Just wonder if you could help us try to think what the best song about bubblegum would be, the one that would go best with what we are trying to do here?
Comments appreciated!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
And Finally. This Blog Is Now Up To Date!
The goal of this blog has been to tell a little of the history of bubblegum, bubbles, The BOMB Squad and it's Heroes, The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and all the other things we've done. To get you up to speed, and to get your interested in our fabulous sport of bubble blowing. I think the blog is pretty up to date now.
If you would like to discuss the past of bubblegum, feel free to go back to some of the earlier posts and comment on them. That would be great. Anything good you can add would be a great addition to the history of bubblegum.
The posts going forward now I think will pretty much be about the future of bubblegum that we wish to create, as it unfolds, although there may still be, here and there, some musings about bubblegum's past.
So we hope you will continue with us on this journey and get involved where you can.
We really hope you will create your own bubblegum legend, experience the glory, and contribute to the great product's future story.
Thanks for reading so far, and now, on to the future!
Bobby "BOOM BOOM" Bickerson
Commissioner
The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Where YOU can experience sports greatest thrill. Raising your finger to the sky and proclaiming "I'm #1!"
If you would like to discuss the past of bubblegum, feel free to go back to some of the earlier posts and comment on them. That would be great. Anything good you can add would be a great addition to the history of bubblegum.
The posts going forward now I think will pretty much be about the future of bubblegum that we wish to create, as it unfolds, although there may still be, here and there, some musings about bubblegum's past.
So we hope you will continue with us on this journey and get involved where you can.
We really hope you will create your own bubblegum legend, experience the glory, and contribute to the great product's future story.
Thanks for reading so far, and now, on to the future!
Bobby "BOOM BOOM" Bickerson
Commissioner
The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Where YOU can experience sports greatest thrill. Raising your finger to the sky and proclaiming "I'm #1!"
The BOMB Squad Launches A New Contest
Through our working of The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP we have come across an issue which has doesn't help the promotion of big bubbles.
There are tons of interesting videos out there of people blowing bubbles, many who could be excellent entrants in The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and a good number who apparently have the talent to take their bubble blowing a long way into the contest's future.
The problem is they are extremely hard to reach to let them know about our contest, and how easy it would be for them to enter it. The question became how do we get those videos involved, and then, hopefully later, the makers of those videos involved?
The answer to this problem is beginning to be formed-and hopefully solved-with our bubblegum lens on Squidoo. It's here where we created our newest contest, The UNNOFFICIAL BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
We found that Squidoo allows you to gather youtube videos and put them on your page.
At first we wanted to, as a service to people who had made great videos of themselves blowing bubblegum bubbles, put links up to these videos. But we discovered it a way to carry it farther. Much farther. Why not have an unnofficial contest with the default pictures of these videos?
It runs on the same concept The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP does. Where all the entrants are lined up in order from biggest to smallest bubble, and that would determine their final position.
So we gathered a lot of videos with bubbles the size of the blower's head or bigger, and we put the contest together, where it can bee seen on our squidoo lens. We then placed them in order, and at this moment we have 41 entries.
While these bubbles would be what we call "qualifiers" for the BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, they are not entrants in the BWC, and therefore not eligible for recognition in it. To enter they have to go to the website and fill out an entry form, or they have to be invited.
Still, the UNNOFICIAL BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP is another way we've provided to help bubble blowres get noticed, and one that can lead the way for them into the BWC and bigger and better bubblegum things!
There are tons of interesting videos out there of people blowing bubbles, many who could be excellent entrants in The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and a good number who apparently have the talent to take their bubble blowing a long way into the contest's future.
The problem is they are extremely hard to reach to let them know about our contest, and how easy it would be for them to enter it. The question became how do we get those videos involved, and then, hopefully later, the makers of those videos involved?
The answer to this problem is beginning to be formed-and hopefully solved-with our bubblegum lens on Squidoo. It's here where we created our newest contest, The UNNOFFICIAL BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
We found that Squidoo allows you to gather youtube videos and put them on your page.
At first we wanted to, as a service to people who had made great videos of themselves blowing bubblegum bubbles, put links up to these videos. But we discovered it a way to carry it farther. Much farther. Why not have an unnofficial contest with the default pictures of these videos?
It runs on the same concept The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP does. Where all the entrants are lined up in order from biggest to smallest bubble, and that would determine their final position.
So we gathered a lot of videos with bubbles the size of the blower's head or bigger, and we put the contest together, where it can bee seen on our squidoo lens. We then placed them in order, and at this moment we have 41 entries.
While these bubbles would be what we call "qualifiers" for the BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, they are not entrants in the BWC, and therefore not eligible for recognition in it. To enter they have to go to the website and fill out an entry form, or they have to be invited.
Still, the UNNOFICIAL BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP is another way we've provided to help bubble blowres get noticed, and one that can lead the way for them into the BWC and bigger and better bubblegum things!
Bubblegum Heaven Creates A New Lens
In January of 2009 The BOMB Squad set out on a new and exciting project. It was an attempt to correct the "Google bubblegum search" problem talked about in the last blog.
We created a "Squidoo lens" at the website Squidoo.com.
What is unusual about these websites is that they have a ranking system which ranks your lens (which is a webpage about your topic) that compares your lens against all others in the system, and gives your lens a pagerank. It also compares your lens against all others in the category that you put your lens in and gives a pagerank compared to all of them.
The object here was to, in a certain amount of time, try to see how high in the rankings our lens could be driven, as a way to compare the performance of that against the fact that Google would not rank our page.
Now I'd read that there are over 1,000,000 lenses, with more being added every day, so one million is a good number to compare your results to. The highest ranking we achieved with our lens was #545, and #14 in the sports category. Needless to say we are #1 in a search of Squidoo under the search of the word "bubblegum."
So that's not bad, huh? #545 out of over a million? Thats proportional to being less then #6 out of 10,000 websites. And that includes websites of every subject they have on that website!
A little further proof of what a shame it is Bubblegum Heaven isn't on the bubblegum search for Google!
We created a "Squidoo lens" at the website Squidoo.com.
What is unusual about these websites is that they have a ranking system which ranks your lens (which is a webpage about your topic) that compares your lens against all others in the system, and gives your lens a pagerank. It also compares your lens against all others in the category that you put your lens in and gives a pagerank compared to all of them.
The object here was to, in a certain amount of time, try to see how high in the rankings our lens could be driven, as a way to compare the performance of that against the fact that Google would not rank our page.
Now I'd read that there are over 1,000,000 lenses, with more being added every day, so one million is a good number to compare your results to. The highest ranking we achieved with our lens was #545, and #14 in the sports category. Needless to say we are #1 in a search of Squidoo under the search of the word "bubblegum."
So that's not bad, huh? #545 out of over a million? Thats proportional to being less then #6 out of 10,000 websites. And that includes websites of every subject they have on that website!
A little further proof of what a shame it is Bubblegum Heaven isn't on the bubblegum search for Google!
Bubblegum Heaven and Google- WHERE ARE WE???
As time passed, frustration began to mount regarding the inability of Bubblegum Heaven to make it into the search engines, Google being the main one.
While we could be found on Google, the key here was to be found under the best keyword search possible. Sure, we could be found easily under searches of "Bubblegum Heaven" and "Bubblegum World Championship" and "Chewsy Suzy" but that doesn't count because people who would find those would pretty much have to be looking for them specifically.
What we needed was to be able to be found by the most casual searcher possible, and to us that meant one who would go to Google and type in the word "bubblegum." We thought it was vital to be there when that person was presented a list of bubblegum items.
Well, it turns out that bubblegum, being the world's greatest food, is such a popular and incredible product that it's name has been co-opted for a number of totally unrelated cultural phenomena, and which eat up all kinds of space on Google when you make this search. You have "Bubblegum Music." "Bubblegum Pop Music." "Bubblegum Culture." "Bubblegum Crisis." "Bubblegum Anime." You have a quote from a movie that appears all over the place "I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum,and I'm all out of bubblegum!" You have bubblegum songs. Bubblegum dance. Bubblegum Club. Bubblegum Society. Bubblegum Books. Bubblegum Sequencer. And that's all just within the first three pages of the search.
At the time you do a search for "bubblegum" on Google, you come up with 4,240,000 results. Of these, 786 are shown. Nowhere do you see a site Bubblegum Heaven site. This is distressing for far more reason than just the fact we are not listed. Here's why.
The fact is, if bubblegum had never existed, then all the things that come up under a search for "bubblegum" would not be there. They would have, at best, been named something else, and at worst, they never would have been created at all.
Taking it a step farther, if it hadn't been for bubblegum bubbles, bubblegum would never had existed. If Walter Deimer had never foreseen that having gum you could blow bubbles with would be a big deal, then bubblegum simply never would have existed.
And everything having to do with bubblegum would be, at best, called something else.
The word "bubblegum" itself might never even had existed.
And it's all because of the ability to blow bubbles with gum.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Regardless of what anyone may try to have you believe, bubblegum bubbles are simply the most important thing there is about bubblegum. If you couldn't blow bubbles with bubblegum it would simply be "gum" and the product wouldn't even exist, the word probably wouldn't even exist, and anything that uses the name "bubblegum" would be named something else, if it even existed at all.
What I think should distress everyone who looks to Google for good information about whatever subject they are looking for is this. BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN, bubblegum's greatest website, which is dedicated to the most important thing about bubblegum, is nowhere to be found on this search. And if that can happen on a search for bubblegum, it can happen on any search for any topic. In other words, YOU can go looking for whatever subject you are looking for and not find the most important, most extreme information on the subject that exists. If it can happen with bubblegum, it can happen with YOU.
It's incredible to see what they do have there regarding bubblegum bubbles when you do this search. Among all these websites (and there aren't many) there is one that stands out far and away the best. It stomps all over anything else having to do with the subject. It grinds them up and spits them out into practically sheer nothingness.
Which is exactly what Bubblegum Heaven does to that website. But waaay worse.
Let's examine them.
Go HERE and take a look at the website I'm talking about. Now, as of the day this was written, this site is the #10 ranked page on Google under the search for bubblegum. But note what you see when you go there.
Many times you will see the notation "Last updated 7/5/98 by bigbubbles@geocities.com." Fabulous! By it's own admission the site hasn't been updated in over 10 years! And the email address given is a dead email address, so you can't even contact them to find out anything else.
A little more examination shows a number of dead links, and other links which go to things that have apparently changed since the site was created. Then you have a number of links that go to pages under construction.
Bubblegum pictures? There is a link that goes to a page called "unsorted pictures." This link goes to a page that is "under construction." As if no pictures there weren't already more than enough, the "unsorted pictures" link also has a seperate "page 2" link that is also "under construction!"
What about pictures of really big bubbles? There is a promising link titled "Susan Montgomery Williams," which leads to another under construction link.
This description is not meant as a total bash though. The site does have some good pictures of celebrities blowing bubbles and an excellent section of movies that had scenes of people blowing bubbles.
It also, as mentioned earlier, stands far and away better then anything else that comes up in this search of bubblegum. Here's a couple examples. Just go to #12 on the list. This is a page apparently about bubblegum's greatest history making bubblegum. What do you see? A big white page with thirty words on it, that are, for the most part, links which go right back to the page you are on. And not one of those words are "bubble," "gum," or "bubblegum." Another feature of this page is a search box that if you type the word "bubblegum" into it it takes right back to the page you are on.
Or for another "amusing" comparison, take a look at page #108. Click the page and what do you get? A big white page with nothing on it but the words "An error has occurred." I would say an error has definitely occurred. This site is included and Bubblegum Heaven isn't. This is a page that would utterly throw me into convulsions if not for the one saving grace of having the URL "www.bubblegum.org."
Now compare what you've just seen to Bubblegum Heaven. Did you see websites that were about bubbles? Big bubbles? The greatest bubble blowers ever? The greatest contest ever? An interest in, or an opportunity to learn about, bubblegum's past, present or future? A chance for the viewer to create their own bubblegum legend or experience their own bubblegum glory?
Actually, if you could take all the content from all the sites you could find on this search for bubblegum (at the time this was written) and put it all into one website, that website would be like a tiny speck compared to the immenseness of Bubblegum Heaven.
So I end this blog by saying if you can do anything to assist Bubblegum Heaven to get onto this search, you would be doing a very big favor to everyone who loves to blow big bubbles, and the same to Google. If you care about doing a service for your visitors, just compare our website and consider listing it on this search, and make it relevant.
Any less would not be, well, doing a service to your visitors.
While we could be found on Google, the key here was to be found under the best keyword search possible. Sure, we could be found easily under searches of "Bubblegum Heaven" and "Bubblegum World Championship" and "Chewsy Suzy" but that doesn't count because people who would find those would pretty much have to be looking for them specifically.
What we needed was to be able to be found by the most casual searcher possible, and to us that meant one who would go to Google and type in the word "bubblegum." We thought it was vital to be there when that person was presented a list of bubblegum items.
Well, it turns out that bubblegum, being the world's greatest food, is such a popular and incredible product that it's name has been co-opted for a number of totally unrelated cultural phenomena, and which eat up all kinds of space on Google when you make this search. You have "Bubblegum Music." "Bubblegum Pop Music." "Bubblegum Culture." "Bubblegum Crisis." "Bubblegum Anime." You have a quote from a movie that appears all over the place "I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum,and I'm all out of bubblegum!" You have bubblegum songs. Bubblegum dance. Bubblegum Club. Bubblegum Society. Bubblegum Books. Bubblegum Sequencer. And that's all just within the first three pages of the search.
At the time you do a search for "bubblegum" on Google, you come up with 4,240,000 results. Of these, 786 are shown. Nowhere do you see a site Bubblegum Heaven site. This is distressing for far more reason than just the fact we are not listed. Here's why.
The fact is, if bubblegum had never existed, then all the things that come up under a search for "bubblegum" would not be there. They would have, at best, been named something else, and at worst, they never would have been created at all.
Taking it a step farther, if it hadn't been for bubblegum bubbles, bubblegum would never had existed. If Walter Deimer had never foreseen that having gum you could blow bubbles with would be a big deal, then bubblegum simply never would have existed.
And everything having to do with bubblegum would be, at best, called something else.
The word "bubblegum" itself might never even had existed.
And it's all because of the ability to blow bubbles with gum.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
Regardless of what anyone may try to have you believe, bubblegum bubbles are simply the most important thing there is about bubblegum. If you couldn't blow bubbles with bubblegum it would simply be "gum" and the product wouldn't even exist, the word probably wouldn't even exist, and anything that uses the name "bubblegum" would be named something else, if it even existed at all.
What I think should distress everyone who looks to Google for good information about whatever subject they are looking for is this. BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN, bubblegum's greatest website, which is dedicated to the most important thing about bubblegum, is nowhere to be found on this search. And if that can happen on a search for bubblegum, it can happen on any search for any topic. In other words, YOU can go looking for whatever subject you are looking for and not find the most important, most extreme information on the subject that exists. If it can happen with bubblegum, it can happen with YOU.
It's incredible to see what they do have there regarding bubblegum bubbles when you do this search. Among all these websites (and there aren't many) there is one that stands out far and away the best. It stomps all over anything else having to do with the subject. It grinds them up and spits them out into practically sheer nothingness.
Which is exactly what Bubblegum Heaven does to that website. But waaay worse.
Let's examine them.
Go HERE and take a look at the website I'm talking about. Now, as of the day this was written, this site is the #10 ranked page on Google under the search for bubblegum. But note what you see when you go there.
Many times you will see the notation "Last updated 7/5/98 by bigbubbles@geocities.com." Fabulous! By it's own admission the site hasn't been updated in over 10 years! And the email address given is a dead email address, so you can't even contact them to find out anything else.
A little more examination shows a number of dead links, and other links which go to things that have apparently changed since the site was created. Then you have a number of links that go to pages under construction.
Bubblegum pictures? There is a link that goes to a page called "unsorted pictures." This link goes to a page that is "under construction." As if no pictures there weren't already more than enough, the "unsorted pictures" link also has a seperate "page 2" link that is also "under construction!"
What about pictures of really big bubbles? There is a promising link titled "Susan Montgomery Williams," which leads to another under construction link.
This description is not meant as a total bash though. The site does have some good pictures of celebrities blowing bubbles and an excellent section of movies that had scenes of people blowing bubbles.
It also, as mentioned earlier, stands far and away better then anything else that comes up in this search of bubblegum. Here's a couple examples. Just go to #12 on the list. This is a page apparently about bubblegum's greatest history making bubblegum. What do you see? A big white page with thirty words on it, that are, for the most part, links which go right back to the page you are on. And not one of those words are "bubble," "gum," or "bubblegum." Another feature of this page is a search box that if you type the word "bubblegum" into it it takes right back to the page you are on.
Or for another "amusing" comparison, take a look at page #108. Click the page and what do you get? A big white page with nothing on it but the words "An error has occurred." I would say an error has definitely occurred. This site is included and Bubblegum Heaven isn't. This is a page that would utterly throw me into convulsions if not for the one saving grace of having the URL "www.bubblegum.org."
Now compare what you've just seen to Bubblegum Heaven. Did you see websites that were about bubbles? Big bubbles? The greatest bubble blowers ever? The greatest contest ever? An interest in, or an opportunity to learn about, bubblegum's past, present or future? A chance for the viewer to create their own bubblegum legend or experience their own bubblegum glory?
Actually, if you could take all the content from all the sites you could find on this search for bubblegum (at the time this was written) and put it all into one website, that website would be like a tiny speck compared to the immenseness of Bubblegum Heaven.
So I end this blog by saying if you can do anything to assist Bubblegum Heaven to get onto this search, you would be doing a very big favor to everyone who loves to blow big bubbles, and the same to Google. If you care about doing a service for your visitors, just compare our website and consider listing it on this search, and make it relevant.
Any less would not be, well, doing a service to your visitors.
BOMB Squad Hero Resigns
On December 20th, 2008 came the news of the resignation of Earl "The Gum Bubble Coach" Hartwell, Canada's Greatest Bubblegum Bubble Blower, from The BOMB Squad, the result of having discovered a higher purpose that he chose to focus his talents on.
This was very disturbing news, as Earl was an immense and spectacular contributor to the creation and development of The BOMB Squad, Bubblegum Heaven and The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. His designations as BOMB Squad Hero and spot in bubblegum history were well earned.
One of his signature moments was really a turning point in bubblegum history when he notified The BOMB Squad of the article mentioned in an earlier blog about the marketing experts who suggested bubblegum go back to the basics, focusing on bubbles. This event mobilized The BOMB Squad the way no other event ever had, and put into motion events that eventually lead to the formation of The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
Losing Chewsy Suzy and then Earl in less than three months were mighty blows for the BOMB Squad to take, fortunately enough roots had been set down to weather the storm. The BOMB Squad and The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP are on solid ground at the time this was written and are prepared to take on and create the future.
Both Suzy and Earl are and well be deeply missed, but as Suzy would say, the show must go on. And it will go on, thanks in great part to the contributions of these great bubblegum history makers who's BOMBlastic contributions need to be remembered for as long as the product exists!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Chewsy Suzy, The Greatest, Dies
Nothing ever goes totally smoothly, and the BOMB Squad is no exception.
On Oct. 1, 2008, the bubblegum world was stunned when the great Susan Montgomery Williams died from a brain anuerism.
After a then 29 year reign as the Guinness World Record Holder for blowing the largest bubble, Chewsy Suzy was on the verge of one of her greatest bubblegum accomplishments. Having wanted to be able to provide the bubblegum world with a way to experience some of the glory she had accomplished, she had co-created The BOMB Squad and The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, and now, as the time had just about come to name the first BWC world champion, the bubblegum world had just experienced one of it's greatest tragedies.
This could have been a catastrophic loss for the bubblegum world, one which may have prevented The BOMB Squad and BWC from ever happening, fortunately we were far enough along in the process that we were able to keep it going.
While the loss of this greatest of all bubble blowers has been deeply troubling and has made continuing extremely difficult, her success, talent, know-how, can-do and stick-to-it attitude and her extreme winning personality are inspirations we can all learn from, and can drive us to answer the call of the dreams we dare to dream.
As she told Johnny Carson on his show "I was born to chew bubblegum. My name even has gum in it. Susan Mont"GUM"ery Williams" lived her life dedicated to the cause, and it ended at one of bubblegum's greatest moments, a moment she had played a huge role in creating. And no one had ever been anywhere near as successful at it before.
I've said it before and I'll say it again and again. If everyone who had ever lived could chose to have as much success in their field of endeavor as Suzy had achieved in bubble blowing I'm positive there are extremely few who would turn down the offer.
And that's a really big thing to say.
Rest in peace, Chewsy Suzy. You're simply the greatest!
Bubblegum's 10 Biggest Bubbles EVER!
Not only has the BWC had two fabulous competitions already, it has earned the distinction of having bubblegum's 10 biggest bubbles ever blown in a contest in it.
After a review of the results of some of bubblegum's biggest contests ever, and interviews of the BOMB Squad Heroes, we have come to the conclusion that the top ten bubbles ever blown in The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP are the biggest bubbles ever to be blown in non-Guinness World Record contests. Should evidence of bigger bubbles blown in other contests surface, we plan to act accordingly. But until then, it appears
to us that the top ten are the biggest of all time.
As we said before, The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP is the greatest bubble blowing contest ever, and the fact that the ten biggest bubbles ever blown have been blown in it backs it up
And to make it all the better, now that the top ten of all time has been established, we expect that over time the top 10 will only get bigger and more numerous. It's all about the big bubble and we expect those bubbles to be getting bigger and bigger all the time!
The History of The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Bubblegum's greatest contest ever.
That's a pretty big statement.
In 80 years, Walter Diemer had held contests at his home. Large companies had sponsored nationwide contests. And untold numbers of less publicized contests, formal and informal, had been put on.
But how many of them had gone worldwide (or at least as far as the internet could take them)? How many were available 365 days a year? How many allowed any type of bubblegum and as much of it as a contestant wanted to use as possible? And how many had been created by the world's greatest bubble blowers, determined to give the world a shot at the bubble blowing glory they had experienced?
How many of the biggest contests that had ever previously been held were actually more about the biggest bubbles possible than the promotion of someone's own bubblegum?
We believe the answer to these questions can be found in a one number sentence.
0.
The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP began on 8-8-08 and it's "first quarter" ended on Sept. 31, 2008. It's "2nd" quarter of 2009 began on 10-1-08 and ended 12-31-09. As of the time this is written, we are now in the first quarter of 2009, which will end 3-31-09, and the next quarter will begin 4-1-09.
We have crowned the world champion of bubblegum twice, and in spite of some fabulous efforts by great bubble blowers,we have had the same winner both times. An entrant that goes by the name "BG" (interesting, since you could say that stands for "Bubble Gum") has won both times, with two truly massive and beautifully blown bubbles. BG is apparently well on his way to putting his mark on bubblegum's future, as he also won the 2008 BWC Points Championship, and currently holds many of it's all time records.
We have also had a number of outstanding GUMpetitors who look like they will be fabulous representitives of bubblegum's future and could rise of at any time to challenge BG's current dominance. Names such as The Bubble Apprentice, GatemouthRB, Squarepegs99 come to mind. Then we have 2 very interesting contestants for various different reasons, The British Bubble Queen and Stunis. Note only have they blown spectacular bubbles, but we are thrilled to announce that they come from outside the United States (Britain). This is a milestone because bubblegum's largest contests have been held mainly, if not totally, in the United States. Our contest is the BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, not the Bubblegum UNITED STATES Championship. This would make these two contestants the greatest bubblegum blowers ever outside of North America. Not only are they unbelievable BWC entrants but the British Bubble Queen is known for her interesting bubblegum bubble blowing videos and Stunis for his one of a kind bubble blowing art, where he blows different shaped bubbles. Amazing! Finally, we have some up and coming bubble blowers who represent another fine aspect of the BWC. Those bubble blowers who have a lot of great talent but maybe just not quite of championship caliber just yet, but who are improving and may very well challenge for the top spot one day. Bubble blowers like Michael and The CandySam, who are participating and honing their technique, and letting the world know that it may have to reckon with them in the future.
Currently the BWC is scheduled to run indefinately, with deadlines quarterly, Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31. So c'mon down to our website BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN and get yourself entered today and go for the glory.
Maybe YOU will become the new world champion of bubblegum!
That's a pretty big statement.
In 80 years, Walter Diemer had held contests at his home. Large companies had sponsored nationwide contests. And untold numbers of less publicized contests, formal and informal, had been put on.
But how many of them had gone worldwide (or at least as far as the internet could take them)? How many were available 365 days a year? How many allowed any type of bubblegum and as much of it as a contestant wanted to use as possible? And how many had been created by the world's greatest bubble blowers, determined to give the world a shot at the bubble blowing glory they had experienced?
How many of the biggest contests that had ever previously been held were actually more about the biggest bubbles possible than the promotion of someone's own bubblegum?
We believe the answer to these questions can be found in a one number sentence.
0.
The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP began on 8-8-08 and it's "first quarter" ended on Sept. 31, 2008. It's "2nd" quarter of 2009 began on 10-1-08 and ended 12-31-09. As of the time this is written, we are now in the first quarter of 2009, which will end 3-31-09, and the next quarter will begin 4-1-09.
We have crowned the world champion of bubblegum twice, and in spite of some fabulous efforts by great bubble blowers,we have had the same winner both times. An entrant that goes by the name "BG" (interesting, since you could say that stands for "Bubble Gum") has won both times, with two truly massive and beautifully blown bubbles. BG is apparently well on his way to putting his mark on bubblegum's future, as he also won the 2008 BWC Points Championship, and currently holds many of it's all time records.
We have also had a number of outstanding GUMpetitors who look like they will be fabulous representitives of bubblegum's future and could rise of at any time to challenge BG's current dominance. Names such as The Bubble Apprentice, GatemouthRB, Squarepegs99 come to mind. Then we have 2 very interesting contestants for various different reasons, The British Bubble Queen and Stunis. Note only have they blown spectacular bubbles, but we are thrilled to announce that they come from outside the United States (Britain). This is a milestone because bubblegum's largest contests have been held mainly, if not totally, in the United States. Our contest is the BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, not the Bubblegum UNITED STATES Championship. This would make these two contestants the greatest bubblegum blowers ever outside of North America. Not only are they unbelievable BWC entrants but the British Bubble Queen is known for her interesting bubblegum bubble blowing videos and Stunis for his one of a kind bubble blowing art, where he blows different shaped bubbles. Amazing! Finally, we have some up and coming bubble blowers who represent another fine aspect of the BWC. Those bubble blowers who have a lot of great talent but maybe just not quite of championship caliber just yet, but who are improving and may very well challenge for the top spot one day. Bubble blowers like Michael and The CandySam, who are participating and honing their technique, and letting the world know that it may have to reckon with them in the future.
Currently the BWC is scheduled to run indefinately, with deadlines quarterly, Mar. 31, June 30, Sept. 30 and Dec. 31. So c'mon down to our website BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN and get yourself entered today and go for the glory.
Maybe YOU will become the new world champion of bubblegum!
Project One. The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!
We looked at the situation and we wondered what was going on in the bubblegum world.
We speculated that there may have been some in bubblegum that may have read some of the things we had put out and thought that we had a real point. With bubblegum sales apparently not doing so well, if not floundering, might there have been some who said "Yeah. You know, that BOMB Squad. Trying to take bubblegum back to the big bubble. Maybe they have something there."
Well of course we have something there. The same thing the inventor of bubblegum had. The same thing that made bubblegum what it is.
Could it be that some in the bubblegum world were preparing a move in that direction?
The thought of this possibility along with another upcoming event kicked what we were doing into overdrive. The 80th birthday of bubblegum.
It was well known fact that bubblegum had been created in 1928. What wasn't so well known was the date. As best as we could pin it down was in "early August." That was according to an eight page article about bubblegum in a 1990 edition of Smithsonian Magazine, an article which included two large pictures, one of Walter Diemer and right next to that one of Chewsy Suzy blowing a giant bubble. If there were ever a two-picture history of bubblegum that would have to be it.
Regardless of what the bubblegum manufacturing world may have thought of this event, we wanted to celebrate it and celebrate it big. As far as we were concerned, Walter Diemer had it right. To him it was apparently all about the big bubble just like it is to us. So we set our sights on early August 2008, or 8-8-08, a good luck date, the date of the beginning of the Olympics, and as far as we knew this would be it. 8-8-08, Bubblegum's 80th birthday.
So how would we choose to celebrate?
Of course by doing the greatest thing ever to happen to since it's creation because hey. We're The BOMB Squad! To bring back bubble blowing GUMpetition in a way that had never been seen before. A way created by the greatest bubble blowers and FOR bubble blowers (as opposed to a way created by manufacturers to promote their product. Believe me. There is a vast difference). A way that was open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A way that would be available to everyone over a certain age and all over the world, if they had a way onto the internet. A way that would allow them to chew any kind of bubblegum they wanted, and any amount of it.
We created The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, bubblegum's greatest contest ever. We launched it with BOMBlast 4 on 8-8-08, to celebrate bubblegum's 80th birthday. We are at the same time both very proud, but also very sad, that as of this writing The BOMB Squad is the only source of any mention we could find on the internet of Bubblegum's 80th birthday, much less doing anything to actually celebrate or commemorate the day. If anything else has been done, we have yet to hear about it.
Anyway, The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP is now reality, and is the greatest bubblegum bubble contest ever, created by the greatest bubblegum blowers ever, and has had the 10 biggest bubbles ever blown in a non-Guinness World Record Contest ever, that we know of. It is available everywhere the internet goes, and is brought to you direct from BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN.
It is YOUR chance to experience bubblegum fame and glory. YOUR chance to build a bubblegum legend. It is YOUR chance to experience the greatest sports thrill possible. To raise your finger to the sky and proclaim "I'm #1"
The BWC is all about the biggest of the big bubbles. Do it and YOU are there, baby!
So happy birthday, bubblegum. Thanks for 80 great years. And here's to a BOMBlastic future!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The BOMB Squad Goes To Work
The BOMB Squad had come together and went to work to start creating the future of bubblegum.
To all of us, the whole thing centered around GUMpetition. Since the beginning of bubblegum time the big question was, who could blow the biggest bubble. That's what got bubblegum where it was. That's what got the BOMB Squad Heroes where they were. And for bubblegum blowers worldwide to have a chance to experience some of the great stuff the Heroes had experienced, that was where it would have to come from.
GUMpetition. It made America great. It made Bubblegum great. It made the Heroes great. And most importantly, it can make YOU great!
It was at this time that Hero Earl "The GUM BUBBLE COACH" Hartwell pointed out an article he found on the internet that amazed us. It was about what bubblegum needed to bring it back to it's former glory, and it featured some apparently very big marketing people.
What amazed us is that it almost looked like it could have been written by us. They pretty much recommended exactly what we had been talking about for a long time. Emphasizing the BIG bubble! Emphasizing competition. Another point made was that bubblegum seemed to be a victim in the trend towards people going towards less sugary foods. That's exactly what we are talking about. Sugar and taste have nothing to do with a bubble gum's bubble blowing ability, and yet, sadly, that's what just about always seems to be emphasized.
And here's an interesting comment by Thryth Jarvis, a marketing director and former senior brand manager on Nestle's Kit Kat:
"...bubblegum sales are just one tenth of that of bubble gum...Strange, really, when surely bubble gum is a superior product...but bubblegum has the added benefit that you can, if desired, blow bubbles. So why don't people chose it?"
He goes on to say:
"...no one has been reminding us how great it is. People have forgotten the fun, the challenge, and the playful competition that blowing bubbles can bring."
In other words, you emphasize the wrong things and the product falls all apart. Whoa, who ever would have thought?!?
(Pounding my clenched fist into my open palm, I, Bobby "BOOM BOOM" Bickerson Commissioner, issue an edict):
BUBBLEGUM SIMPLY MUST BE BROUGHT BACK TO IT'S FORMER GLORY! WE MUST REMEMBER, EMPHASIZE, AND REMIND PEOPLE THAT IT CAN DO THE ONE THING NO OTHER GUM, CANDY OR FOOD CAN DO. BLOW BIG BUBBLES!
And so the BOMB Squad, the four greatest bubblegum bubble blowers ever, creators of much of the history of bubblegum, along with myself, set out to create the future of the storied and once glorious but now beleagored product.
To all of us, the whole thing centered around GUMpetition. Since the beginning of bubblegum time the big question was, who could blow the biggest bubble. That's what got bubblegum where it was. That's what got the BOMB Squad Heroes where they were. And for bubblegum blowers worldwide to have a chance to experience some of the great stuff the Heroes had experienced, that was where it would have to come from.
GUMpetition. It made America great. It made Bubblegum great. It made the Heroes great. And most importantly, it can make YOU great!
It was at this time that Hero Earl "The GUM BUBBLE COACH" Hartwell pointed out an article he found on the internet that amazed us. It was about what bubblegum needed to bring it back to it's former glory, and it featured some apparently very big marketing people.
What amazed us is that it almost looked like it could have been written by us. They pretty much recommended exactly what we had been talking about for a long time. Emphasizing the BIG bubble! Emphasizing competition. Another point made was that bubblegum seemed to be a victim in the trend towards people going towards less sugary foods. That's exactly what we are talking about. Sugar and taste have nothing to do with a bubble gum's bubble blowing ability, and yet, sadly, that's what just about always seems to be emphasized.
And here's an interesting comment by Thryth Jarvis, a marketing director and former senior brand manager on Nestle's Kit Kat:
"...bubblegum sales are just one tenth of that of bubble gum...Strange, really, when surely bubble gum is a superior product...but bubblegum has the added benefit that you can, if desired, blow bubbles. So why don't people chose it?"
He goes on to say:
"...no one has been reminding us how great it is. People have forgotten the fun, the challenge, and the playful competition that blowing bubbles can bring."
In other words, you emphasize the wrong things and the product falls all apart. Whoa, who ever would have thought?!?
(Pounding my clenched fist into my open palm, I, Bobby "BOOM BOOM" Bickerson Commissioner, issue an edict):
BUBBLEGUM SIMPLY MUST BE BROUGHT BACK TO IT'S FORMER GLORY! WE MUST REMEMBER, EMPHASIZE, AND REMIND PEOPLE THAT IT CAN DO THE ONE THING NO OTHER GUM, CANDY OR FOOD CAN DO. BLOW BIG BUBBLES!
And so the BOMB Squad, the four greatest bubblegum bubble blowers ever, creators of much of the history of bubblegum, along with myself, set out to create the future of the storied and once glorious but now beleagored product.
I'm named Commissioner Of The BOMB Squad
"I am proud to be named commissioner of The BOMB Squad. What we've done is brought together the four greatest bubble gum bubble blowers in the history of bubblegum to focus on the single most important aspect of the greatest food the world has ever known. Bubblegum and it's ability to blow mega bubbles."
Those were my words from BOMBlast #3 as I was named Commissioner of the BOMB Squad.
To play such a big part at the crossroads of bubblegum history was very exciting. You had bubblegum bubbles, if not bubblegum itself, in serious decline and bubblegum's history makers coming to the rescue.
But don't worry. The BOMB Squad Heroes of course came through and made the save, as you will see as you keep reading.
Those were my words from BOMBlast #3 as I was named Commissioner of the BOMB Squad.
To play such a big part at the crossroads of bubblegum history was very exciting. You had bubblegum bubbles, if not bubblegum itself, in serious decline and bubblegum's history makers coming to the rescue.
But don't worry. The BOMB Squad Heroes of course came through and made the save, as you will see as you keep reading.
The BOMB Squad Coins A New Term
BOMBlastic!
The BOMB Squad is the greatest ever! It's the BOMB! It's fantastic! It's all of that and more!
Mix it all together and what do you have? When it's just all too over the top overwhelming to even consider?
It's just plain BOMBlastic!
The BOMB Squad Forms BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN
"Bubblegum Heaven, a website that can be found at www.bubblegumheaven.com, was created with one purpose in mind. To bring bubblegum back to what it's creator intended it to be. He knew it, the people around him knew it, and the public knew it, which is the reason for the product's amazing long-lasting success."
With that announcement issued on BOMBlast 2, we announced the beginning of our website, BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN.
Another quote in the BOMBlast was "The BOMB Squad has had their bubblegum fame and glory, (two Guinness World Records among them for largest bubbles among them) and now they intend on making sure many of the bubblegum world get their chance at it too..." Well stick with us and we will begin to see all of this has, and is beginning to unfold.
So come over to BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN and find out what it's about!
With that announcement issued on BOMBlast 2, we announced the beginning of our website, BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN.
Another quote in the BOMBlast was "The BOMB Squad has had their bubblegum fame and glory, (two Guinness World Records among them for largest bubbles among them) and now they intend on making sure many of the bubblegum world get their chance at it too..." Well stick with us and we will begin to see all of this has, and is beginning to unfold.
So come over to BUBBLEGUM HEAVEN and find out what it's about!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
From Out Of Nowhere Comes A New Challenge
Not long after the coming together of Suzy and Joyce came a new challenge.
Suzy had made her name with the Guinness World Record. But from out of nowhere came a voice crying out to be recognized. A voice that was making an excellent point.
See, Guinness has this rule when it comes to world record bubbles. They can only be blown with three pieces of gum, which is a rule Suzy consistently played by. What was being said by the new challenger was that bubblegum shouldn't have this "3 piece" rule, that much bigger bubbles could be blown using more than three pieces. See this press release
Dr. Enaught T. Wiseham, a long time proponent of the big bubble, came forward.
Wiseham, owner of a Yahoo group called Enaught's bubbles, had blown bubbles with over 100 pieces of gum at the same time, and he had pictures of him blowing gigantic bubbles that suggested exactly that.
His point was that while the Guinness record was a great thing for bubblegum and Suzy was a great bubble blower, bigger bubbles could be blown if more than three pieces were used. In fact, he had often used over 100 pieces to blow bubbles! The Doctor was then joined in the cause by Earl "The GUM Bubble Coach" Hartwell, Canada's greatest bubble blower. Together the two of them formed a group called BUBL, The Blowing Unbelievable Bubbles League, to challenge the bubblegum world to consider the possibility of even bigger bubbles.
Boy, did that ever happen!
I had received news of this upstart group and looked into it and told Suzy and Joyce about it. Having held the Guinness Record for such a long time, Suzy apparently wasn't too sure what to think at first, but after talking about it we began to see opportunity in this. She had held her record for such a long time and put herself so far in front of the field it was beginning to feel like perhaps no one would ever break her record. Which is fabulous for creating bubblegum legend, but is not so good in terms of publicity, because it's always the same old unchanging news. Plus it only made sense. If a person could use a hundred pieces of bubblegum at a time and was a great bubblegum blower, he should be able to blow a bigger bubble than even a Guinness World record Holder using three pieces at a time.
Added to that common sense reasoning was the fact that Suzy had always wanted to see other bubblegum blowers experience some of the sweet taste of bubblegum success that she had experienced herself. This could be an opportunity to provide just that.
So, as a group, we made a decision.
Instead of either ignoring or battling this group we would approach them with the idea of forming a new organization focused totally on blowing big bubbles. We would honor both the Guinness Record, as represented by Suzy, and the unlimited use of bubblegum method, as represented by BUBL.
We sent out this message to BUBL. After some discussion it was decided the group would come together and it was formed. We called it The Blowers Of Mega Bubbles or The BOMB Squad. It was composed of Suzy, Joyce, Enaught and Earl. On May 30, 2008 a press release was issued announcing the merging of BUBL with our group to form the BOMB Squad. (The press release was called "BOMBlast 1" and all BOMB Squad press releases have been known as "BOMBlasts.").
At that point the future of bubblegum was cast. It would be all about the big bubble. And while Suzy and the Guinness three piece rule would hold their position, the group became about blowing the biggest bubbles possible, regardless of how much bubblegum could be used. It was our strategy to provide the bubble blowing world the best of both worlds. Many people just don't have access to, for whatever reason, the ability to chew over 100 pieces of bubblegum at a time to blow bubbles, so the Guinness World Record is available. On the other hand, there are others who can do it and have the talent to make the challenge, so now they would have their opportunity too.
The grass roots effort talked about in an earlier blog had begin to grow. Instead of it being only about the greatness of Chewsy Suzy, we were beginning to step out and evolve. Now it was about not just one but two Guinness World Records. And it wasn't just about Guinness World Records, it was about bubbles any way you could blow them. And it wasn't just about one bubblegum legend. It was about 4 bubblegum pioneers who had created not only a very large part of, but also the very best of, bubblegum history.
The BOMB Squad was formed and the four legends of bubblegum history were named the first BOMB Squad Heroes and a new chapter in bubblegum history was written.
More importantly, the stage had just been set for many new chapters to come.
The New Plan Starts Picking Up Steam
Word began getting out about what we were up to. We knew we were on our way at our first major milestone, when in a press release on Sept. 20, 2007 we welcomed aboard Joyce Samuels, the Guinness World Record Holder for blowing the largest bubblegum bubble from the nose.
Samuels, known in the business as "The Gum Blowin' Granny," was not only one of bubblegum's greatest pioneers but she was totally in a category all by herself. She not only held the "over the top" unusual Guinness Record of largest bubblegum bubble blown from the nose, she created the entire category by originally setting the record then breaking it later.
Suzy and Joyce had met previously, at the shooting of MTV's show Call To Greatness which was held at the shrine to bubblegum, Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo California. This meeting marked the beginning of a relationship that would have dire implications on the future of bubblegum. In effect, it would go a long ways in creating that future.
This now put our plan in the untouchable category of having two Guinness World Record Holders on the team working on the same goal.
Shortly thereafter, it was announced that I would become spokesman of the group. Then it started getting interesting.
It Takes More Than Just Being The Greatest Bubble Blower
As we set out to create the future, it soon became apparent that being the greatest was fabulous, but it just wasn't enough to get it done. It seemed that bubblegum companies, for whatever reason, lost interest in their biggest secret weapon. The BIG bubble.
It seems like a great plan. Big bubblegum company gets greatest bubblegum blower to endorse their gum, and sales blow through the roof. You'd think. But no company was interested so another approach was called for.
We knew 2 things. We had to bring something great, super fun, to the people who chew bubblegum and the funnest thing Suzy had ever experienced in bubblegum was the thrill of competition. It certainly wasn't the thrill of telling how good a bubblegum tastes. As great as this woman was, I'm sorry but she never won a Guinness World record for chewing the best tasting bubblegum.
So it started becoming obvious what needed to be done. This whole thing would have to be bigger than Suzy. It would need a lot of voices yelling at bubblegum manufacturers that BIG bubbles are the main thing. It would need the people who remembered the golden days of bubblegum to come back and demand their return. It would need to give people a chance to experience experience some of the bubblegum fame and glory that Suzy had experienced.
It would need a grass roots effort to demand the return of the BIG bubble. And this blog invites EVERYONE to jump on the band wagon as it plunges headlong into the making of bubblegum history!
It seems like a great plan. Big bubblegum company gets greatest bubblegum blower to endorse their gum, and sales blow through the roof. You'd think. But no company was interested so another approach was called for.
We knew 2 things. We had to bring something great, super fun, to the people who chew bubblegum and the funnest thing Suzy had ever experienced in bubblegum was the thrill of competition. It certainly wasn't the thrill of telling how good a bubblegum tastes. As great as this woman was, I'm sorry but she never won a Guinness World record for chewing the best tasting bubblegum.
So it started becoming obvious what needed to be done. This whole thing would have to be bigger than Suzy. It would need a lot of voices yelling at bubblegum manufacturers that BIG bubbles are the main thing. It would need the people who remembered the golden days of bubblegum to come back and demand their return. It would need to give people a chance to experience experience some of the bubblegum fame and glory that Suzy had experienced.
It would need a grass roots effort to demand the return of the BIG bubble. And this blog invites EVERYONE to jump on the band wagon as it plunges headlong into the making of bubblegum history!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Suzy And Bobby Make Their Move On The Bubblegum World!
It had just gotten too darn depressing.
To see bubblegum be what it it was, and then what it became.
Bubblegum bubble blowing had seemingly been on a downswing for a long time. It picked up at the beginning of the new milleneum with a big contest put on by a major bubblegum company. That lasted for a few years and then it was over. It was picked up with another company with a contest for another year which, to those who blew big bubbles, was unexciting to say the least.
At least that was the extent big bubblegum companies seemed to take the idea of big bubbles.
It seemed the whole bubblegum blowing world cried out for someone to pick up the now forgotten ball and run with it for a big TD. Well, who could ever do that better than the world's greatest bubble blower?
It was at that point that Chewsy Suzy and I got together to do something about this bleak scene.
Suzy had broken her first Guinness World Record in 1979 and in the last many years of her now 29 year reign had developed the motto "29 years and still looking for som GUMpetition!" It was a motto that had to be upgraded every year, as the sheer weight of her greatness had put her so far ahead of the millions of other competitors that had ever thought of challenging her. She became the greatest. She obviously knew how to get it done.
So we embarked on our journey. After a number of long discussions it all came down to this.
Bubblegum was made to blow big bubbles. And whenever bubble blowers get together, it always comes down to who can blow the biggest bubble. From the first contest ever held at Walter Diemer's house, all the way down to two guys rumbling in the parking lot, and then all the way back up to the biggest, grandest bubble blowing contest of them all (which is NOW AVAILABLE), it all came down to competition. "GUMpetition," a word Suzy invented long ago. For sure, everybody looked up to her for what she had done, and everyone wanted to do what she did. Break that record. Break HER record.
If the glory days of bubblegum were ever to be restored, competition was the only way. If there was ever one thing she learned from her trips to different parts of the world, it was that people wanted to experience some (if not all) of the fame and glory that Susan Montgomery Williams achieved. People wanted to know what it felt like to stand out from all the rest. To be a winner. To be the best at something. And to get get the perks that come with it.
THAT's what makes sports great, and that's what makes bubblegum great. If anyone besides Walter Diemer knew that, it would be Chewsy Suzy.
So we set out on our road to create bubblegum's future. To create a way for bubble blowers the world over to experience the sweet taste of bubblegum success that Suzy experienced all those years. To give them a piece of the action.
And, of course, to emphasize that BIG bubble.
Will Bubblegum Rise Again?
If it ever does, I believe it will be through the comeback of the BIG bubble.
It's not like bubblegum is doing bad now. It's just not the nearly the exciting thing it used to be. And a lot of time in business if you start losing your edge, then it's a big downhill slide, sometimes to the point where you never recover.
But, once again, the advantage bubblegum has is that it's so totally unique. Sure there are a lot of food contests out there, but it seems like they all revolve around how much of something you can eat. There's nothing unique, or maybe even skillful, about that. The thing about blowing bubbles is the fact that you can measure their size, and as far as foods go that puts bubblegum in a category all to itself. That is something you can make a sport out of, which is something that has "kind of" been done before, but our group has finally come and put the finishing touch on that idea, which I will blog later about.
Bubblegum needs the excitement and fun it used to have. It needs that thing that nothing else can do. It needs that element of competition. It needs people asking "who can blow the biggest bubble" and it needs people showing off the fact that they think they can be the person who can do it.
That's the way it used to be, and that's the way we want to see it be again. I think one day when it gets that we will see it come back bigger and better then ever.
It's not like bubblegum is doing bad now. It's just not the nearly the exciting thing it used to be. And a lot of time in business if you start losing your edge, then it's a big downhill slide, sometimes to the point where you never recover.
But, once again, the advantage bubblegum has is that it's so totally unique. Sure there are a lot of food contests out there, but it seems like they all revolve around how much of something you can eat. There's nothing unique, or maybe even skillful, about that. The thing about blowing bubbles is the fact that you can measure their size, and as far as foods go that puts bubblegum in a category all to itself. That is something you can make a sport out of, which is something that has "kind of" been done before, but our group has finally come and put the finishing touch on that idea, which I will blog later about.
Bubblegum needs the excitement and fun it used to have. It needs that thing that nothing else can do. It needs that element of competition. It needs people asking "who can blow the biggest bubble" and it needs people showing off the fact that they think they can be the person who can do it.
That's the way it used to be, and that's the way we want to see it be again. I think one day when it gets that we will see it come back bigger and better then ever.
The Rise and Fall Of Bubblegum
In my last blog I told about bubblegum's invention and how the product grew because of big bubbles.
It's quite a history bubblegum has, one that most other products would probably give their right arm for. I mean, how many other thousands of products never survive 80 years? Many products never even survive eight years. Heck. Many products probably never even see the light of day.
It's obvious bubblegum was built on the BIG bubble. So you'd think manufacturers would take a cue from Walter Diemer and drive that point home every chance they get. But sadly they don't. The reason why is open to speculation, which I may do in later blogs. But for now, incredibly they DON'T.
And the effects are obvious. Kids just don't seem to love the product like they used to. A big emphasis in bubblegum has, in recent years, been put on taste. While bubblegum that tastes good is not a bad thing, when you forget about what the product is really made for and start selling the taste of it, it begins to be like any other candy.
The point is, it's not just some other candy. You eat candy because you want something that tastes good, and that's it (unless your buying it as some kind of novelty). Bubblegum is about blowing big bubbles. I know there are a lot of different bubblegums out there and some blow much bigger bubbles than others. Some bubblegums might be considered "bubblegum candy" especially if they are heavily promoted because of their taste and they can't be used to blow really big bubbles.
That, I believe, is whats responsible for "the fall of bubblegum." If other things about the product are going to be promoted other then the big bubble, then big bubbles are going, for the most part, to be forgotten, and seemingly that's what happened. BIG bubbles are a cultural icon and their loss would be tragic.
So our goal to create the future of bubblegum is really a pretty old idea. Promote the BIG bubble. Just like it was done in the beginning!
It's quite a history bubblegum has, one that most other products would probably give their right arm for. I mean, how many other thousands of products never survive 80 years? Many products never even survive eight years. Heck. Many products probably never even see the light of day.
It's obvious bubblegum was built on the BIG bubble. So you'd think manufacturers would take a cue from Walter Diemer and drive that point home every chance they get. But sadly they don't. The reason why is open to speculation, which I may do in later blogs. But for now, incredibly they DON'T.
And the effects are obvious. Kids just don't seem to love the product like they used to. A big emphasis in bubblegum has, in recent years, been put on taste. While bubblegum that tastes good is not a bad thing, when you forget about what the product is really made for and start selling the taste of it, it begins to be like any other candy.
The point is, it's not just some other candy. You eat candy because you want something that tastes good, and that's it (unless your buying it as some kind of novelty). Bubblegum is about blowing big bubbles. I know there are a lot of different bubblegums out there and some blow much bigger bubbles than others. Some bubblegums might be considered "bubblegum candy" especially if they are heavily promoted because of their taste and they can't be used to blow really big bubbles.
That, I believe, is whats responsible for "the fall of bubblegum." If other things about the product are going to be promoted other then the big bubble, then big bubbles are going, for the most part, to be forgotten, and seemingly that's what happened. BIG bubbles are a cultural icon and their loss would be tragic.
So our goal to create the future of bubblegum is really a pretty old idea. Promote the BIG bubble. Just like it was done in the beginning!
Bubblegum's Success and the BIG Bubble
According to what has been written, one of history's greatest ironies was the invention of bubblegum.
In August (early August, as one account says) 1928 a 24 year old accountant named Walter Diemer invented bubblegum. Yes you read that right. An ACCOUNTANT invented BUBBLEGUM. Someone from one of the world's most boring professions invented one of the world's all time funnest products? Whoa! That does not compute!
But the thing is, it did compute. And, because of it his company laughed all the way to the bank.
They had searched for this formula for a long time. From what's written it appears that they had this idea that if they could only find a recipe for making a gum that bubbles could be blown with and it was something they could sell that they could be immensely successful with it, and that's exactly what happened. Bubblegum was invented and now there's no looking back. Today, 80- years later, it's probably an over one billion dollar industry.
The way Diemer marketed bubblegum was to teach his salesmen how to blow bubbles so they could show off to their customers the amazing and unique thing their product could do. And then he would invite kids over to his house to have bubble blowing contests.
The proof was in the pudding, or in this case, Diemer's sales technique. Bubblegum became one of the world's best loved products, and all because the man knew exactly what to do with it.
Show the world what great BIG bubbles could be blown with it!
In August (early August, as one account says) 1928 a 24 year old accountant named Walter Diemer invented bubblegum. Yes you read that right. An ACCOUNTANT invented BUBBLEGUM. Someone from one of the world's most boring professions invented one of the world's all time funnest products? Whoa! That does not compute!
But the thing is, it did compute. And, because of it his company laughed all the way to the bank.
They had searched for this formula for a long time. From what's written it appears that they had this idea that if they could only find a recipe for making a gum that bubbles could be blown with and it was something they could sell that they could be immensely successful with it, and that's exactly what happened. Bubblegum was invented and now there's no looking back. Today, 80- years later, it's probably an over one billion dollar industry.
The way Diemer marketed bubblegum was to teach his salesmen how to blow bubbles so they could show off to their customers the amazing and unique thing their product could do. And then he would invite kids over to his house to have bubble blowing contests.
The proof was in the pudding, or in this case, Diemer's sales technique. Bubblegum became one of the world's best loved products, and all because the man knew exactly what to do with it.
Show the world what great BIG bubbles could be blown with it!
Introducing myself.
Hello!
My name is Bobby "Boom Boom" Bickerson and I'm here to tell you all about the world of bubblegum bubble blowing, the biggest bubbles ever blown!
My bubblegum background began with my association with Susan Montgomery Williams, the Guinness World Record Holder for blowing the largest bubble. It was built around an aggravation and revulsion we both had about what the bubblegum industry had become.
Williams, who's nickname is "Chewsy Suzy," had been blowing bubbles since she was a little girl back in the early 70's and her rise to fame as bubblegum's greatest bubble blower ever is well documented. To her the meaning of bubblegum was exactly what she did. Blow BIG bubbles. Which if you look at stories of the beginning of the product you will find that's what it was all about. It's the reason the product was invented, and that's exactly how it was marketed.
The big bubble is responsible for the success of bubblegum.
Unfortunately over time that began to change. Bubblegum began to focus on things which had nothing to do with blowing big bubbles. Companies began to seemingly become obsessed with taste. With bubblegum that was less sticky. And with bubblegum that could do other things. The effect of all that was to de-emphasize what the product was made for, to blow big bubbles. The only food we know of with a characteristic that could turn it into a measurable sport.
In my association with Chewsy Suzy we began to focus on one goal. To create the future of bubblegum. Not in the image many manufacturers seem to be taking the product, but rather in the image the product's creator envisioned for it. The image that has earned the product the love of both young and young at heart worldwide. The image that has turned the product into both cultural icon and great American success story. The image that has turned bubblegum into the world's greatest food.
The Big Bubble.
I'm here to fill you in on the past and present of bubblegum. And, hopefully, that future we hope to create.
So welcome aboard. It just might be some kind of ride!
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