The corn chronicles: Why popcorn is so popular
The corn chronicles: Why popcorn is so popular
There are more than 25 different types of popcorn.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
Corn is one of the oldest agricultural crops in the world, having been domesticated by Native peoples in what is now Mexico about 10,000 years ago. It comes in a lot of different varieties, including sweet corn, flour corn, flint corn, and popcorn.
There are more than 25 different types of popcorn. Some expand to as much as 40 times their original size when heated.
Here’s the story of how popcorn went from a staple food grain and a ceremonial embellishment to a Halloween treat, a Christmas decoration, and a movie theater snack.
Popcorn’s long history in North America can be traced back to 3600 BCE. Native Americans, including the Aztecs, used popcorn for food and as part of religious ceremonies. They adorned their hair or headdresses with it during festivals too.
Indigenous peoples also shared popcorn with European settlers and taught them how to cook it.
Now, centuries later, popcorn is used in myriad ways and has become an important part of several holiday traditions.
Popcorn balls—gluey, gooey balls of sugar, butter, and popped corn—peaked in “pop”-ularity in the first half of the 20th century, when it was common to hand out homemade treats at Halloween.
But the story that popcorn balls invented themselves is probably false. According to a Nebraska legend, during one weird summer, some farmland got too much sun and some got too much rain, so that failed crops began to look like stripes. On one farm, the corn heated up so much that the kernels popped, while an adjacent field of sorghum flooded. The sorghum flood flowed into the cornfield, where it mixed with the popped corn.
The first recipe for popcorn balls, however, appears in a cookbook in 1861, a decade before they supposedly popped into existence in Nebraska.
Popcorn balls were also used as Christmas ornaments, and there are references to popcorn garlands on Christmas trees as early as 1842, after German immigrants brought Christmas tree decorating with them to America.
Popcorn made its way into movie theaters during the Great Depression because of its low cost. It had previously been sold by entrepreneurs outside theaters, but theater owners caught on—leading to the invention of concession stands.
During World War II, sugar was rationed, so with candy not available, popcorn became even more essential as a snack. The National Popcorn Association even ran ads that said “Popcorn is a fighting food!”
In some ways, it’s still a quintessentially American treat today, as almost all the world’s popcorn is grown in the United States.
There are more than 25 different types of popcorn. Some expand to as much as 40 times their original size when heated.
Here’s the story of how popcorn went from a staple food grain and a ceremonial embellishment to a Halloween treat, a Christmas decoration, and a movie theater snack.
Popcorn’s long history in North America can be traced back to 3600 BCE. Native Americans, including the Aztecs, used popcorn for food and as part of religious ceremonies. They adorned their hair or headdresses with it during festivals too.
Indigenous peoples also shared popcorn with European settlers and taught them how to cook it.
Now, centuries later, popcorn is used in myriad ways and has become an important part of several holiday traditions.
Popcorn balls—gluey, gooey balls of sugar, butter, and popped corn—peaked in “pop”-ularity in the first half of the 20th century, when it was common to hand out homemade treats at Halloween.
But the story that popcorn balls invented themselves is probably false. According to a Nebraska legend, during one weird summer, some farmland got too much sun and some got too much rain, so that failed crops began to look like stripes. On one farm, the corn heated up so much that the kernels popped, while an adjacent field of sorghum flooded. The sorghum flood flowed into the cornfield, where it mixed with the popped corn.
The first recipe for popcorn balls, however, appears in a cookbook in 1861, a decade before they supposedly popped into existence in Nebraska.
Popcorn balls were also used as Christmas ornaments, and there are references to popcorn garlands on Christmas trees as early as 1842, after German immigrants brought Christmas tree decorating with them to America.
Popcorn made its way into movie theaters during the Great Depression because of its low cost. It had previously been sold by entrepreneurs outside theaters, but theater owners caught on—leading to the invention of concession stands.
During World War II, sugar was rationed, so with candy not available, popcorn became even more essential as a snack. The National Popcorn Association even ran ads that said “Popcorn is a fighting food!”
In some ways, it’s still a quintessentially American treat today, as almost all the world’s popcorn is grown in the United States.