Do you know what the Guiness World Record is for the largest bubblegum bubble ever blown?
50 centimeters and 8 millimeters in diameter.
That’s over 19 inches wide!
The record is held by Alabama native, Chad Fell who broke the record in 2004 while chewing on three pieces of Dubble Bubble bubblegum.
Want to know his secret? Chew long enough so that all the sugar gets out, blow slow, and you’ll end up with a gargantuan bubble that covers your entire face!
We like to imagine a bubble as big as Chad’s could lift you off the ground and send you to space like the movie, UP!
All that to say, bubblegum is one of those confections that sends every person back to a time in their childhood when life was simple and the only thing you wanted to do was blow bubbles the size of a basketball.
As bubble gum lovers ourselves, we like to think we know a thing or two about what bubblegum is the best. So we decided to rally our team together and rank all the best bubblegum. Check out our list and let us know what you think!
The 10 Best Bubblegum According To A Candy Company
Dubble Bubble is one of the oldest brands on this list which was founded in 1928. Originally made by the Fleer Chewing Gum Company, Dubble Bubble was the brainchild of Walter Demier, an accountant for Fleer. After watching his boss, Frank H. Fleer fail to create a bubblegum that wasn’t too sticky, he started to test his own recipe which he perfected in 1928. The only problem was that he never wrote it down. From there, it took him 4 months and hundreds of test batches to get it back, but when he did, it was the perfect formula for blowing bubbles. Maybe it’s the bright yellow wrapper or the wildly chewy texture that makes every kid think they can blow a bubble big enough to float away, but when it comes to the best bubblegum in the world, Dubble Bubble holds the top spot on this list.
2. Bazooka
Bazooka is a classic childhood bubblegum that has been around since 1947. A division of the famous sports card brand Topps, Bazooka was created to compliment the sports fanatics, specifically baseball fans, who would purchase the baseball trading cards. Topps sold the production rights for Bazooka to the sports juggernaut Fanatics in 2022. Bazooka is widely known for its iconic Bazooka Joe comic strips that came wrapped around every piece of gum, which were taken out of production in 2012 and replaced with brain-teasing puzzles instead. If you’re a sports fan who loves to chew on a sweet treat while watching your favorite team, Bazooka is the bubblegum for you.
3. Hubba Bubba
Hubba Bubba is a bubblegum produced by Wm Wrigley Jr. Company. Created in 1979, Hubba Bubba got its famous name from the military term “hubba hubba” which was used to express approval. Hubba Bubba is branded as the bubblegum that won’t stick to your skin when your big ol’ bubble explodes onto your face after it bursts. It’s also known as the rival gum to Bubblicious which was produced around the same time. When it comes to unique ways to sell gum, Hubba Bubba was made most popular by its Hubba Bubba tape which was six feet of bubblegum wrapped into a curricular tape dispenser making it incredibly attractive to youth who wanted to test their chewing ability by seeing just how much of the tape they could chew at one time—a challenge we’ve tried a few times here in our candy headquarters.
4. Bubblicious
Bubblicious is a bubblegum created in 1977 and produced by Cadbury Adams. This bubblegum brand was the first “soft” bubblegum to hit the U.S. market. Bubblicious is best known for its range of 28 different flavors over the years including classic bubblegum, strawberry, grape, blueberry, cotton candy, sour apple, tropical punch, and fruit twist. 2000’s kids will remember it most when NBA legend LeBron James partnered with Bubblicious to make his favorite flavor, LeBron’s Lightning Lemonade which was the athlete’s go to chew while he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Shoutout to our favorite basketball team!)
If you played baseball or softball as a kid, chances are you had your fair share of Big League Chew. The bubblegum brand, which was introduced in 1980 by left-handed pitcher Rob Nelson and bat boy Todd Field, was originally pitched to Wrigley gum as a healthy alternative to chewing tobacco for baseball players—hence why it’s conveniently packaged the same way as chewing tobacco. This bubblegum is a common confection amongst professional athletes, all the way down to the little leagues and has become a staple in sports. There’s just something about throwing in a fat lip of bubblegum that makes you feel like a pro, not to mention Big League Chew now flexes a slew of flavors including Big Rally Blue Raspberry, Ground Ball Grape, Slammin’ Strawberry, and Swinging Sour Apple.
Everyone remembers the childhood classic candy, Blow Pops. But did you know that it also makes a gum ball? Yes, you read that correctly, Blow Pops makes its own bubblegum. Just imagine your favorite Blow Pop sucker, but inside out, with the chewy center as the star of the show. It comes in three distinct flavors, cherry, watermelon, and blue raspberry. Our personal favorite is the blue raspberry, but if you’re a true bubblegum fan we recommend taking one of each and chewing all of them at the same time to get the best of all three flavors in every single bubble.
What if you could mix bubblegum with your favorite sour candy? That was the mission of Cry Baby when it set out to create Cry Baby Bubble Gum Balls. Cry Baby is most popular for its hard candy that would make your mouth pucker up with its insanely sour flavors, so when they launched a variation that was bubblegum based, you know that kids all over the country flocked to their local candy shop to get their hands on a few. And if you’re wondering just how sour Cry Baby Bubble Gum Balls are, let’s just say that it’s rather hard to blow a world record bubble when your mouth is zapped of all moisture thanks to the overwhelming sour flavor that coats every bit of your taste buds.
8. Fruit Stripe
If you’re an older gum fan, then you’ve definitely heard of Fruit Stripe. The five-flavored gum was invented by James Parker in 1969 and produced by the Beech-Nut Company. This candy is recognized as the first multi-flavored pack of gum which consisted of melon, cherry, orange, lemon, and peach flavors. For all the flavor that Fruit Stripe packed, it only lasted for a matter of minutes, leading you to pick up another piece and try something new. It might not be the perfect piece of gum for blowing bubbles, but best believe it holds its own as one of the most iconic gums of all time.
9. Quench Gum
Quench Gum is unlike any other gum on this list as it was developed by Mueller Sports Medicine in the 1970s to aid athletes in performance. We’ve all seen athletes of different disciplines chewing gum while they play, so Mueller decided to make a gum that was packed full of electrolytes to enhance performance. The bubblegum company made a significant pivot in 2021 to rebrand with the hopes of finding new popularity and has continued to grow its reputation in the sports industry. You can find Quench Gum in double raspberry, orange fruit punch, strawberry watermelon, lemon, fruit punch, orange, and grape. If you’re an athlete, or you just like to pretend you’re one on the weekends, Quench might just be what you need to take your performance to another level.
10. Bubblegum Cigars
For those of you who remember Candy Cigarettes, Bubblegum Cigars are considered the close cousin to the retro candy. These were the bubblegum treats every kid wanted to chew back in the day because it was the closest thing you could get to dad’s evening cigar that he’d have after dinner. Bubblegum Cigars were made famous in brick-and-mortar candy stores where you could grab a pack for a few cents and knaw on them all day. While they might lack the flexibility that is needed to blow massive bubbles, it holds a special place in bubblegum history, making it a must have on this list.
Ready to blow some bubbles?
Checkout our bubblegum category and grab all of your favorites from this list!
Penny candy would fill a little brown bag. Great memories!!!
My favorites were Chum Gum and Sputnik
There was a gum named Chum Gum in the 60s that was the best bubble gum I ever tasted.