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The Many Uses for Gummi Bears
Last week, a chandelier made of Gummi Bears made the rounds on the "˜net. I was inspired to look up the history of the Gummi Bear. Did you know Gummi Bears were first produced in 1922?! Candymaker Hans Riegel called them "dancing bears". It wasn't until 1981 that they became widely available in the United States. Besides appealing to kids' tastes, Gummi Bears turned out to be useful in many other ways.
Scientific Experiments
Make your Gummi Bear grow by soaking him in water overnight. Another scientific experiment involves burning Gummi Bears in the name of science.
Pranks
The folks at Amazon redecorated a vacationing co-worker's desk with about twenty-five pounds of Gummi Bears.
Home Decor
Brighten your home with these cordless Gummi Lights, which run on lithium batteries. They're made of real rubber, not sugar.
More uses for Gummi Bears, after the jump.
Crime
Gummi Bears contain the best material for fooling fingerprint scanners.
Cake Decorating
Gummi Bears are candy is wonderful for decorating cakes, and taste better with icing than those cheese-flavored fish. You'll find notes on how this cake was made at Candy Addict, and more notes at Flickr. Here's another cake, this one with bears.
Fashion
Gummis stick to the skin. At least I hope so, in this case. They might be more useful to you as jewelry.
The Arts
Gummi Bears are such an icon that artists are inspired. This Gummi Bear is an oil pastel drawing on paper, for sale through Deviant Art.
The aforementioned Gummi chandelier was made by artist Ya Ya Chou, who also constructed this bearskin rug and other delights (from her website, click on "sculpture" to see the Gummi Bear series).
They lend themselves handily to stop-motion animation. This experimental film uses Gummi Bears for their elasticity and adhesiveness.
In researching this, I came across a lot of references to Gummi Bears and sonograms. Apparently, fetuses go through a stage where they quite resemble the candy! I decided that posting a photo would be too personal, but you can find such photos with a simple search.
Can you think of other imaginative uses for Gummi Bears?