As the popularity of popcorn grew, so did the ways in which popcorn was created. Before the popcorn machine was created, people made popcorn in their houses on the stove or fireplace. When was the first popcorn machine invented? In 1885, however, Charles Cretors invented the first commercial, large-scale popcorn machine, which increased the opportunity for the production of popcorn. Since the machine was mobile, the invention also increased the amount of people who had access to popcorn and thus the popularity of the snack in America.
During the Great Depression, popcorn and its popularity grew exponentially due to its cheap price which could be afforded by all. When television was invented and brought into many American homes, popcorn popularity dropped drastically since people visited these mobile popcorn machines less. In 1981, microwave popcorn was introduced to the American people, and at-home popcorn consumption once again spiked upwards.
Since popcorn comes from the zea mays everta variety of popcorn, it was never really invented by man. There is evidence of popcorn all throughout the history of the Americas. The oldest popcorn known to date was found in New Mexico. In 1948, small heads of the zea mays everta were discovered by Herbert Dick and Earle Smith in a dry cave known as the “bat cave.” Several individually popped kernels were also discovered. These kernels have since been carbon dated and shown to be approximately 5,600 years old.
Additionally, there is evidence of popcorn in Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, and other places in Central and South America. Aztecs used popcorn for decorating clothes and ceremonial embellishments and eating. There is also evidence of popcorn consumption with Native Americans throughout North America. Popcorn was found in a cave in Utah inhabited by Pueblo Indians which dates back nearly a thousand years ago. French explorers traveled to the new world discovered popcorn being made by the Iroquois Native Americans in the Great Lakes region. As colonists moved around North America and as the United States of America came to be, people adopted this snack more and more. There's a lot to popcorn that people don't know.
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An
average American eats almost 70 quarts of popcorn every year, and Americans
consume approximately 17.3 billion quarts of popcorn annually.
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At
Popcorn for the People, popcorn is not only a delicious snack. It is the tool which
helps to empower adults on the autism spectrum and with other developmental
disabilities. Every 3 bags of popcorn is
equivalent to an hour of meaningful work for someone on the spectrum.
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How
do popcorns pop? The pressure from the heat placed on popcorn kernels causes a
failure in the kernel’s skin, which results in the skin “popping”
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In
the 1800s, Americans consumed popcorn as a breakfast cereal. This meal
consisted of popcorn with milk and sweetener.
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January
19th is National Popcorn Day
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Nebraska
grows the most popcorn, having over ¼ of the national production of popcorn.
Other high popcorn-producing states include Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri.
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Popcorn
can be cooked with butter or oil, or air.
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Popcorn can grow to be 30 times its original size when it pops
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Sometimes
popcorn isn’t used only for consumption! In some places in North America and on
the Balkan Peninsula, popcorn is threaded onto string and used as a wall or
Christmas tree decoration.
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Sometimes,
after popcorn has finished popping there are still unpopped kernels remaining.
These kernels do not pop because they don’t have enough moisture within them to
create enough steam for the explosion. These unpopped kernels are known in the
popcorn industry as “old maids.”
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The
most ideal popcorn popping temperature is between 400-460 degrees Fahrenheit.
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There are two different shapes of popcorn: the butterfly and the
mushroom. The butterfly shape is best for powdery flavors such as white cheddar
and buffalo, and the mushroom shape is most optimal for caramel flavors. The
shape of mushroom popcorn holds heavy flavors like Apple Caramel quite well.
“The laziest man I ever met put
popcorn in his pancakes so they would turn over by themselves.” (W.
C. Fields)
[i]
[i] Sources used:
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“15 Interesting Popcorn Facts” by Steven Bier
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