Bubble Gum Byways

Some odds and sods today kids!

Friend o'the Archive Jason Rhodes passed along this little bit of fun some time ago and I'm just now managing to show it. I would have bought this product had I seen this box:

That looks really cool, right?!  I'm estimating it as early Sixties, based upon the box-bottom indicia:

Can't say I've seen many, if any,  80 count boxes from that era but this was one.

Another weird one was Giant Bubble Gum, which I believe was a twist wrap product from around the same time, maybe even a smidge earlier. This is courtesy of Lonnie Cummins:

A short time ago I took an unexpected peek at Topps Flavor Mates gum, which was one of the things packed into the mysterious Wild Animal Surprise Box.  It's a byway in Topps history but the highlighting  of  Imitation Flavor is not something they would often promote.  Here's a Fruit Punch flavor, to go along with the previously seen Grape, Orange and Banana:

I think that commodity code ends in a -9...

...so it's 1969 addition to the line as the Banana flavor included in the Wild Animal box dates to 1968, while the Orange has no code that I've seen and the Grape is indeterminate due to lack of a good scan.

Finally, how about some original artwork for Gold Rush, as painted by Norm Saunders, as shown at normansaunders.com:

What's really neat about that artwork is his children, David and Zina, were the hand models:

Gold Rush was always a favorite of mine and when it was all chewed up, which didn't take very long, you got a little pouch that could hold all sorts of things:

Sorry, no Turkey Bubble Gum to show as we approach Thanksgiving!