Spruce Gum

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The resin for spruce gum comes from the black spruce tree, which you can easily identify by its ashy, blue-green needles.
The resin for spruce gum comes from the black spruce tree, which you can easily identify by its ashy, blue-green needles.
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Small, egg-shaped cones are another identifying characteristic of the tree.
Small, egg-shaped cones are another identifying characteristic of the tree.

Ninety years ago, a person could walk into almost any general store in America, plop down a penny or two, and pick up a trim little package of spruce chewing gum. There was even a choice of brands, such as Kennebec, Yankee, 200Lump, and American Flag … to name just a few. People were accustomed to the unsweetened, woodsy taste of spruce gum, and their demand for it supported a thriving industry boasting nationwide distribution.

But then came the “modern” chews–which were softer, sweeter, and less expensive to manufacture–and they soon took over the market. By 1910 the spruce gum industry had been reduced to little more than a few “kitchen stove” operations with very small outputs and only scattered distribution. And so it remains to this day.

Find It!

The limited availability of the prepared product need not stand in the way, however, of your spruce gum enjoyment, since it’s actually quite easy to make your own! Moreover, the black spruce tree (Picea mariana), the source of raw spruce gum, has a large enough range to make it available to most Americans … who’ll either live within the tree’s native area or encounter the evergreen while on their travels.

You’ll find this conifer in Alaska, much of Canada, New England, central Pennsylvania, western New York, the coast of New Jersey, western Maryland, central Wisconsin, northeast Minnesota, the south peninsula of Michigan, and–sporadically–along the Appalachians as far south as North Carolina.

  • Published on Jan 1, 1981
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