Have you ever imagined a world without popcorn? Well, I can’t. In fact, statistics show that Americans consume around16 billion quarts each year of this whole grain treat, or translated to 51 quarts consumed per man, woman and child! I don’t think I can survive a movie without a popcorn on one hand and a drink on the other. Watching a movie is simply incomplete without a popcorn, quite like, a movie without an ending! But, have you ever thought about the origins of popcorn? When did people start eating popcorn? Today, I’m going to take you years back and discover how popcorn paved its way into our world.
Did you know that as early as 4,700 B.C. people were already popping popcorn? Scientists have uncovered fossilized cobs at the Paredones and Huaca Prieta archaeological sites in Northern Peru. Small heads of corn and several individual popped kernels, 5,600 years old have also been discovered in New Mexico in a dry cave known as “Bat Cave”. What is amazing is that even as early as 300 A.D., our ancestors have already exhibited much creative talent. Why do I say this? Who would have wondered that popped corn kernels can decorate funeral urns and headdresses? Maybe our ancestors thought, why not let the dead enjoy popcorn in case they get hungry in the afterlife.
So who else loves popcorn? No less than the Native Americans! When Christopher Columbus landed in America in 1492, he was greeted by the Native Americans enjoying this fluffy white stuff, now known as popcorn. As I mentioned earlier, our ancestors cannot be outdone in creativity. The fashion statement at that time necklaces made out of popcorn! That just gave me an idea. Might as well don a popcorn necklace when I attend a party, so in case they run out of snacks, I can turn to the good old popcorn to munch on. But aside from creativeness, our Native Americans can be considered very spiritual. They believe that popcorn kernels are homes to their ancestors’ spirits. When the kernel pops, that means that the spirits are angry.
The next time popcorn made a grand entrance was in 1620 in Massachusetts. On the occasion of the first Thanksgiving potluck feast, Native Americans brought a deerskin bag of popped corn as a gift. Then in 1700, popcorn made its way to the American breakfast table. The colonial women introduced a breakfast by pouring milk and sugar over popcorn. In 1885, to make life easier for popcorn lovers, the first commercial popcorn machine was invented by Charles Cretors. To bring popcorn closer to the crowds, these poppers were pushed on foot, pulled by horses and mounted on trucks. And just like the popcorns they sell, popcorn vendors popped everywhere, following crowds wherever they go, whether in parks, fairs, expositions and especially outside the theaters. In fact, an entrepreneur in the 1940s offered the following advice about popcorn and the movies, “find a good popcorn location and build a theater around it”.
The birth of the microwave oven in 1945 led to the innovation of popping corn using microwave energy. Since then, there is no stopping to the popularity of the popcorn. Every household in America realized that one of the best partnerships ever formed is television and popcorn and the rest is popping history.
So next time you are in a movie theater munching those popcorns, you won’t have to wonder about the humble beginnings of popcorn. As for me, I’m going to pop my way out, head on to the movies and I’m definitely buying a big bag of buttered popcorn!
Works Cited
American Pop Corn Company. "History of pop corn." 2007. jollytime.com. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://www.jollytime.com/aboutus/history_of_pop_corn>.
ConAgra Foods, Inc. "Popcorn history." n.d. actii.com. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://www.actii.com/facts/>.
Dell'Amore, Christine. "Ancient popcorn found—made 2,000 years earlier than thought in Peru." 19 January 2012. news.nationalgeographic.com. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/01/120119-national-popcorn-day-corn-peru-archaeology-food-science/>.
Fox, Zoe. "Happy National Popcor Day! Here are five things you never knew about your favorite movie snack." 19 January 2011. newsfeed.time.com. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/19/happy-national-popcorn-day-here-are-five-things-you-never-knew-about-your-favorite-movie-snack/>.
Kennedy, Pagan. "Who made movie popcorn?" 4 October 2013. nytimes.com. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/magazine/who-made-movie-popcorn.html?_r=0>.
Moncel, Bethany. "The history of popcorn." 2013. foodreference.about.com. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://foodreference.about.com/od/history_myths/a/The-History-Of-Popcorn.htm>.
The Popcorn Board. "History of popcorn." 2013. popcorn.org. Web. 28 November 2013 <http://www.popcorn.org/EncyclopediaPopcornica/WelcometoPopcornica/HistoryofPopcorn/tabid/106/Default.aspx>.
