficulty of penetrating the dense jungle, their construction was expensive, and cost many lives, when the political prisoners who were used as laborers succumbed to the harsh conditions or the bullets of rebel Maya snipers. At this time, Quintana Roo still lacked roads across most of the Territory.
      The Mexican government attempted to protect the lucrative chicle industry from within by appointing Cruzob Maya leader Francisco May as a military commander in 1917. (That name may sound familiar because one of the main villages in the mainland part of the municipality of Isla Mujeres is named for him.) He was given 20,000 hectares of land, control of the railroads from Santa Cruz, and a monopoly on the lucrative aguardiente (cane liquor) sales in his area, as well as regional power to govern, tax and punish. He used his newfound authority to his advantage and became a liaison for several of the gum manufacturers, including Wrigley's. He controlled the local chicle trade, provided armed protection for the camps, and convinced the Governor to build several new schools. In 1929, due to abuses of power, his authority was revoked.
      Later that year, chiclero workers in Quintana Roo staged a revolt against the inhumane working conditions and a federal battalion of 350 men was dispatched from Veracruz to Cozumel to quell the rebellion, as well as military detachments to guard the chicle collection centers. Along the coasts, Belizean pirates were raiding the camps that were preparing to send their cargo to the United States. The Mexican government said the pirates were getting their information about where and when to raid from the chicleros, who were at war with their employers.
       By the early 1940's, the Mexican government had suppressed the Mayan rebels and began regulating the production of chicle through the use of cooperatives, which included 20,000 workers. The cooperatives were regulated by the government and their sapodilla trees were located on communally owned ejido land and federal land. In 1943, representatives of the chicle cooperatives traveled to the US for negotiations to "discuss and defend the price of chicle, one of the most appreciated wartime materials in the United States".
      As the popularity of chewing gum spread during World War II, chicle supplies became reduced due to chicleros over-extracting the sapodilla trees, causing them to die off. In addition, the U.S. had drastically increased import taxes on raw chicle, causing chewing gum manufacturing companies to seek lower-priced synthetics. The bottom fell out of the chicle industry by the 1950's, leaving a hole in the economy of Quintana Roo, which was filled by the arrival of tourism to the coastal areas several decades later.
      Nowadays, natural chewing gum is making a minor comeback, and there are currently two companies making chicle-based gum. One is the US based company, Verve, who make Glee Gum and the other is the Mexican company Chicza, whose gum is primarily sold in Europe and Asia.
      When the Chiclero Pilot program began in 1994, there were only 1000 chicleros, compared to 20,000 fifty years earlier. The Chiclero Consortium was formed in 2003 by a merger between cooperative groups and rural producers in the states of Quintana Roo and Campeche. In 2007, after experimenting with recipes and ingredients, the Consortium opened their factory and began manufacturing chewing gum.
       The Chicza website says: The Chiclero Consortium, which oversees production, logistics. marketing and financing, has demonstrated that it is possible to have a sustainable chicle harvest, produce Chicza chewing gum, and build a profitable business. The ownership and exploitation of the forests is in the hands of peasants, with a well-defined section for each community. Mr. Piporro, a chiclero, explained, "This has created awareness among the community. We are interested in the conservation of the forest. My grandfather and my dad were both chicleros, and here I am in the same place making chewing gum. We have 108,726 acres of land in an area that is designated as a permanent forest reserve. Livestock raising and cultivation are prohibited. We make chewing gum from trees, but we must know how to do it correctly.”
     In 2012, a Quintana Roo newspaper article reported: "The Chicle season ended in February with the production of 180 tons of natural organic chicle, of which 140 tons were exported to Japan, Italy, Singapore, and Germany. The other 40 tons will be processed under the brand name "Chicza" of the Chicle Consortium, to be sold under the name "Americo" and marketed in European countries. This is an increase of 20% over last year, and includes 1.3 million hectares in Quintana Roo & Campeche, with over 1500 trained producers. The price has increased from 50 pesos per kilo to 60 pesos, with 3 million pesos invested in the Consortium to increase and expand production."
     Nowadays, most Americans chew gum made of a synthetic plastic, polyvinyl acetate, to the tune of nearly 300 sticks per person yearly. Internationally, chewing gum is a $19 billion industry.