Philadelphia Gum

The Philadelphia Chewing Gum Company is an American candy, chewing gum, and confectionary company.

The company was established in 1948 in Havertown, Pennsylvania, by Edward P. Fenimore (a long time chewing gum expert who was with Bowman Gum). His son Edward L. Fenimore, served as president of the company and for a period, as the Chairman of the National Association of Chewing Gum Manufacturers. His sons, Edward P. II & Richard L., later joined him on the management team, making the company a third generation family owned and operated business. All products, many of which are sold under the "Swell" brand name, are manufactured in a 200,000 square foot factory near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In July 2003, Concord Confections acquired the Philadelphia Gum Company and its brand names. Recent products include bubble gum cigars aimed at the 2008 presidential election.

From 1964–67, Philadelphia Gum had a license from the National Football League to produce trading cards of leading football players, while Topps produced cards for the rival American Football League. These football cards are today highly collectible. The company also produced a set of 55 self-adhesive stickers of Marvel Comics superheroes, as well as trading cards based upon "World War II," "Men of the Green Berets," "The Story of Robert F. Kennedy," and many others. It briefly produced novelty baseball items, including baseball cards.

References

* [http://www.swellgum.com/aboutcompany.html Company web site]