History

It’s been said that popcorn was part of the first Thanksgiving feast, in Plymouth Colony in 1621

It’s hard to think of a more purely American food than popcorn. Whether it’s salted and buttered at a movie theatre, kettle corn at a state fair or a caramel popcorn ball at holiday time, we devour the stuff. And we’re far from the world’s first popcorn fans: Archeologists have found traces of popcorn in 1,000-year-old Peruvian tombs. This week, we’ll take a look at the story behind this popular snack, and discover that there’s more beneath that hard husk than meets the eye.

3,600 BCE | First Popcorn

Remnants of popcorn have been found in Mexico

1938 | Movie Popcorn

Midwestern theater owner named Glen W. Dickson installed popcorn machines in the lobbies of his theaters.

1800 to 1899 | Popcorn during 19th Century

Popping of the kernels was achieved by hand on the stovetop through the 19th century

1939 to 1945 | World War II and Popcorn

During World War II, sugar rations diminished candy production, and Americans compensated by eating three times as much popcorn as they had before.

1848 | The word Pop Corn

The term popped corn first appeared in John Russell Bartlett’s 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms.

1981 | First microwave popcorn bag

In 1981, General Mills received the first patent for a microwave popcorn bag, with popcorn consumption seeing a sharp increase by tens of thousands of pounds in the years following.

1890 | Popcorn maker

Charles Cretor invent the popcorn maker.

1970 | Orville Redenbacher

In 1970, Orville Redenbacher's namesake brand of popcorn was launched.

1929 to 1941 | Great Depression and the raise of Popcorn

During the Great Depression, popcorn was fairly inexpensive at 5–10 cents a bag and became popular.