(1861–1932). American salesman, manufacturer, philanthropist, and sportsman William Wrigley, Jr., founded the Wrigley chewing gum company in Chicago, Illinois, in 1911. The company became the largest producer and distributor of chewing gum in the world.
Wrigley was born on September 30, 1861, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he was 13 years old he began to work as a traveling soap salesman for his father’s company. In 1891 he went to Chicago, Illinois, as a soap distributor and there started offering baking powder as a premium (a free or discounted item that could be obtained after buying the original item) with each box of soap. In 1892 Wrigley began selling baking powder as a sideline, and with that he offered chewing gum as a premium. The chewing gum proved more popular than the baking powder, so he dropped both soap and baking powder to sell only chewing gum. He also gave dealers premiums, such as clocks, coffee grinders, or fishing tackle, which varied with the size of the order.
Wrigley relied on advertising to boost sales of Wrigley’s Spearmint chewing gum, which he introduced in 1893. By 1908, sales of Wrigley’s Spearmint were more than $1,000,000 a year. In 1911 Wrigley took over Zeno Manufacturing, the company that made his chewing gum, and established the William Wrigley Jr. Company. His company became one of the biggest advertisers in the United States. By 1925 the Wrigley company had factories in the United States, Canada, and Australia. About that time Wrigley stepped down as company president in favor of his son, Philip; Wrigley stayed on as chairman of the board.
Wrigley was the developer of Santa Catalina Island, off the coast of southern California. He was also the chief owner of the National League’s Chicago Cubs baseball team. From 1921 until 1951 (except during the World War II years) the team spent spring training on Catalina. (The Wrigley family sold the Cubs to the Tribune Company in 1981.) Wrigley’s Chicago headquarters, the Wrigley Building, became a noted architectural landmark of that city. Wrigley died on January 26, 1932, in Phoenix, Arizona.