Something to Chew On

Musings by Shar

As a kid, I never thought about brand names. Take gum, for instance. There were lots of brands to choose from. You bought the one you liked. And certain brands were always a staple on any candy shelf.

Since being on Catalina Island, I’ve been thinking a lot about gum-mostly Wrigley’s gum- because W. M. Wrigley Jr., the inventor of Wrigley’s gum, has a lot of history with this island. Let me tell you a bit about the man behind Wrigley’s chewing gum.

The Gum: Mr. Wrigley was a salesman in the late 1800’s. When he sold his product, he would give a free item to his customers. He discovered that the giveaway item was always more popular than the item he was selling. One of these giveaway items was chewing gum. Because of the popularity of the gum, he decided to manufacture and sell chewing gum. It was in this business that Wrigley made his name and fortune.

The Island: Somewhere along the line, after earning his fortune in the gum business, he owned Santa Catalina Island. He wanted to develop the island for tourism, but also wanted to protect the Island’s beauty for future generations to enjoy. He started businesses to employ locals including a hotel, a tile and pottery plant, a botanical garden and a casino (FYI casino back then meant a place to meet not a place to gamble). He also built a Chimes Tower to chime every quarter hour and a not so small house for he and his family.

Upon his death, he was interred on the island in his custom-designed sarcophagus located in the Wrigley Memorial tower in the Botanica Gardens.

His remains were later relocated so the garden could be made available to the public. His son eventually transferred all ownership of the Island to the Catalina Island Conservancy.

I guess his motto for life was to live (and die) big.