Editor’s note: This is another column in Bill Boyd’s new series, “The Way It Was,” about growing up in Marysville. Bill continues to work with the Union County Historical Society to obtain information for his stories.
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I tried chewing gum for the first time when I was about five years old. My sister, Betty, gave me a stick. She told me to chew it, but not to swallow it. So what do you think was the first thing I did? You guessed it – I chewed the gum for a few minutes, and then I swallowed it.
That’s the last chewing gum I tasted for a year or so, until I was about six years old. That’s when I started buying chewing gum for myself. Whenever I had a penny, I took it to Bonnette’s gas station at the corner of Fifth and Maple Streets.
The business had a great selection of chewing gums in a wood and glass display case, just inside the door. All their gum was five cents a pack, but Mr. Bonnette would open a pack and sell me a stick for a penny. He did that for all the kids in the neighborhood. Over the next few years, I got most of my chewing gum at that gas station, but occasionally I also had another source.
It was a man named Andrew Calloway. He was a meter reader for the electric company. He stopped by our house every now and then to read the meter on our back porch. Whenever he saw me, he would stop and talk with me. He always had a packet of Beemans chewing gum in his pocket, and he would give me a stick. But it wasn’t just the chewing gum that attracted me to him.
He was such a friendly man, and he laughed a lot. When he laughed I could see a gold tooth on the right side of his mouth. I was fascinated by that shiny gold tooth, and I wanted to get one just like it when I got older.
I also remember a day when I learned something important about chewing gum. I was playing with Bill Porter at his house on South Maple Street. Bill opened a pack of chewing gum, and we each took a stick. A few minutes later, Bill’s mother came out the back door with a couple chocolate chip cookies she had just baked.
We had only been chewing that fresh stick of gum for a few minutes. It would be a shame to throw it away. But then I saw Bill take his gum from his mouth and stick it to the back of his ear. Then he went back to chewing it when he finished his cookie. Wow, what a great idea. Over the years, I learned a lot of important things like that from Bill Porter. I often saved my gum the same way.
Of course I can’t stick my chewing gum to the back of my ear any more because that’s where my hearing aids are.
Those wishing to contact Bill Boyd can e-mail him at williamboyd514@gmail.com