Bowman Gum

Bowman Gum Company was a Philadelphia-based manufacturer of bubble gum and trading cards in the period surrounding World War II founded by Jacob Warren Bowman. Originally known as Gum, Inc., the company produced a series of cards known as the "Play Ball" sets each year from 1939 to 1941. Production halted after the United States entered the war, and the company did not return to making baseball, football, and other sports-related trading cards until 1948, then under the Bowman name.

In 1948, they were competing against Leaf Candy Company which left the marketplace in 1950, and in 1950 sold $1 million in baseball cards. For a few years, Bowman was the leading producer of baseball cards, but was overtaken by Topps Chewing Gum. After a period in which the two fought to sign players to exclusive contracts for their cards, Topps bought out Bowman in 1956 for $200,000. Much later, the Bowman brand was resurrected by Topps in 1989 to use on some of its subsidiary sports card sets. In recent years, the Bowman company has become known for being a top brand in making Rookie Cards.

Jacob Warren Bowman, a U.S. chewing gum salesman, started his own company, Gum, Inc., in Philadelphia in 1927. Gum, Inc. started producing Blony bubble gum which immediately became the top selling penny bubble gum in the United States in 1929. The Blony trademark was registered by Bowman on January 13, 1931 (filed June 30, 1930). In 1937, Blony had 60 percent of the sales of bubble gum sold in the U.S., largely due to the fact that, weighing 210 grains, it was the largest piece of bubble gum sold for a penny. With the advertisement "Three Big BITES for a penny", Blony made Gum, Inc. "the biggest firm in the U. S. catering exclusively to the penny gum trade" according to a 1937 Time magazine article. By then, Gum, Inc. occupied five floors and the basement of a building on Woodland Avenue in Philadelphia. Blony gum came with color trading cards on various topics. A 1938 example was a series on battles of the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War. The motto "To know the HORRORS OF WAR is to want PEACE" appeared on each card, but children nicknamed the series "War Gum".

Franklin V. Canning became a partner with Bowman in 1930. Canning, a New York druggist who supplied the pink bubble gum base material to Gum, Inc., supplied working capital in return for 50 percent (250 shares) of the company stock. A subsidiary of The William Wrigley Jr. Company developed a better gum base in 1932, which sold for less than Canning's base. President Bowman demanded that Canning reduce the price of the gum base, which resulted in altercations between the two and ended in Bowman being ousted from the company in 1936. In July 1937, Bowman returned to the company after a long, bitter legal battle which ended in the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court upholding his reinstatement as president of the company. Gum, Inc. had earnings of $49,000 on sales estimated at about $800,000 in the first six months of 1937. In September 1937, Bowman's estranged second wife, Ruth, filed a suit against Bowman for part ownership of Gum, Inc., claiming a verbal agreement to a half-interest in his holdings.

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