American Mint

How different our lives would be without this humble herb! Showing up in products from Mylanta to mouthwash, the plants Mentha piperita (peppermint) and Mentha spicata (spearmint) are the "stars" of American Mint, a four-part Telly Award-winning series, focusing on the story of mint in America over the last 200-plus years, from its early cultivation as a non-native plant during the 1790s to its present status as a staple ingredient in hundreds of products. Part one opens with filmmaker and professor of history Dr. Ephraim K. Smith discovering a rusted old structure overgrown with weeds near St. Johns, Michigan while photographing barns. The derelict building turns out to be the remains of a mint still, a find that sends Smith on an investigative journey into the historical underpinnings of the mint industry. Along the way, viewers learn fascinating details about how mint was used to cure everything from digestive ailments to bad breath, as well as how the accidental birth of chewing gum in the 19th century (inventor Thomas Adams was actually working on a cheap substitute for carriage tires) ultimately led to the gum wars between Beech Nut, Wrigley's, Chiclets, Adams, and Beeman's. Other volumes continue the story as mint production migrated from the East to the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, and the worldwide market for mint products expanded--largely due to American soldiers in the first and second world wars taking gum, candy, and toothpaste overseas. Viewers will also learn how mechanization and large commercial farms and the gradual shift to a global economy have impacted this specialized product. Combining historical photographs with engaging interviews, this well-researched documentary provides a good overview of a product that has permeated our everyday lives, while also presenting a microcosmic look at how business and farming have changed over the last two hundred years. Highly recommended. [Note: a separate 55-minute documentary, The Historic J. E. Crosby Mint Still, is also included with the purchase of the four-part set.] Aud: C, P. (L. Stevens)