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Al C.risafulliGoudey actually ate their biggest competitor, National Chicle, in 1937. They used the Diamond Stars Gum brand name, as well as the artwork from Chicle's Rabbit Maranville "How To" booklets (which were originally inserted inserted into high number packs of Batter Up cards) on the backs of what we know today as R-303 premiums.
What was always lost to me was what happened to the Diamond Stars brand after 1939. Between 1939 and 1941, Goudey did not issue baseball cards, and yet they had purchased all these assets from Chicle. Yes, the country was in another economic downturn, but Goudey as a company seemed healthy enough.
About two years ago, a hobby friend solved this mystery by discovering a wrapper from Diamond Stars gum, made by Goudey. You can see the wrapper on Ken Goudey's outstanding Goudey Gum site. This answers the critical (for me, at least) question of what Goudey was up to between 1939 and 1941. It seems like they moved away from printing cards, and focused instead on gum, using what we know as the R303 premiums to sell packs of Diamond Stars brand gum.
-Al