# Why no bubble gum in trading cards anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2001, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630 "2001-06-13T05:08:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/1 "2001-06-13T05:08:23Z")
When I was a kid, when you bought a pack of baseball cards you also got a stick of bubble gum that was usually hard and crunchy (it was good though:) ) I noticed they no longer put that gum in there anymore. Why not? It’s been at least 25 years since I bought cards. When did they do away with the gum? ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/2 "2001-06-13T05:12:45Z")
You must be the only person in the world who thought that gum was good. Everyone I know just threw it out and was happy with the cards. That’s probably why. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/3 "2001-06-13T06:50:39Z")
The Topps company, which also makes Bazooka, used to have a monopoly on the bubble gum/trading card market. They started selling cards with bubble gum in 1951. Prior to that cards came with other types of candy or, in the early part of the century, tobacco. In the early 1980s, Topps lost its monopoly and other companies got into the baseball card market. Fleer and Donruss were the principal competitors at first. There are many more now. Topps kept the gum in the packages for quite a while because they thought it was a way to increase brand identification. However, collectors started to complain because the gum would make the card it was next to “icky”. A Mark McGwire rookie card with sugar on it wasn’t nearly as valuable as one without it. Finally, Topps and others realized that the people who bought the cards weren’t little ragamuffins who wanted a baseball card of their diamond hero to stick in the spokes of their bike and get some gum with it, but rather an adult who was looking to buy a collectible that would appreciate in value. ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/4 "2001-06-13T06:59:13Z")
> [@](#): > > or, in the early part of the century, tobacco. AFAIK, at least in the UK, cigarette cards existed well into the late 60s and early 70s. My dad is a collector with a very fine collection of complete sets and many more partial sets from the entire history of the cigarette trading card business. By the way, many of the cards were very obviously designed for children. And they said Joe Camel was target marketing! ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/5 "2001-06-13T10:46:44Z")
BobT has it exactly right. Without the gum, there’s no food/FDA restrictions on sales and distribution anymore, the hard gum doesn’t scratch or contaminate the cards, and heck, everyone knows that chewing the wrapper both tasted better and had more nutritional value. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/6 "2001-06-13T14:04:08Z")
They stopped with the gum in the early 90s. Not sure of which year, must have been 92-93. My cousin had a couple of unopened packs from that time and we opened them a couple of months ago and tried the gum. it was even WORSE 10 years later. If you REALLY wanted to know go to a local card dealer and take a look. you can buy packs from the early 90s cheap because they made so many of them. I think they even started giving FEWER cards and charging more for them. I thought that when I was buying them I got 15 or so, now it’s 10. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/7 "2001-06-13T16:42:05Z")
I think 10 was the standard for many years. My first pack of baseball card, purchased in 1971 and containing pictures of Don Money, Fred Wenz, and Billy Sorrell among others, cost $.10 for 10 cards. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2001, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-bubble-gum-in-trading-cards-anymore/68630/8 "2001-06-14T05:43:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BobT \* > \*\*Topps kept the gum in the packages for quite a while because they thought it was a way to increase brand identification. However, collectors started to complain because the gum would make the card it was next to “icky”. A Mark McGwire rookie card with sugar on it wasn’t nearly as valuable as one without it. \*\* Yep. The card next to the gum would often be “stained” by the sugar from the gum. I don’t believe there was any way to remove the stain (at least, I never figured any easy way out). I chewed the gum and actually liked it (not as much as most regular brands, but even so…). Then again, I’m weird.