Show Notes for Ep19 -National Popcorn Day!
Today’s featured holiday is,.. National Popcorn Day.
Before reaching into the popcorn box to enjoy a tasty treat of popcorn, let’s have a look at the history of corn.
According to a 2012 article in “National Geographic”, people in what is now Peru were producing various corn based foods to include what we now call popcorn 6,700 years ago.
“Corn” in Old English refereed to the dominant grain grown in a specific region. The dominant grain grown in what is now known as the Americas was maize. Thus, early settlers referred to maize as “corn”.
What we now call popcorn was used to adorn Aztec headdresses worn during ceremonies honoring their god of maize and fertility.
Fast forward to the middle 1800s. Popcorn became popular in the U.S., especially after candy store owner Charles Cretors crafted a steam driven machine to more easily pop corn. By the turn of the century, Cretors had horse-drawn wagons plying Chicago streets selling popcorn.
Cretors wasn’t the only purveyor of popcorn in Chicago. In 1872, German immigrant Frederick Rueckheim started selling popcorn from a street cart along Chicago’s Fourth Avenue. He was so successful that he arranged to have his brother Louis come from Germany to help out.
The two brothers developed a product that combined popcorn, peanuts, and molasses together in what would be later called Cracker Jacks. Their product was well received during the 1983 Word’s Fair. With that success, they opened the F.W. Rueckheim & Brother company. In 1896, they registered the name Cracker Jack. The company has enjoyed a century of success that continues through today as part of the Frito-Lay family of products.
In 1938, Glen W. Dickson, a theater owner in the Mid-west, installed popcorn machines in his theaters. They were highly profitable and other theater owners quickly followed Dickson’s lead.
In 1984, microwave popcorn hit the market as microwave ovens spread into the consumer market.
Popcorn continues to be a popular food item. The U.S. leads the world consuming 13 billion quarts of popcorn a year.
While there’s no reliable information telling us the source of National Popcorn Day, that doesn’t stop us from firing up the microwave and cooking up a big bag of popcorn to celebrate the holiday.
To post photos of your popcorn adventure or to share your thoughts about this yummy treat on social media, use #NationalPopcornDay.
Join us tomorrow as we celebrate, “National Disc Jockey Day”
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This is your host, Stephen Carter, reminding you, this day is special, and so are you. Have fun, smile, and enjoy a heaping helping of popcorn in honor of National Popcorn Day.
