Juicy Fruition

I was lamenting about the good old days over lunch the other day. I’m not old enough to remember as many of them as my friend, Jack, but we did agree that new isn’t necessarily improved.

“The only thing constant is change,’’ I told Jack.

That’s one of those famous quotes from a guy we all know as “Author Unknown.’’ He apparently had a lot of brilliant things to say but never got the credit for saying them. ( My theory is that his real name was Arthur but nobody knew how to spell his last name.)

There are some things I had hoped would never change. One of them was Juicy Fruit gum. I picked some up the other day in the checkout line at Wal-Mart.

I almost didn’t recognize it. They went and changed the wrapper again. A makeover. Radical surgery on the bright yellow wrapper.

I grew up on Juicy Fruit. It’s still one of the top-selling brands of chewing gum in the U.S. And, yes, I know this is the seventh time they have changed the wrapper since the gum was introduced in the U.S. in 1893.

According to Wikipedia, “… in 1905 the Juicy Fruit packet was green with large red letters. Over the years, it progressed to brighter colors in 1914 and a more visually attractive package in 1932. It gained white bars across the packing until around 1941 and changed to the nearly modern package in 1946. The emphasis on price was added in 1987 until 2005, when the charge increased and it shifted to the modern 2006 kid-friendly and fun package.’’

But there was something about it that just didn’t taste the same the other day. I realize it was probably the same gum as it has always been. They haven’t changed the formula or tinkered with the recipe.

The packaging gave it an entirely different look and feel. It was probably psychological, but it didn’t seem like MY Juicy Fruit.

Yes, there are some things that should never change.