Zeno Forbidden Fruit Gum

History

Forbidden Fruit was one of Zeno Manufacturing's signature gum flavors and one of the most evocatively named products of the Gilded Age candy industry. The flavor was described as licorice-forward with a mysterious, exotic character — the name itself was an early exercise in suggestive marketing aimed at adults as much as children. Zeno sold the gum through their own penny-operated oak-cabinet vending machines, one of the first commercial gum-vending systems in America. The machines were placed in barbershops, bars, and hotel lobbies across Chicago and beyond. Forbidden Fruit was prominently displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where Zeno promoted it alongside Blood Orange and Peppermint. Zeno even offered a mail-in sheet music promotion: send fifty Zeno wrappers (or ten Forbidden Fruit wrappers) and receive a 40-cent sheet of popular music. When Wrigley absorbed Zeno in 1910, Forbidden Fruit and all other Zeno flavors were discontinued in favor of Wrigley's standardized Spearmint and Juicy Fruit lines.

Other Products from Zeno Manufacturing Company

• Zeno Blood Orange Gum 1890–1910 · chewing gum

  A bright, citrus-forward chewing gum made with blood orange flavoring — one of the first commercial citrus-flavored gums in American history.

Sources

• https://www.madeinchicagomuseum.com/single-post/zeno-gum/
• https://wimuseum.org/zeno-gum-machine/