An article in Tuesday’s edition of the Portland Daily Sun writes about the history of chewing gum in Maine and research that shows chewing gum boosts academic performance by 3%.
Eventually demand grew beyond what the Bangor kitchen could produce so Curtis and family set up a facility in Portland. The business continued to grow, eventually employing 200 people who produced 1800 boxes of gum a day. the three-story factory was located on Fore Street in the building now occupied by Hub Furniture. By the late 1870s, Curtis had earned enough from the masticating masses that he was able to build a home in Deering Center that was the largest and most expensive home at the time.