1941-42 War Gum (R164)
Gum Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Series Title: War Gum
American Card Catalog Number: R164
Issued by: Gum, Inc.
Country: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Number of Cards: 132
Card Dimensions: 2½ × 3⅛ inches
Circa: 1941-42

Typical R164 "War Gum" Card Front

Background

The War Gum trading card set by Gum, Inc., was the last of the great bubble gum card series to be issued in the United States before the war effort cut off all supplies of essential materials. The 132-card series began distribution in 1941 and continued well into 1942. The timing of the series allowed the Gum, Inc. team to cover many of the current events of the war, to report the actions of the first American heroes, and to spotlight many Allied leaders as well.

The artwork featured in the series tends to focus on the bravery of Allied servicemen and leaders, rather than on enemy atrocities, i.e. Horrors of War series. The cards are captioned both front and back, however some of the titles differ slightly, mostly in the use of abbreviations. The cards are numbered on the back only. The American Card Catalog number for the series is R164.

Typical R164 War Gum Card Back

Booklets vs. Album

As far as we know, there were no formal albums associated with this series. However, Rand McNally did publish some companion children’s wartime booklets that featured artwork from both the R164 War Gum" and the R157 Uncle Sam series by Gum, Inc. The booklets were No. 372 America’s Army, and No. 373 America’s Navy. Both of these 80-page booklets measured 4⅛ × 5⅝ × 05/16 inches (thick) and were published in 1942.

America’s Army Booklet


America’s Navy Booklet

Series Wrapper

There are at least seven wrappers associated with the series. It is generally assumed that the first four, or map wrappers were used for the first series of cards … no’s. 1 to 84. The map wrappers were actual miniature maps of the war zones, showing Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, French Indo-China and Malaya, and Wake Island. The map wrappers all share the same color scheme: the land masses are white, the water is blue, and the word WAR is orange with thin blue outlines around the letters and jagged edges. The Charging Infantryman wrapper, for which at least three color schemes are know, was most likely used for the second series of cards … no’s. 85 to 132. Note … all of these wrappers are very rare, and command premium prices.

R164 Pearl Harbor Series 1 Wrapper



R164 Philippines Series 1 Wrapper



R164 Wake Island Series 1 Wrapper



R164 Malaya Series 1 Wrapper
(Special thanks to Vladislav Kuchta for sending us this scan.)



R164 Charging Infantryman Series 2 Green — Wrapper



R164 Charging Infantryman Series 2 Orange — Wrapper



R164 Charging Infantryman Series 2 Yellow — Wrapper

Image-Guide

Checklist

Special Thanks

We thank Vladislav Kuchta, Prague, Czech Republic for sending us a scan of the R164 Malaya Series 1 Wrapper. Vladislav is a long-time collector of chewing gum wrappers. He has over 100,000 items in his collection.

We Also thank to Joseph Savoie for helping us complete the Image-Guide section for this collection.

References

1. John A. Shupek: Card images via the Skytamer Archive Digital Image Database.
2. Vladislav Kuchta: Scan of the R164 Malaya Series 1 Wrapper
3. Joseph Savoie: Card images via the Savoie Non-Sports Trade Card Collection.

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