THE UNKNOWN HISTORY OF POPCORN

The history of popcorn has endured as a beloved snack since its ancient American origins.

‍

THE PRE-COLUMBIAN ORIGINS OF POPCORN

‍

Indigenous peoples first cultivated corn in Mexico around 8700 BCE, where they took wild teosinte grass and engineered it into an edible crop through selective breeding.

The kernels grew larger, the cobs became easier to harvest, and the plants yielded more food.

These farmers spread corn northward, sharing seeds and farming knowledge with neighboring communities.

The practice of popping corn emerged much later.

In New Mexico's Bat Cave, archaeologists unearthed popped kernels dating to 3600 BCE.

These blackened, burst kernels lay among the cooking fires and stone tools of Ancestral Puebloan settlements.

Amazingly these communities had learned that intense heat could transform hard kernels into light, edible puffs.

Different groups developed distinct ways of preparing corn—grinding it into flour, boiling it into porridge, or in this case, heating it until it exploded.

‍

ONE OF THE EARLIEST RECIPES INVOLVED USING A FRYING PAN & LARD

‍

In 1840s America, Daniel Browne cooked popcorn in a cast-iron frying pan over an open flame.

He placed kernels in the hot pan and covered them with a lid until they burst open.

Before popping, he melted a spoonful of butter or pork fat in the pan bottom.

The fat prevented burning and coated each kernel as it popped.

‍

BY THE 1840S, POPCORN STARTED TO GAIN POPULARITY IN AMERICA

‍

In 1840s America, popcorn transformed from a local novelty into a widely recognized snack.

The New York's Knickerbocker and the Yale Literary Magazine began featuring popcorn in their pages.

The magazines reached specific readers: university professors, merchants, and social leaders who shaped popular taste.

When these publications discussed popcorn, they moved it from street vendors' carts into parlor conversations.

A farmer's simple corn kernels became fashionable refreshments at social gatherings.

‍

IN 1848, THE WORD "POPCORN" WAS INCLUDED IN A DICTIONARY

‍

When John Russell Bartlett published his Dictionary of Americanisms in 1848, he listed "popcorn" alongside distinctly American terms like "sidewalk" and "presidential."

Unlike British dictionaries of the time, which tracked formal language, Bartlett recorded how Americans actually spoke.

His entry for popcorn marked the first time a dictionary writer noted this snack food's name in print.

‍

LOUIS RUCKHEIM INVENTED A POPCORN SNACK — CRACKER JACK IN THE LATE 1890S

‍

In 1896, Louis Ruckheim mixed popcorn, peanuts, and molasses in his Chicago kitchen, creating Cracker Jack (now part of Frito-Lay).

Unlike plain popcorn sold at markets and fairs, each bite combined the crunch of popcorn, the salt of peanuts, and the sticky sweetness of molasses.

Baseball vendors began selling boxes of Cracker Jack at Chicago's Polk Street games, where fans discovered they could eat it one-handed while watching the game.

The snack’s success led to new popcorn creations like caramel corn, chocolate-covered popcorn, and cheese popcorn in the following decades.

‍

POPCORN WAS SEEN A LUXURY IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION

‍

During the Great Depression of 1929-1939, bank failures wiped out $140 billion in savings, and unemployment reached 25% of the workforce.

In cities like New York and Chicago, breadlines stretched for blocks as families sought free meals.

Against this backdrop of empty wallets and growling stomachs, Americans discovered that five cents could buy them a bag of popcorn—enough to fill their bellies for an evening.

Street vendors wheeled their popcorn carts to factory gates and movie theater entrances, where the smell of hot butter drew workers and moviegoers.

Each kernel cost the vendor less than a penny to produce, so it was incredibly popular with the poor.

In Nebraska and Iowa, farmers who had watched their wheat prices plummet found that an acre of popcorn could earn them $250—five times more than traditional corn.

A single Chicago vendor in 1931 reported selling 350 bags per day, supporting his family of four on popcorn profits alone.

‍

N 1938, GLEN W. DICKSON BEGAN INSTALLING POPCORN MACHINES IN HIS THEATER LOBBIES

‍

Glen Dickson transformed movie theaters in 1938 by installing popcorn machines in his Midwest theater lobbies.

Before this, theaters sold no food.

The machines cost $2,500 each (equivalent to $52,000 today), but generated $200 in weekly profit.

Customers lined up to buy hot popcorn at 10 cents per bag while waiting for films to start.

The scent of popping kernels drew people from the street into his theater entrances.

When ticket sales dropped during the Depression, popcorn revenue kept Dickson's theaters afloat.

His competitors noticed.

Within two years, popcorn machines appeared in theaters across Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit.

By 1945, 80% of all popcorn consumed in America was eaten in movie theaters.