History of Popcorn

For many years, peoples are growing and eating popcorn in America. The oldest ears of popcorn were found in the bat caves of New Mexico, these were 4000 years old. It is believed that Native Americans were the first to discover popcorn. They used to make popcorn by putting the kernels into fire until they jump out into the form of popcorn. The natives not only used popcorn as snack but they also used these as decoration pieces and jewelry. Likely the Native Americans introduced popcorn to the American colonists who actually ground it up mixing it with milk for breakfast.

In the mid of 1800s the farmers used various equipments to plant maize/corn in large areas of land, the popping of corn became so popular that it become a recreational activity by 1840s. In the later parts of the 19^th century, popcorn became very famous snack and was commonly sold at different carnivals, circuses and grocery stores as well.

With the introduction of movies the positioning of popcorn become solid in USA, as eating popcorn in Movie Theater became a famous trend. Initially, the Movie Theater owners didn’t allow to sell popcorn within the theaters because these were messy, but people began to bring popcorn with them, so considering the popularity of this snack, all the theaters started selling popcorn within the movie theaters. This introduction of popcorn to movie theaters enabled the popcorn industry to keep growing even during the great depression of the 1930s. In addition, popcorn was a relatively affordable luxury even for struggling families as they could buy it for just 5 to 10 cents a bag.

The sugar shortage in World War II caused American people to lose their favorite snack i.e., candy, the shortage of candy brought significant increase in the consumption of popcorn as people replaced popcorn to candy. The consumption of popcorn increased 3 times than before. World War II also induced a baking flour shortage which the popcorn industry capitalized on. Bread makers were forced to substitute 25% ground popcorn for their wheat flour.

Popcorn industry faced a slump in early 1950s, when television was introduced. After the introduction of television, people stopped going to the theaters and preferred to enjoy television programs at home, as the theaters and parks were vacated, so the consumption of popcorn reduced dramatically. But after a while, with the introduction of popcorn makers, people started to make popcorn at home and started enjoying this tasty snack at home.

To date, popcorn is the most famous snack in America and is enjoyed by every person of every age.