Quick Take: The Chewing Gum King

I have mentioned before that my grandfather had a chauffeur's license. At the time, I assumed that would be the older equivalent of what Texas used to call a chauffeur's license, which you obtained if you planned to drive a taxi or a bus, or to be an actual chauffeur. Nowadays they issue Class B and Class C licenses, more commonly referred to as commercial driver licenses or CDLs, for those jobs, and cities control who receives a permit to work as a cab driver or chauffeur.

I mistakenly assumed that much the same would be true for Illinois, even though a five minute web search probably would have disabused me of the idea. I did search for chauffer's license in the early 1900s in Illinois and came away empty handed.

 I still have no clear idea what the licenses for that period were or how you obtained them, but I again assumed my grandfather probably drove a taxi. That's a lot of assuming, isn't it?

I found a new document -- a "registration card" mistakenly labeled by Ancestry as his World War I draft card -- that listed his occupation as chauffeur and his place of employment as the William Wrigley Jr. company. (I say the card is mistakenly labeled because it's dated 1929. You do the math.)

If you are wondering, Wrigley is indeed the Wrigley of the Wrigley Building in Chicago, Wrigley Field, and oh, yeah, Wrigley's gum.

Wrigley began working in his father's business making, and later selling, soap. He moved to Chicago and started his own business selling Wrigley's Scouring Soap. Believing that customers loved receiving something for nothing, he tossed in a package of baking soda when they bought soap. 

Over time, the baking soda became a more popular product than soap, so he made that his primary product and began giving away chewing gum. Similarly the gum's popularity outgrew that of the baking powder, so he bought the company that made the gum, changed its name and began selling the familiar five packs of gum. The company improved the product, and with the introduction of Wrigley's spearmint and Juicy Fruit gums, it became the world's best-selling gum manufacturer. 

No idea whether Grandfather ever drove Wrigley anywhere.

Much more can be told of the gum king's story, and if you're interested, I would point you to https://www.company-histories.com/Wm-Wrigley-Jr-Company-Company-History.html for more than you would really ever want to know. 

One more interesting fact, Wrigley's great-grandson, also named William Wrigley Jr. -- I have no idea, so don't ask -- sold the company to Mars Inc., the candy maker, and is now the CEO of a company than makes and sells cannabis products. Hmm.