The History of Fruit Stripe Gum 

It's popularity lasted much longer than It's flavor.

Awesome fruit flavor for about 1 minute. Then all you could taste were the empty stripes.

This happened to me with so many breakfast cereals that I loved and grew up with. They were there since I was a little kid. Then... suddenly, out of nowhere, in the mid 2000's... almost all my favorite breakfast cereals disappeared completely and almost at the same time. It was like there was this sudden, mass extinction of breakfast cereals. And at the same time, Shrinkflation just kept getting worse and worse. Now, the boxes are teeny., and skinny. The family sized boxes are now half the size that they once were and are not the size of what the medium sized boxes were back in the 80's and early 90's. The same thing happened with the yogurt section. I was raised on Dannon, and Breyers, fruit on the bottom yogurt. They used to come in 8oz cups with all kinds of flavors. 8oz was the standard size for yogurt cups. But in the 2000's, the size of those cups kept shrinking and shrinking, down to the shot glass size that they are now. And the shot glass size cups now cost more than the 8oz cups cost back then. And we saw "fruit on the bottom" yogurt mostly phased out too. Most yogurts now are those pre-mixed colored variety that doesn't have any chunks of fruit in them, and tastes like candy. If they aren't that candy flavored yogurt, they're that super thick and heavy Greek yogurt stuff that tastes like yours shoveling mouthfuls of cheese into your mouth. The type of yogurt that I love that's been around for all my life is just either downsized to a point where it's not worth it to spend money on, or just.... replaced by kid yogurt or Greek Yogurt. Ice cream has gone the same way. You used to be able to get a half gallon of good ice cream. Now, good luck finding a half gallon. They chopped the size on that way down. And on top of that there's a HUGE difference in the ice cream. Around the 2000's, they started whipping air into the ice cream to make it fluff up so they would be able to minimize the amount of physical ice cream in the container. The ice cream you get now, unless it's by companies making premium ice creams like Ben and Jerry's, is this horrible mockery of ice cream that has no body to it at all. This is the fate of Hood ice cream, and Breyers ice cream that I used to love back in the day. And once again, it's all smaller package sized than it used to be, yet more expensive than it used to be when the packages were bigger.

I really did love this silly stuff. The fruit flavors were solid, and it was STRIPEY?!

9:28 That crying 900 commercial creeped me the f*ck out. When it would randomly be on shows like Friday the 13th the tv series Tales from the Darkside, Freddy's Nightmares, & Monsters back in the days of the 90's.

I liked Fruit Stripe gum as a kid in the 1980s, it was very popular and yes the flavor didn’t last long, but the company should’ve reformulated the gum with longer lasting flavors like Extra and Stride gum did. Candy products have to evolve, there’s been lots of discontinued candies that failed because of Nabisco and Nestle didn’t care enough about their candies.

0:08 "and now, to give you a brief taste" Yes, Fruit Stripe does offer a VERY brief taste.

14 cavities and three crowns because of this gum, you will be missed.

My favorite gum ever . . . for about 30 seconds before the flavor is gone.

I used to love Fruit Stripe; I wonder why they never tried to make the flavor last longer. I seem to recall the Fruit Stripe bubble gum had longer lasting flavor, but That memory is really fuzzy.

Sign up, guys. Dan's jacket swag alone is worth the dollar.

Fun fact: This video is longer than the flavor of 30 sticks of Fruit Stripe Gum. I'm honestly not going to miss it all that much. It's one of those things where whenever I thought of buying a pack I remembered how disappointing it was and just... didn't. So maybe instead of discontinuing it they should have IMPROVED it. The flavor was great it just... wasn't worth the price of admission.

That "easily solvable mysteries" with the music and the smoke was a nostalgia bomb for my ears.

Holy Snap Crackle Pop I Never Thought I Would See A Commentary On This Subject...It's Almost Like Being In Sixth Grade Again...Thank You...

I love the cat looking on as Dan savors those last 60 seconds of flavor.

Excited to see this one make it out to the public :)

Fruit Stripe Gum was delicious for those precious few seconds 😭😭

The Jason Vorhees/ Boba Fett gag always gets me.

14:01 Literally my only connection to Fruit Stripe Gum is this commercial right here, which I recorded in a handful of commercial breaks that were placed within episodes of _Captain N and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3._

I love the fact you folks actually look things up. In this day and age, that's amazing.

I ain't gonna lie, I coulda watched the ENTIRE 15 min runtime of just Dan trying to chew Fruit Stripe Gum..... and considered that an avant garde masterpiece!!!!

I remember the Fruit Stripe gum. Much better than Bubble Tape. Love the Zebra print suit

I hope Easily Solvable Mysteries becomes a recurring segment

I've worked in retail for several decades and had no idea it was (until recently) still available. It must have been super rare or unavailable in the Southwest?! Thanks Dan and Co much love.

Best 30 seconds of flavor ever!

Great job putting in more work on research than most major outlets. And a very welcome and unexpected collaboration with Matt from Dino Drac!

Aw man! I used to chew it for another hour out of spite. Woah are you really gonna do superman peanut butter and “thirst quenching” gatorgum? Next you’re gonna tell me you’re gonna do TMNT pudding pies. What in the absolute hell were we putting in our bodies back then. My mental health issues are starting to make sense.

Believe me signing up for this channel is worth it the members only videos have all been bangers so far hilarious & informative.

I bought Fruit Stripe gum on occasion, but I hadn't gotten it in a few years. I will miss it, but hope it'll come back like Hostess cupcakes (I was never into Twinkies, but I'm glad they're back, too). I'll give it a 75/100 hope Fruit Stripe returns.

I loved Fruit Stripe gum as a 90s kid. But as I grew older, my tastes matured to Big Red.

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Now we need video for that gum in the 80/90's that had a liquid center inside. They had a&w root beer, Dr Pepper and others. I think it might have been by Hubba Bubba.

bringing back the old jason AND boba fett clip. A++

Those 10 seconds of flavor were the best.

I'll always remember it from the movie Down Periscope. It cost 25 cents a pack, just remember to chew it silently.

I really enjoyed that one! Thanks SG Team!

Kudos for the Dinosaur Dracula shout out! He is easily my favorite noted pop culture historian and archivist. He smashes it regularly along with Jay from Sludge Central on the Purple Stuff Podcast!

When i was very young (like 4-6) my aunt would buy fruit stripe gun specifically for road trips. There's even a wrapper in my memory book.

What about the history of GATOR GUM? I used to LOVE that gum as a kid!

9:26 They've put some odd commercial breaks in this series, but this one has to take the cake. I assume this is a parody of something, but it's just so darn weird, and it's connection to Fruit Stripe Gum is unknown.

I've been doing a fruit stripe gum cosplay for the past 5 or so years at dragon con.

The Centuar gag had me laughing. I feel bad for people that paid for this, Dan chewing gum with awkward pauses. I do appreciate Dans commitment to dressing up for bits.

Finally now i can watch The History Of Fruit Stripe Gum Thank You Secret Galaxy also can you please do a video on The History Of Mad Magazine i want you to do a history on the rise and fall and discontinuation of Mad Magazine and as well a History Of Heavy Metal Magazine and it's films Heavy Metal And Heavy Metal 2000 also great video on Fruit Stripe Gum i probably know that gum exists now before i saw this video. Thank You Secret Galaxy For This Video Quote Pee-Wee Herman Would you care for some gum spearmint of fruit. Then Francis's Mouth Turn Black

I like that your scripts always strike the right balance of information & humor, regardless of the program or product. You are genuinely interested in the subject (most of the time!), poking fun when appropriate, but always respectful overall. That's much more entertaining than a hyper critical, condescending approach, & I appreciate it. Also, you mentioned Lemonheads as a contemporary of Fruit Stripe gum as far back as 1960, & I didn't realize it was quite that old! Hopefully there's enough material there for a future Lemonheads review. I always felt like I was going to crack a tooth on the common hard Lemon Drop, but the waxy shell covering on the smaller Lemon Heads made those my go-to when choosing sour candies as a child (& even today, actually!). Thanks for sharing this video, in the meantime. It was entertaining (& a little off the wall) from start to finish!

That cutaway to 'Mars Attacks' made me laugh harder than it probably should have.

This should have been a 15 second video. Just as a tribute.

My yipe-stripe tiger was my buddy as a toddler.

I worked @ a distribution center that shipped & received Fruit Stripes. A trailer full of pallets of FS gum smelled absolutely glorious.

Just seeing the title now has the 'Yikes! Stripes!' commercial from so long ago playing in my head.

First they took away my candy cigarettes, then my Big League Chew. RIP Fruit Stripe.

Awesome. Can't wait for the Tripledent gum epsiode. That tune gets in your head

It'll turn up again. There are companies that buy up old, no longer used IP's and sell them online or in nostalgia stores like lobbies of Cracker Barrel restaurants. Remember GatorGum and A&W, Dr.Pepper and Sprite Freshen Up gums? "The gum that...ehem...Squirts".

If you're covering legendary discontinued treats from our childhoods, you should look into doing a video about Ecto-Cooler!

I’m really curious when they introduced the “Yipes Stripes!” slogan, because the only other context I’ve heard it is the 1964 song “Yipes Stripes” by a West Virginia band called The Huntington Astronauts. Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans might remember it from the season 5 episode “Teen-Age Strangler,” as I recall the lyrics don’t reference gum but the timing with Fruit Stripe’s early popularity is a little on the nose.

Believe it or not there was a Fruit Stripe cartoon ad that used to make me cry as a kid.

Thanks for a taste of the Patreon goodness.

Anyone remember the candy bonkers? around late 80s early 90s. Kinda like high-Chew candies.

1:16 "I'm Dan Larson, and this is... about how long the flavor lasts."

"We're gonna give you a brief taste of what to expect from member exclusives" I see what you did there.🤣

“Assaults your gums, not your tastebuds!”

😂😂 it was one of my childhood favorites. Even if the flavor lasted 10 minutes or less

*We're releasing this video now to give you a brief taste of what you can expect. Is that shot at fruit stripe in the intro to the videos intro?*

I really miss this gum. Even though the flavor only lasted 20 seconds, they were a delicious 20 seconds.

Easily Solvable Mysteries T-Shirt when.

I also was unaware of the gummies existence

I bought fruit stripe since I was a kid going through his local grocery store while holding my grandma’s Hand. She let me always pick out a candy and it was the gum.

I used to buy Fruit Strip Gum from Cost Cutters, now neither exists. They are erasing our childhood lol

I remember, quite clearly, my brother and I use to buy the Chocolate Striped gun at the little General Store when we were kids in the mid/late 60's in Peyton, Colo. We didn't buy it for the taste (it tasted like Ovaltine), but because it was chocolate, and we were all in for chocolate back then.

👀 dangerously the only 1 video i really wanted to see. Thank you for publicizing the GOAT.

I’ll miss Fruit Stripe Gum zero out of 100. I forgot it existed.

I love that y'all cited Matt as an expert!

This & ouch gum were always my favorites

I was a little kid with Fruit Stripe Gum came out in the 1960s and it was a sensation. A lot of it was probably the TV ads for it on Saturday morning.s

Oh i used to love that gum when I was a kid. Nothing had strong flavor. Baseball cards came with gum we called Pink Flavored. And it was gone in moments. But one thing it was great for was building. Blocks, stones, logs, we stuck together with gum. Fruit Stripe was good because it stayed sticky until the sugar was gone. It stuck good until it got wet. It was cheap adhesive.

Aside: The Wikipedia article has since been updated to reflect the 1960 debut date, sourcing directly to the USPTO instead of a news article.

I genuinely thought Fruit Stripe Gum discontinued YEARS ago (not as of this year) cause I hadn't seen it in stores for god over 10+ years? LMAO

You do an intro highlighting notable facts about the gum while eating a few of the ever shrinking number of the remaining gum strips. Nice.😂

Every time I don’t buy these special videos they always come out free! I was just a few clicks away from spending that money to see it!

R.I.P. Fruit Stripe Gum We'll meet again someday.

This actually bums me out. Just a month ago I was in the store and thought "Hmmm, maybe I should buy some fruit stripe gum". I glanced to see if it was there (No lie, I would periodically check to make sure it was still being made) but I don't remember if I saw any. I was researching historical evidence for what happened to the Apostles and thought, "Oh man this is heavy, I need to take a break. I know! I'll watch some Secret Galaxy! That'll be fun!" Boom! A swift punch to the nostalgia section of my heart. I saw a replica of the Sword of Omens the other day... maybe I should buy it before it's gone as well.

Wow...i still remember buying Fruit Stripe as a kid!

9:50 - Man 900 number commercials were REALLY cringe.

1:32 Was the beginning a joke on its flavor not lasting long enough ?

"giving you a brief taste"... I see what you did there

Come for the Fruit Stripe Gum. STAY for the 1-900 Cry ad.

i was just wondering last week if Fruit Stripe was still around ! it was my favorite gum but i stopped chewing gum because the flavor lasted so briefly and it's bad for teeth

Shit. This is the first I've heard that fruit stripe was cancelled. I mean, yeah, it wasn't that great but instead of trashbinning it, they should have just fixed the flavor and sweep the market

You said “Gator Gum” and… Holy flashback! I had forgotten its very existence, and your mentioning of it immediately triggered memories of its tangy flavor and bright green (or orange!) packaging… Can withdrawal skip 35 years?!

Wait. That 1-900-CRY commercial… The fuck.. Was that really a thing? I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.😂

I am so sad, didn’t know it was discontinued. My nana always brought it back for us from vacations to visit family in Boston 😭

A+ video! Awesome history and personal experience about Fruit Stripe Gum!

Fantastic 🎉🎉

If you want to do down a rabbit hole, look into the history of the Ralston company. Trust me it gets weird.

Has any one dialed cry number 😂😂😂 Also Dan has this magical ability to make things sound so important while he is telling you how unimportant they are 😂

I loved Fruit Stripe gum, it too was my favorite go-to for trips.

I remember I saw a mural made out of Fruit Stripe Gum wraps at the Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I think it was a race track.

This video has a longer running time than the gums flavor. Well done sir!

Oh. It’s a profit scheme. That takes the pressure off.

Link for the Zebra Jacket, Dan? I’d love to get one.

I miss it about 70. The theme song lives in my head rent free, and I enjoyed it ephemeral flavor. Did they ever apply modern technology to the flavor duration issue? I feel like that was low-hanging fruit.