# End of an era. Fruit Stripe Gum discontinued **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2024, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937 "2024-01-11T06:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/1 "2024-01-11T06:24:38Z")
They ran a series of commercials in the 60s to introduce the brand. I mainly remember the [animated versions like this](https://youtu.be/lBJFXwJDVzQ?si=9BMdmQV3GZm6KDuR). I was surprised more than once since then that it was still being made. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/2 "2024-01-11T07:50:40Z")
I am sad now. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/3 "2024-01-11T08:13:53Z")
I remember singing along with a commercial (probably shown during Saturday morning cartoons, 1964-ish): “Yikes! Stripes! Beechnut’s got 'em”. Stripes were cool. I haven’t chewed gum for 60 years and would be happy if it disappeared entirely from the sidewalks and soles of my shoes. But why specifically has Fruit Stripes gone bankrupt, and not other flavors? It tasted better than peppermint or cinnamon. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/4 "2024-01-11T08:33:21Z")
I never liked it. The delivery never lived up to the promise. It tasted good for about two minutes. Still, sad to see it go. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/5 "2024-01-11T08:46:03Z")
Boy it smelled good. I volunteered making candy arrangements for teachers on their birthdays. We used loads of fruit stripe gum. It was so colorful. Made for pretty little coffee mug arrangements. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/6 "2024-01-11T09:21:00Z")
I have noticed that so many things I grew up with are being discontinued that I am finding it very difficult to eat like I did when I was a child, and this disappoints me greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/7 "2024-01-11T11:34:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I was surprised more than once since then that it was still being made. I don’t think it was - I think they stopped production of it around 1971, and they’ve been selling off inventory ever since. It’s the only thing that could explain how terrible it was. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/8 "2024-01-11T12:30:12Z")
I, too, am surprised they still make it, although I do recall seeing it now and then. I used to chew it in the 1960s. Weird to see it discontinued. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/9 "2024-01-11T13:19:56Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I remember singing along with a commercial (probably shown during Saturday morning cartoons, 1964-ish): > “Yikes! Stripes! Beechnut’s got 'em”. Yikes? _Yikes??1?_ We don’ need no steenkin’ yikes! It was “Yipes! Stripes!”… That way the jingle / song rhymes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/10 "2024-01-11T13:23:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I used to chew it in the 1960s. - So did The Most Interesting Man In The World When he was The Most Interesting Kid In The World. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/11 "2024-01-11T13:39:24Z")
It was heavily advertised in comic books I read in the 80s. Other than that I mostly remember it for being not very good gum. I mean the flavor was good, but it was gone inside of about 30 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/12 "2024-01-11T13:41:19Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Other than that I mostly remember it for being not very good gum. I mean the flavor was good, but it was gone inside of about 30 seconds. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XVg59KB9VEA/hqdefault.jpg "Family Guy - Peter Griffin is let down by fruit st") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVg59KB9VEA) ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/13 "2024-01-11T13:53:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It was “Yipes! Stripes!”… > That way the jingle / song rhymes. Yeah, I s’pose you’re right. I haven’t thought of that jingle for 60 years, and would never have guessed that it still exists in my memory cells…but I do remember it as “yikes”. Maybe I need to get some new memory cells. :). > [@DCnDC](#): > > the flavor was good, but it was gone inside of about 30 seconds. Isn’t that true of all gum? I’ve never understood the reason why chewing gum exists. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/14 "2024-01-11T14:06:28Z")
I haven’t chewed a stick of **Fruit Stripe** gum since the 60s, but I liked it, and I’m devastated to see it go. I was comforted in the knowledge that I could chew a stick, if the mood struck me. But, now I can’t, and that depresses me. What’s next, **Cocoa Marsh**!?! They’d have to pry that from my cold, dead…hey, wait a minute…they do still make **Cocoa Marsh** …don’t they? I don’t think I can handle another loss of this magnitude. It’s things like this that caused the fall of Rome. And the Great Depression. And the 2020 pandemic. And the 2024 alien invasion. And the 2028 zombie apocalypse. And the 2032 robot uprising. And the 2036 asteroid impact. And the 2044 climate collapse. And the 2048 cheese shortage. And the 2056 internet shutdown. And the 2060 time paradox. And the 2064 reality glitch… But hey, at least we still have Fruit Stripe gum. Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/15 "2024-01-11T14:12:43Z")
The real tragedy is that we lost Bonkers years ago, and no one noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/16 "2024-01-11T14:17:51Z")
Man, that was my favorite gum as a kid in the 80s, followed in distant second by grape Hubba-Bubba. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/17 "2024-01-11T14:20:19Z")
I just broke the news to Mrs. Odesio who is very disappointed. This was one of the few gums that don’t have some artificial sweetener in it. The only place we typically found it was at Cracker Barrel, and we don’t eat there very often. Soon it will be but a sweet, sweet memory. And short lived, but sweet, memory. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/18 "2024-01-11T14:32:20Z")
I never chewed Fruit Stripe. I’m a Juicy Fruit guy. But the packaging looked appealing. I was surprised to see they still make Beemans. Who chews that these days? Test pilots? Hasn’t been the same since they took the pepsin out, daggummit. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/19 "2024-01-11T14:41:02Z")
That’s the joke they made on the radio today (Q101 Morning Show), or rather that’s the joke they read from a news story, that by the time you reach the end of this sentence, the flavor will have disappeared. I have no recollection of this gum, and this is the first I’ve ever heard of it. So this looks like it was a chewing gum a la Wrigley’s products and not so much a bubble gum? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937/20 "2024-01-11T14:49:23Z")
I think this was the gum that I chewed one time till it literally broke down to a gritty residue in my mouth. I’ll stick with spearmint, thanks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-of-an-era-fruit-stripe-gum-discontinued/995937.md?page=2)