Frank Henry Fleer (1860November 1, 1921) was an American

confectioner Confectionery is the art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two broad and somewh ...

who is thought to have developed the first

bubble gum Bubble gum (or bubblegum) is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Composition In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, ...

. Fleer founded the Frank H. Fleer Corporation in 1919 as a gum manufacturer. Fleer's original formulation, called

Blibber-Blubber Blibber-Blubber was the first bubble gum formulation, developed in 1906 by American confectioner Frank H. Fleer. The gum was brittle and sticky, with it containing little cohesion; for these reasons, the gum was never marketed. It also required ...

, was never marketed to the public. It was not until 1928 that

Walter Diemer Walter E. Diemer (January 8, 1905 – January 8, 1998) was an American accountant who, in 1928, invented bubble gum. Life Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Diemer was working as an accountant at Fleer in 1926 when the company ...

, an accountant in Fleer's company, was able to refine the formulation and became marketed by Fleer's company as

Dubble Bubble Dubble Bubble is an American brand of fruit-flavored, usually pink-colored, bubble gum invented by Walter Diemer, an accountant at Philadelphia-based Fleer Chewing Gum Company in 1928. One of Diemer's hobbies was concocting recipes for chewing ...

. Fleer's company also went on to be innovators in the

baseball card A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on cardboard, silk, or plastic. In the 1950s, they came with a stick of gum and a limited number of cards. These cards feature one or more baseball players, teams, s ...

business, adding trading cards in 1923.Stasff report (July 15, 2005)
Fleer auction nets $6.1M.
''Philadelphia Business Journal''

Death

Fleer died, aged 65, of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at his

Davidson County, North Carolina Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 168,930. Its county seat is Lexington, and its largest community is Thomasville. Davidson County is included in the Winston-S ...

residence in 1921. He is buried at

West Laurel Hill Cemetery West Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869, is in size, and contains the burials of many notable people. It is affiliated with Laurel Hill Cemetery in nearby Philadelphia. ...

Belmont Section, Lot 58 in

Bala Cynwyd Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community and census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania and borders the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Rou ...

, Pennsylvania.

References

1860 births 1921 deaths Businesspeople from Philadelphia 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople Confectioners {{US-business-bio-1860s-stub