Today in 1861, the birthday of William Wrigley, Jr.
He made a huge fortune selling a small product: chewing gum.
Though, as is sometimes the case, that wasn’t the way he expected to get rich at all.
Wrigley started in the soap trade; his dad made soap and the son started selling soap at a pretty young age.
Eventually he moved to Chicago and started his own soap distribution company, where he won customers using one of those tried-and-true selling techniques: bonus products with every purchase.
Consumers got baking powder with their soap, but eventually Wrigley realized the baking powder was the breakout character and he played down the soap.
The same thing happened when he started focusing on the baking powder: customers not only appreciated the free sticks of gum, they were more interested in the gum than the baking powder.
Eventually Wrigley made gum the center of his business, which became a gum empire.
Marketing was a big reason why: Wrigley ran lots and lots of ads.
Some people in the early 1900s thought chewing gum was kind of gross, not dignified, but Wrigley’s ads changed those perceptions.
They said a stick of spearmint gum could settle your stomach and soothe your nerves.
It was healthier than tobacco or drinking and so easy on the household budget that even kids could afford to buy a pack.
The company soon became the biggest player in the gum business, selling millions of dollars worth of gum a year.
Wrigley used some of his fortune to acquire his hometown baseball team, the Chicago Cubs; that’s why they play at Wrigley Field.
The soap salesman turned baking powder seller turned gum giant very much wanted to win a World Series.
And while the team did win several pennants while he was owner, the Cubs famously went without a World Series win in the Wrigley era.
That long-awaited championship came in 2016, decades after the Wrigley family had sold the team.
I guess you can’t be successful in everything.
Earlier this year, Jeff Geraci of Virginia Beach was driving home from a workout when he suffered a massive heart attack.
He was in bad shape, as you’d expect, but fortunately he crashed his car right next to a cardiologist’s office.
Dr. Deepak Talreja called 911 and started CPR, and his unexpected patient pulled through.
How Wrigley Chewed Its Way to Gum Greatness (JSTOR)
Virginia man’s ‘miracle’ survival after massive heart attack crashes car at cardiologist’s doorstep (WTVR)
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