Word: gum
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...Theodore M. Hesburgh, 64, president of the University of Notre Dame, would not appear to have a lot in common. But this year they are all set to be included in that uncommon nominator, the Guinness Book of World Records: Williams for blowing the largest bubble-gum bubble (19¼ in.), Hollingsworth for balancing a milk bottle on his head while walking 18½ miles (a truly dying art), and Father Hesburgh for accumulating more honorary degrees than anyone else ever has. Next month Hesburgh will surpass Guinness's current record holder, former President Herbert Hoover...
Mention video to some people and watch their faces fall. If the cliché of "modern sculpture" used to be a piece of stone chewing gum with a hole in it, and that of "modern painting" was a canvasful of drips, then the cliché of "video art" is a grainy closeup of some U.C.L.A. graduate rubbing a cockroach to pulp on his left nipple for 16 minutes while the sound track plays amplified tape hiss, backward. Video art has not yet shaken off its reputation as clumsy, narcissistic and obscure...
...first, cards came as promotions with tobacco, candy, meat, and cookies, but the manufacturers endeared themselves to generations of traders, flippers, and hoarders by including gum. The horrible, brittle pink slab takes about five minutes to break in, chews well for four, and then makes your jaw hurt more than two hours parked on Inspiration Point...
Since 1951, Topps, which also makes Bazooka bubble gum, has been king of the cards market. By signing players to exclusive contracts while they were still in the minor leagues, the company had kept an almost complete monopoly for nearly 30 years. But two years ago Topps was sued for violation of anti-trust laws, and the door opened for other companies to begin pushing cards...
Other stops on this delightful tour include gazes at what the Bay of Pigs did for the Bigs, the pleasures of stadium collecting (specifically for those who have thrown out their bubble gum cards), the difference between those who watch batting practice and those who don't, and Boswell's own youth, in which his father, who worked at the Library of Congress, smuggled him into a dingy corridor and told him. "Okay, Here is every book on baseball ever written Don't go blind." Amusing and fascinating as well are brief sketches of many of the sport's characters...