Woman revels in 'unique' gum collection | Offbeat | Eugene News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KVAL CBS 13
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"When the 77-year-old Idaho Falls woman spread her treasured collection across her coffee table and living room floor, her face lit up and she spoke with youthful giddiness. Maughan looked like a child unleashed in a candy store — and that's no exaggeration.
Mounds of brightly-colored, creatively packaged gum surrounded her.
"It just intrigues me," Maughan said. "When I see a new flavor; oh dear, I'm not obsessed, but it almost seems like it."
Maughan started collecting gum in 1948. While her peers found fascination in matchbooks, stamps and bottle caps, she wanted something different.
As a 15-year-old, Maughan watched the Freedom Train pass through Pocatello with her schoolmates. While there, she bought her collection's first piece — Popeye bubble gum, inspired by the cartoon "Sailor Man" and his gal, Olive Oyl.
After that, she was hooked.
For the next 63 years, Maughan kept an eye out for new packages and flavors of chewing gum wherever she went."
