The American Pepsin Gum Co., Newark, NJ

TheAmerican Pepsin Gum Co of Newark, NJ was one of the country\'searlier makers of chewing gum. In addition to making chewing gums such as El Capitan and Cameo PepsinGum.....American Pepsin made an incredible number and assortment of advertisingpinbacks including; The White Squadron, American Indians, Little Pinkies, USPresidents, Famous Jockeys, Race Horses, Dogs, Maps of States, Famous Persons,European Rulers, America\'s Cup Winners, Flowers and several other sets.

Pinbacks

Pinbacks are a celluloidcovered metal button invented by the Whitehead and Hoag Co. in 1894. Earlypinbacks becameakinto trade cards in being one of the only ways a companycould advertise given there was no radio, televisions or other media to promotesales.With this new type of advertising medium.....candy,cigarette and chewing gum companies (in particular) immediately recognized thepromotional value of the buttons by giving them away with the purchase of theirproducts. The artwork found on pinbacks is incredible given the amount of detail and color on such a small area.

The \"White Squadron\"

The \"White Squadron\" (named for the ship\'s white-painted hulls) was a groupof U.S. Navy steel vessels builtto modernize the fleet after thenaval decay following the Civil War. Congress had adopted a policy to modernizethe navy in 1882 and required the use of steel in domestic manufacture. The USS San Francisco andUSS Charleston were among the first ships of thesteel-hulled “New Navy\" (1887-1888). Each was over 300 feet long, steamedat speeds of up to 19 knots (22 mph) and carried over 300 officers and men. Powered by steam engines,bristling with guns and painted stark white....the warships were powerfulcontrasts to the wooden sailing ships usually seen in US naval ports. By 1891 - there were 16 ships in the \"WhiteSquadron\" fleet including: USS San Francisco, USS Charleston, USS Atlanta, USS Boston, USS Chicago, USSDolphin, USS Yorktown, USSDolphin, USS Bennington, USS Concord, USS Philadelphia, USS Baltimore, USSVesuvius, USS Cushing (torpedo boat), USS Petrel and USS Newark.

Inthe twilight of his administration - U.S. President Theodore Rooseveltdispatched sixteen U.S. Navy ships (The White Squadron) on a worldwide voyageof circumnavigation from December 1907 to February 1909. The purpose of thefleet deployment was multifaceted. It served as a showpiece of American goodwillas the fleet visited numerous countries and harbors. The voyage of the GreatWhite Fleet also demonstrated both at home and on the world stage that the U.S. had become a major sea power in the yearsafter its triumph in the Spanish-American War with possessions that includedGuam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Since the Panama Canalhad not yet been completed - the fleet had to pass through the Straits ofMagellan. The scope of such an operation was unprecedented in U.S. history asships had to sail from all points of the compass to rendezvous points andproceed according to a carefully orchestrated - well-conceived plan. Itinvolved almost the entire operational capability of the U.S. Navy. Thefourteen-month-long voyage was a grand pageant of American sea power. Thesquadrons were manned by 14,000 sailors. They covered some 43,000 nautical andmade twenty port calls on six continents.

The \"USS Newark\"

The USS Newark was the eighth protected cruiser to be launched by the USNavy in Philadelphiaon June 12, 1888. She succeeded the cruisers....Atlanta,Boston andChicago with better protection, higher speed and a uniform 6-inch gun armament.The Newark was armed with 12 (6-inch) gunsalong the sides which increased the arc of fire. Secondary armament was four(2.2-inch) guns, four (1.85in) Hotchkiss revolving canons, two(1.5in) Hotchkiss revolving cannons and four .45 caliber Gatling guns.The USS Newark had 2ingun shield armor and the deck was armored deck up to 3in. The engineeringplant included four coal-fired boilers producing 8,500hp for speeds of 18knots (21mph). Like other US Navy ships of the 1880s - she was built witha sail rigs to increase cruising range which were later removed. The shipcarried up to 400 tons of coal with a cruising range of 3,922nauticalmiles which could be increased to 850 tons for a range of 8,333nauticalmiles. The USS Newark\'s firstassignment was operating off the Atlantic as part of the North Atlantic Squadron until being reassigned in1892 to the South Atlantic Squadron and waters of the Caribbean, South America alongwith making one voyage to South Africa. In 1898 shortly after thedeclaration of war on Spain -she sailed for Key West and then onto Cuba.....joining the blockage onJune 30, 1898. A year after returning home - the ship sailed via the \"Straitsof Magellan\" to participate in Philippine–AmericanWar of 1899. In March of 1900 - she voyaged to China via Hong Kong to help \"landreinforcements\" under siege by the Boxers at Peking(Boxer Rebellion of 1900-1901). After returning home from China - the ship operated in the West Indies andoff the coast of South America as part of theNorth Atlantic Fleet for two years. In 1907 - she reported for duty as stationship at the Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba untilreturning state-side in 1912 when the glorious old warship was decommissioned. Theold Navy cruiser continued to serve her country following her Naval service whenshe was turned over to the Public Health Service where she functioned as a quarantinebarracks for the hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1918 - shereturned to the Navy....functioning as an annex to the Naval Hospital, Newport RhodeIsland throughout World War I.She returned to thePublic Health Service at Providencein 1919 until 1926 when the distinguished ship was returned to the Navy Departmentand sold for disposal (scrap).

Condition

The rare 1896 \"White Squadron -USS Newark\"pinback is in near mint condition. There are no cracks, crazing, foxing orrust. The colors are bright and the Whitehead & Hoag paper insert on theback is still intact with no tears, stains or missing paper. It would be verydifficult to find this rare 120year-old pinback in the same near perfect condition.

The \"USS Newark\" pinback measures: 7/8\" indiameter

Please view photos

The pinback will be shipped in a padded box.

* The above material may not be reproduced orduplicated without permission of the seller (author).