Popcorn became a winning treat with its aromatic smell, low cost, and relatively widespread availability. Vendors began to purchase machines and quickly produce popcorn to satisfy popular demand around town.

The creation allowed users to produce the salty snack quickly for serving people at outdoor and public events like fairs and sports gatherings. The tasty food gained prevalence by the mid 1800s, leading to a mobile steam powered popcorn machine by Charles Cretors. The Iroquois’ location in the Great Lakes area suggests that upstate New Yorkers, Vermonters, and Quebec settlers were among the first to pick up this snack from tribes in the 1600s.Įuropean people found the kernel popping experience to be a thrill. Of course, it’s not clear how long the Iroquois Nation had been consuming popcorn before white settlers came in to confiscate their land and recipes. On pre-colonized United States land, the Iroquois would pop corn kernels in pottery jars, using hot sand as their ancient microwave. In recent years, traces of popcorn were found in 1,000-year-old Peruvian tombs. In Smithsonian Magazine’s interview with Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn, writer Andrew Smith reveals that the earliest variation of the maize that led to popcorn appeared around 8,000 years ago in Central America. We tend to think of popcorn as a relatively modern food, but its origins go back for thousands of years. The Origin Story of Popcorn Kernels Courtesy of Mo Abrahim/Pexels The history behind popcorn’s rise to become the ultimate movie theater snack is full of fun surprises. Popcorn and a movie are a classic pair in the vein of peanut butter and jelly however, most people don’t know much about how this duo became an entertainment staple. One of life’s purest joys is settling into a theater chair (or couch) with a massive bucket of goodness to munch on. Sometimes we use it as festive decoration.

It has its own national holiday, museums, and a permanent place at sporting events, amusement parks, and fall festivals. Some foods, like popcorn, are inextricably tied to American culture. We love our precious popcorn with salt, butter, cheese, caramel, and a litany of other flavors.

Movie popcorn