From a Grain to a Staple Snack: The History of Popcorn

 

The moment you enter a movie theatre, the smell of freshly popped, hot, and buttery popcorn surrounds you in its warmth. It’s hard to imagine a cinema without popcorn, but this popped grain just made its way to the movies only about a century ago.

 

We associate popcorn with comfort and nostalgia; it’s loved so much that we’ve moved away from the classic butter and caramel flavors and created a variety of sweet and savory gourmet popcorn to make our occasions extra special.

 

With how staple it has become to us throughout the world, its popularity now demands an explanation. Here’s a look at the history of pop corn!

 

A Popped Glance in History

Long before our grocery stores sold popcorn packets and ages before delectable popcorn businesses like Just Get Poppin’ came up with a variety of fancy flavored popcorn, corn was just a wild grass in Mexico. It became a domesticated crop about 9,000 years ago; the first evidence of popcorn was unearthed in 2012 when archaeologists found a 6,700-year-old preserved corn cob with popped kernels.

 

The grain was a staple all over South America, North America, and Mesoamerica due to how nutrient-rich, versatile, and easy to cook it was. According to Lois Frank, a chef and historian, tribes that didn’t grow corn, traded it because it was an essential part of their cuisine.

 

Early popcorn was made using dried kernels in a frying pan, due to which it resembled parched corn, which is way crunchier. The fluffy, gourmet popcorn we indulge in today is a result of thousands of years of cultivation and modern processing which includes carefully growing and curing the kernels, picking them, and drying them till about 14 percent moisture remains.

Becoming the Prairie Gold

Early Americans soon started to grow and cultivate corn, making it a staple that people enjoyed for centuries. When the steel plow was introduced in the mid-1800, it transformed agriculture in Iowa, Indiana, and Nebraska, where ‘poppable’ corn became an essential cash crop. Soon, popcorn took the name “prairie gold,” inspiring poetry and stories celebrating Midwest’s corn production.

It was in 1875 that the era of popping corn in pots changed. Frederick J. Myers came up with a device with a stay-cool handle that could make popcorns. However, it wasn’t until later that the real transformation began with Charles Cretors. He invented the lightweight corn-popping machine that used electricity rather than fire and allowed vendors to sell popcorn to crowds.

 

A few years later, Cretors improved his design and made a machine that would also mix butter and salt into the popcorn. This was the time when commercial popcorn brands started to spring up as well.

 

Around this time, the experiments with fancy-flavored popcorn began. In Germany, two brothers, Frederick and Lewis Rueckheim, started selling exotic-flavored popcorn. They ended up with a combination that everyone enjoyed: salted popcorn and peanuts coated with molasses.

 

With the onset of the 20^th century, popcorn’s status solidified and became a snack that started appearing at festivals, fairs, events, and more.

 

A Movie Staple

In the first half of the 1900s, over 20,000 movie cinemas sprung up in the US. Back then, cinemas had carpeted lobbies to show off elegance, due to which snacks and sodas were banned.

 

However, the ban was overturned as music and dialogue became common in movies. This was when popcorn and soda became go-to snacks in theatres.

 

When the Great Depression hit, millions of Americans became financially unstable. During this time, popcorn became an affordable luxury that everyone could afford, so this snack flourished in homes and in theatres.

 

Eventually, cinemas started to offer refreshments with movie tickets at discounts. Movie distributors would take most of the markup, leaving theatres scrambling for funds. Popcorn swooshed in, a snack that saved the theatre and became intrinsically tied to the movies.

 

From Microwaves to Ready-to-Eat Popcorn

Once the microwave became a common kitchen appliance, it started a popcorn boom at home. Soon, microwave popcorn came into the market, which contained butter. In 1986, this microwaveable version brought in over $53 million in sales as Americans bought $250 million worth of popcorn.

 

But, by the time it was 2000s, consumers were tired of waiting for the corn to pop in the microwave. Now, they wanted pre-popped packets, which required no wait at all. This is how ready-to-eat popcorn became a significant player in the snack market, and it seems to be here to stay.

 

Instead of eating traditional popcorn with butter and salt, now companies like Just Get Poppin’ sell a variety of fancy flavored popcorn that’s delicious to eat and serve at events.

 

 

Order Fancy Popcorn from Just Get Poppin’

Craving something light? Indulge in delicious gourmet popcorn by Just Get Poppin. The Atlanta-based popcorn business sells exotic-flavored popcorn in sweet, savory, and cheesy selections.

 

Explore their classic and artistic varieties to make your day sweeter and more filling. From crunchy and sweet Pistachio Ice cream, Zebra Crunch,  Funky Chunky Oreo, and Birthday Cake to savory classics like Nacho Momma, Crab Legs, Roasted Garlic, and Jalapeno Popper, there are many fancy popcorn flavors you can choose from.

 

Shop gourmet popcorn today!