I used to love Carefree gum, maybe because when I was growing up it was always in my mom’s purse, but every now and then I’d get a pack and chomp through it in a few hours. It’s been a while since I had it and when I looked for a pack for this comparison against Extra, I was surprised I couldn’t find it anywhere. I did some research and was shocked to find out Carefree was discontinued about 2 years ago. I was so bummed. But all was not lost! I’m lucky enough to have what I call a “living museum” one town over from me. Need a pack of discontinued gum from at least 2 years ago? No problem, head over to Village Stationary in Holliston, MA. Needless to say I didn’t find anyone who wanted to chew this so this evaluation was done solo.
Carefree:
Unsurprisingly, this was kind of hard but still a little bendable. I also would like to note that it did smell like bubble gum and I think the initial stiffness was the only result of being so old. The flavor was what I remembered, I can’t describe it but there is something that makes it uniquely “carefree”. Unfortunately the flavor seemed to only last a few seconds. There wasn’t a lot of “bounce” and the end result was a kind of dense nugget with no flavor- all in about 30 seconds.
Extra:
This (also unsurprisingly) was soft and bendable. The initial bounce was way better and the bubble gum flavor is stronger. It’s almost overwhelming at first, but this lasted a minute before going the way of Carefree and losing most of it’s flavor and bounce. Although with some work, I could blow a bubble with this.
Wrap up:
I admit this may not have been a fair evaluation with Carefree’s age as a factor but I had to do it while I cold still get a pack. I like the flavor of Carefree better although it won’t last long enough to walk to the mailbox and back. BUT, I like the texture of Extra, although I have to keep in mind this was much fresher and the flavor was pretty decent. I will give it “extra” points for being able to blow a bubble with it.
I also wanted to share a Carefree product I found at Village that I never knew existed called Stickfree.
I’m probably not going to chew this but just thought I’d share it since I’ve never seen it before and probably never will again.
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“Stickfree”?!? I bet that was introduced to compete with Wrigley’s Freedent. I can still remember the Freedent ads, with all these old geezers chomping their cuds and joyfully telling everyone how Freedent didn’t stick to their Dental Work.
Stickfree sounds like some sort of hinge lubricant, doesn’t it? No wonder it seems to have failed.
I loved Stick-Free because when it came out I had braces. Chewing gum is basically the worst thing you can do with braces (supposedly) so I thought I was being safe by chewing this!
Carefree breaks into pieces when you bite into it. No one needs that.
Carefree sounds like a women’s sanitary product – no wonder it was discontinued.
I usually buy Wrigley’s gum or Dubble Bubble. And either way I would take Extra either way.
I read years ago, almost all gum these days is plastic and not gum (which I believe comes from a rubber tree). I was told by the Dentist plastic gum was off limits for me. Disneyland & Disneyworld does not sell gum. (a little trivia)