HISTORY OF POPCORN

Popcorn made its appearance in America over 2,500 years ago, however, it was the Pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in 5000 B.C.E that first domesticated this variety of maize. Popcorn was not found growing in America until the early 1800s when it was discovered east of the Mississippi. The first “pop” of popcorn occurred in the 1820s when popcorn was called Peril or Nonpareil. By the 1840s, popcorn had made a name for itself, even being included in John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms in 1948.

As many of us attribute snacking on the delicious treat while enjoying a film at the movie theaters, it was not until the Great Depression that movie theater owners allowed the snack. The Great Depression proved to be extremely beneficial to the popcorn market, as it became a luxury nearly any family could afford as the delicious treat only cost about five to ten cents at the time. There are many come-back stories of the era where those who had lost their farms or businesses spent their last dollars on a popcorn machine, and were able to recover by teaming up with movie theater operators. World War II also proved to increase popcorn sales as sugar was sent to troops overseas. However, increased popularity of television proved to leave a bump in the road for popcorn, until it was able to recover with the introduction of microwave popcorn in the 1940s.

Today, America accounts for 16 billion quarts of popped popcorn on an annual basis, showing this delicious snack’s evolution into our hearts.