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Though Bubbleman Bowman was soon rich enough to keep a private plane, all was not clear sailing for Gum, Inc. Beginning in 1930 Blony's vivid pink base was supplied by a New York druggist named Franklin V. Canning, who agreed to sell the material to Gum, Inc. at no higher price than it could be got for elsewhere, and who supplied working capital in return for 50% (250 shares) of the stock. In 1932 trouble arose because a Wrigley subsidiary developed a better base which undersold Canning's. Consequently altercations between Canning and President Bowman resulted in the latter's ouster from the company last year.
After a long, bitter legal battle during which Bubbleman Bowman spent most of his time scuttling around the Gulf of Mexico in a sea-sled, the Pennsylvania State supreme court upheld his reinstatement as president of Gum, Inc. last July. That month Gum, Inc. made $7,472, after six months' earnings of $49,000 on sales estimated at about $800,000. Bubbleman Bowman's only current worry is a suit by his estranged second wife, Ruth, who claims a verbal agreement to a half-interest in his holdings. Last week, after the first arguments were heard, Philadelphians believed that Bubbleman Bowman was secure.