I'm writing a fiction work and there is a scene about a young, well-educated, but stormy woman, willing to stretch the boundaries of what's allowed. I'm thinking about making her chew gum in public. The story plays in Vienna of the 1930s.

Was it socially acceptable for a decent lady to chew gum in public?

**Research**

I couldn't find any information about Europe. In the US of the 1930es chewing gum was marketed as a female product (my emphasis):

> 
> Gum companies then focused their advertising on middle and 
>  upper-class women with more refined sensibilities. Their goal 
>  was to change gum’s reputation from a product considered “unladylike” 
>  to something upmarket and even glamorous. This shift began in the 
>  mid-1930s, when Americans looked to advertising print culture as a 
>  roadmap for daily life. A 1938 ad featuring actress Claudette Colbert 
>  reinforced beauty standards by making gum synonymous with good health, 
>  white teeth and a perfect complexion. **Gum became marketed less as a 
>  sweet treat, and more as a feminine product.**
> 
> 
> 

[![Chewing gum ad featuring Claudette Colbert](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7KaYJ.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/7KaYJ.jpg)

Chewing gum ad featuring [Claudette Colbert](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colbert), [source](https://udhist867.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/candy-gum-wrigleys-swscan09845.jpg?w=232&h=300)

[![Chewing gum ad](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RXtgS.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RXtgS.jpg)

[Source](https://udhist867.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/1932-mar-wrigley-ad-eskimo-p-66.jpg?w=137&h=332)

[This site](https://witness2fashion.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/chew-gum-for-beauty-and-be-polite-about-it-part-3/) claims that formal etiquette of the 1930es did not explicitly forbid chewing gum according to *Chewing Gum Etiquette* by Helen Ufford, Delineator, February 1936, p. 4:

[![Paragraph about chewing gum etiquette](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IIWnr.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IIWnr.jpg)

[![Sexy chewing gum ad](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ppwtb.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ppwtb.jpg)

Who could think that that's an ad for *chewing* gum...

[Source](https://witness2fashion.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/1934-may-p-41-doublemint-gum-sexy.jpg)

Because

* celebrities like Claudette Colbert weren't ashamed of chewing gum, and
* because there were special etiquette rules regarding it,

I conclude that chewing gum may have been a little bit provocative (but not over the top, not Lady Gaga grade provocative) and quite widespread (if it wasn't, there would be no rules of conduct related to it). That's ideal for someone who wants to push the limits, but not too much (like my character).