Shall We Chew Gum? by Fannie D. Chase

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 17, 1916

Shall We Chew Gum?

By Fannie D. Chase

FANNIE D. CHASE

Yes, chew gum if you wish to do so. There is always some dark corner to be found in a home where the gum chewer may enjoy his delectable dainty without giving offense to another. Gum chewing is greatly to be preferred to some other kinds of chewing; but as a steady habit of Fletcherization, as many make it, that never brings results, it must be an unsatisfying operation to the ambitious either as participant or observer; for to an onlooker whose physical make-up demands that a given expenditure of energy produce an adequate result, it is annoying to watch a young man, especially one of unusual physical proportions, energetically exercising the lower part of his physiognomy for one hour, yes, two, perhaps three, and frequently more, presumably in an effort to prepare a morsel for deglutition, a result which he never attains.

To observe a young girl of more delicate physique expending energy in such nonproductive effort is even more harrowing. It is true, the girl chewer has some advantage over the young man chewer. The dimensions of her mouth, gums, and teeth are usually less than his; therefore she does not expose to public view so much of the internal mechanism of mouth and throat as does her energetic brother.

Gum chewing may not be a moral or a physical evil, but it is a wrong to oneself, because the public gum chewer does not appear at his best. If you question this statement, read the following illuminating description Will Carleton gives of the public gum chewer:—

“It is a much more desirable thing than to be killed — this sitting in a trolley car opposite a gum chewer; but even that has its unpleasant features. . . . There are different kinds of gum chewers. Notice the quiet, unostentatious person who has picked up one of the precious little prepared quids, from a penny box at the station, and is trying to get the good of it and not be observed. He does not like to suffer detection in the act; but that very feeling has its conspicuousness. Everybody knows that there is a wad of gum in that mouth, however slowly, deliberately, and slyly the leverage of the jaws may work. The nervous person opposite is always waiting for the return movement, glad when it is over, and apprehensive of the next one. Probably no one can even have a piece of gum in the warm storage of his mouth, and sit among people, without its being known, and in some degree resented. Then there is the out-and-out gum chewer, who is enjoying the function, and apparently does not care who knows it. His mouth may be large, but he manages to make it seem a great deal more so. He tips his head forward, to enjoy the luscious morsel a little more. He tips his head backward, so as to enjoy it still more. Sidewise to the right and the left also, sways he the receptacle which has received the perpetual morsel. Wag, wag, wag, go his jaws. Smack, smack, smack, go his lips. Happily, amid the roar of the car, this latter series of concussions cannot be heard; but one has little difficulty in imagining them.”

“Happily, and unhappily, the enthusiastic gum chewer in public does not know what a figure he presents,—happily, because it would mortify him exceedingly; and unhappily, because it would probably induce him to discontinue the practice.”

A youth who possesses a Rooseveltian set of masticators, and a mental and physical energy which has made him a sophomore in the high school and given him an interesting position in the national Capitol at the age of fourteen, was until recently an enthusiastic gum chewer, performing this operation with the same vim that he put into better things. But on being assured that gum chewing did not harmonize with his political and social status, he relinquished it, much to his facial advantage. Other aspiring lads may wisely follow his example.

The fact that no one derives any special pleasure from witnessing the gum-chewing operation, while many suffer decided discomfort therefrom, taboos the process in public, and the well-bred person refrains from doing that which is opposed to good form. He may chew gum in his own private room, but he will not chew it on the street, in the street car, in school, or at a public gathering.