# Chewing Tar **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Tags:** accord, honda\ **Created:** [March 29, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134 "2011-03-29T17:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/41 "2019-01-19T02:55:33Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > So much of the medical advice from The Good Old Days was apparently based on something _other_ than scientific evidence. I guess I meant there are a lot of remedies and potions handed down that had some basis in fact. Others no. The American Indians had all kinds of medicines from plants for various maladies that worked. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/42 "2019-01-20T04:25:41Z")
You can still get Blackjack gum. Pretty good, but the flavor doesn’t last long. Same company also makes Beeman’s and clove-flavored gum. Oldschool. ---
**Author:** ![Honda-Blackbird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/honda-blackbird/32/3159_2.png) [@Honda-Blackbird](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Honda-Blackbird)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 11:46am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/43 "2019-01-20T11:46:04Z")
I used to have to walk to school in the snow, uphill, both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/44 "2019-01-20T15:24:37Z")
You mean Mercury is not good for you? ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/45 "2019-01-20T16:04:29Z")
In the 18th & 19th Century, _Calomel_–which was a Mercury solution–was used as a purgative, and it always produced the desired result of evacuating the patient’s colon in an explosive manner. When Cholera patients–who were already suffering from severe dehydration–were treated by the medical professionals of the day, the “cure” that they were given was usually _Calomel_. That only served to hasten the death of the already-dehydrated patients. So, in addition to Mercury’s obvious toxicity over the long-term, the medical professionals of the past managed to use it with disastrous results in the short-term. 😵 ---
**Author:** ![Denise\_Williams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@Denise\_Williams](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Denise_Williams)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/46 "2019-05-05T19:33:51Z")
Chewing tar is, unfortunately, a real thing. Pictures on Google. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/47 "2019-05-05T19:37:11Z")
@cdaquila Is there any reason for this thread to be open ? ---
**Author:** ![Donna\_Foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f475e1/32.png) [@Donna\_Foster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Donna_Foster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/48 "2019-07-30T03:48:14Z")
I have been trying to find out if anyone else chewed tar as a child for years ;and just happened onto this conversation. I’m 69 years old and always wondered if it caused ADD symptoms I believe I’ve always struggled with. I wonder if it had lead in it? Also ate dirt off car tires. Weird, huh. Guess I was bored or hungrey for something?? ---
**Author:** ![mperry\_153483](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@mperry\_153483](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mperry_153483)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 5:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/49 "2019-07-30T05:23:52Z")
Actually, they weren’t kidding, but I doubt they did it. I’m 65 and it was a story my G-father told from when he was a kid. The Wright brothers’ first money venture (yes that pair) noted that kids were buying chewing gum. They made their own from tar and sugar for half price. No one bought the second batch. Mark Twain talks about it when he lived in Hannibal. Of course, you could never quite tell when he was pulling your leg. G-dad was a similar character, but told of it when he lived in town, in Missouri. I couldn’t test because all rural roads in Iowa were gravel or oil coated at that time. G-dad made Twain look like a straight man. As I recall, road base was packed gravel, tar was poured over and gravel added on top, then rolled in. In later years, gravel was premixed into the tar. When it got really hot, the tar would bubble to the surface in small puddles you could scrape up with a stick, sort of like roofing tar (but not as stinky). When I was a very young boy, we lived in Port Charles LA and the roads bubbled. You had to be careful walking in bare feet (as we all did) not to step on the tar strips. ---
**Author:** ![ynot\_chas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/74df32/32.png) [@ynot\_chas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ynot_chas)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 9:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/50 "2021-05-18T09:49:05Z")
I’m 60 years old and chewing on tar is actually a fact Us kids used to do it all the time. Looking back probably not that wise considering all the crap that was probably in it back then and it’s probably not as toxic now but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/51 "2021-05-18T14:28:32Z")
@cdaquila Carolyn , do we really need a thread here about chewing Tar ? Me thinks cyber space is good place for it. ---
**Author:** ![ynot\_chas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/74df32/32.png) [@ynot\_chas](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ynot_chas)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/52 "2021-06-01T10:57:45Z")
This is cyberspace ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/48514_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/54 "2021-06-01T13:46:26Z")
> [@oldtimer-11](#): > > Do they still make Beeman’s Pepsin Gum? Yes, it is still made, but it no longer contains Pepsin. > **[Beemans gum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beemans_gum)** > > Beemans gum (originally Beeman's Gum, see image at right) is a chewing gum formulated by Ohio physician Edward E. Beeman in the late 19th century. It originally contained pepsin, but no longer does. > Beeman originally claimed the gum contained pepsin powder that would improve digestion. The product became a part of the American Chicle Company in 1898, and continued on after the purchase of American Chicle by Warner-Lambert in 1962. Production ceased in 1978 due to lagging sales. In 1985 the brand... > [@oldtimer-11](#): > > I remember my grandfather making me a headcheese sandwich My German Great Aunt used to eat that stuff and it freaked me out. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![cdaquila](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cdaquila/32/18089_2.png) [@cdaquila](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cdaquila)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/55 "2021-06-01T20:15:53Z")
Hi, I thought this might have faded into the past but seems the discussion is still alive. Is there any way to bring it back to cars, vehicles, roads, or whatever would be on topic? Maybe it’s past that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 6:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/56 "2023-07-18T06:38:16Z")
The sane grandfather who ate head cheese lost his Hupmobile when visiting the Lamb ranch in what is now Allegany State Park. The ranch had been acquired by NY State by eminent domain, but the Lamb family refused to leave. My grandfather had left his car in the barn and accompanied the Lamb family inti Salamanca to a movie. The Cattaraugus County Sherri’s took the opportunity to set fire to the ranch. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/57 "2023-07-18T21:04:20Z")
Well that’s no good. First of all , if the family doesn’t want to move, seems like a reasonable compromise is to let them stay for the rest of their lives, give them a life estate. Eventually the gov’t will get it. And even if the gov’t wanted to force them to leave, you’d think the method to convince somebody to move in that sort of situation would be to cut off their electricity and water supply, rather than burning the property to the ground. I think there is or was recently a SCOTUS controversy whether it is legal to use eminent domain to benefit a private organization, such as if a town’s elected politicians want to use eminent domain to create a spot for a privately owned apartment complex. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134/58 "2023-07-19T04:57:11Z")
New York State and Allegany State Park are not private entities. Police forces were not know to be shy about enforcing the law or willing to bow to public sentiment in the 1920s. Nobody wanted to wait for decades to build the Park and probably most of the land owners did not want to leave but the eminent domain hearings were over and the family was in violation of court orders. The buildings were razed anyway and the Sheriffs tactics prevented an armed conflict and bloodshed. Similar tactics were employed in the creation of the Blue Ridge Parkway and probably in the creation of many other State and National Parks whose stories I do not know. The same qualities that make a place a great park make it a place residents don’t want to leave but if we had not made these parks when we did many of their attractive qualities would have disappeared and no one would be driving to them. [Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/chewing-tar/63134.md?page=2)