{"id":595,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:36","latitude":38.95914214285713939034394570626318454742431640625,"longitude":-85.8873728367346984668984077870845794677734375,"title":"Fitch&#039;s Tolu Chewing Gum Factory","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/955f23ebf5fb9d9b189d6c52c322fbcb.jpg","address":"100 N Ewing St, Seymour, IN 47274","all_locations":[],"zoom":16,"creator":["Janet Hensen"],"description":"Asa M. Fitch was a multi-patented inventor. Among his inventions were a wheeled plow whose depth could be adjusted, a box, and a children’s educational card game which included various bird and animal species. In Seymour, Indiana, his major manufacturing project involved a tolu-based chewing gum. Tolu is a fragrant brown balsam taken from a South American Tree. It can be used as a gum base like chicle. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nFitch’s first chewing gum factory opened in Lexington, Kentucky, in the 1870s. He purchased a new boiler for his factory in 1882. “Pronounced first class,” half an hour later the boiler blew up. The explosion killed engineer George Harding instantly. Twenty other employees were unharmed.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nTwo months later, Fitch appeared regularly in Seymour newspapers. Frequent reports of his gum sales caused remarks in surrounding papers. They complained about the “incessant yum-yum-yum-yum-yum-yum…about that tolu factory.”<br />\r\n<br />\r\nA fire broke out in the Pabst Brewery warehouse just west of the factory in Seymour on the evening of November 23, 1891. The water in the hydrants was at only one-third normal pressure. It was ineffective at putting out the fire before it spread to neighboring buildings, including Fitch’s factory. The man who was in charge of the waterworks was off raccoon hunting, causing further delays. Fitch’s factory was (you’ll pardon the expression) toast. Fitch sued the Seymour Water Company, but the courts denied his suit.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nShortly thereafter, Fitch moved his business to Indianapolis, leaving the old factory site empty. Southern Indiana Railway attempted to confiscate his property, but Fitch filed suit against the railroad and received a $100 judgment for damages. He sold the property in 1922 about a year before he died.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":[],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/955f23ebf5fb9d9b189d6c52c322fbcb.jpg":{"id":2857,"mime-type":"image/png","title":"Box for Tolu Gum","description":"A box of Tolu Chewing Gum from the 1880s. The packaging advertises the gum as a treatment for coughs, colds, indigestion, and dyspepsia.  | Photo courtesy of Seymour Museum Center of Indiana | c. 1880s. ","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/955f23ebf5fb9d9b189d6c52c322fbcb.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/53c77cca28a4ebf7430aba659965a8e8.jpg":{"id":2858,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Sweet Violet Gum","description":"An advertisement for Fitch&#039;s Sweet Violet Chewing Gum, sold two for one cent.  | Photo courtesy of Seymour Museum Center of Indiana | c. 1880s","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/53c77cca28a4ebf7430aba659965a8e8.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/e952d3b27b516eace2160364f5b29b37.jpg":{"id":2859,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Fitch Chewing Gum Advertisement","description":"Different art styles were used to sell different varieties of Fitch products. This ad for rubber tolu gum was created in the 1880s.  | Photo courtesy of Seymour Museum Center of Indiana | c. 1880s","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/e952d3b27b516eace2160364f5b29b37.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/60349b82643343f19b3bd1e168fb53ad.jpg":{"id":2861,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Sanborn Map 1887","description":"In this fire insurance map from 1887, the Fitch Chewing Gum Factory can be seen in the block just north of the railroad tracks between Ewing and Broadway.  | Image courtesy of the Library of Congress | 1887 | Sanborn Fire Insurance Company","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/60349b82643343f19b3bd1e168fb53ad.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/b34419e84e77b11e5bd13377d6dc3ef5.jpg":{"id":2862,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Sanborn Map 1892","description":"In the Sanborn map for 1892, one can see that the Fitch factory is no longer present. By this time Fitch had moved the factory to Indianapolis.  | Image courtesy of the Library of Congress | 1892 | Sanborn Fire Insurance Company","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/b34419e84e77b11e5bd13377d6dc3ef5.jpg"}}}