The History of Why We Eat Popcorn at the Movies

Follow the development of popcorn through the Americas and the 20th century, when its popularity skyrocketed.

Soft percussion and a toasty smell signal the ferocious transformation of hard seeds into puffs that resemble clouds. This is how popcorn is made, which is nearly miraculous. In the US, many varieties of popcorn are currently farmed, and as the kernels explode, each variety takes on a unique appearance. How did we come to have this bizarre meal, then? This history of popcorn has been outlined based on Andrew Smith's amazing research on this subject.

A toasty smell and gentle percussion signal the violent transformation of hard seeds into puffs that resemble clouds. This is how popcorn is made, which is nearly miraculous. But how did we come to have this bizarre food? All of the maize consumed today comes from a tall grass known as teosinte.

Approximately 9,000 years ago, indigenous people in what is now southern Mexico started using selective breeding. Originally, one ear of teosinte produced between 5 and 12 tiny kernels each with a pericarp, a tough outer shell. And certain types had a wonderful trait: their kernels would explode at a specific temperature.

Water and starch are firmly contained within the pericarp of popcorn kernels, which is why they pop. The moisture within turns into steam when it's heated. The solid starch becomes a gel-like substance when it expands by raising the internal pressure. When the pericarp eventually gives way under the pressure, steam and starch expand to form a foam that quickly cools and dries in the air.

The substances that give popcorn its powerful scent also erupt from this small-scale explosion. Ancient Indigenous Americans grew other maize cultivars with larger, more delicious kernels and thinner pericarps. However, the hard-shelled, poppable type remained and expanded across some of the Americas.

Native Americans were using maize in a variety of ways by the time European settlers arrived in the late 1400s. They didn't consume a lot of popcorn. The production of "toasted" or "parched" maize and its use in select Aztec feasts and festivals were, however, mentioned in European chronicles. Even though they were initially reluctant, colonizers finally started growing and popping maize. They initially employed procedures that were erratic and disorganized. However, after "wire over the fire" baskets were developed in 1837,

The procedure grew simpler. Popcorn quickly gained popularity and blossomed with the reputation of being an inexpensive, enjoyable snack. In the years that followed, it developed into a staple at gatherings and hundreds of dishes that combined popcorn with savory and sweet elements appeared. But the popularity of popcorn had not yet peaked.

During the 1893 World's Fair, an inventor displayed the first popcorn machine, a cart that sprinkled seasoning over popcorn as it cooked. Vendors using similar gadgets could soon be spotted roaming US city streets. It's interesting to note that at the time, movie theaters were among the few places in America where popcorn wasn't served.

Many cinema owners viewed popcorn to be a filthy, unappetizing street meal and saw their businesses as part of a big theater history at odds with it. However, films offered the people a pleasant diversion when the Great Depression began in 1929. They had lately acquired sound after being mute and subtitled so opening them out to a larger audience, including those who lack literacy.

Popcorn proved to be a cheap luxury for moviegoers at around five or ten cents a bag, so theater owners pounced on the money-making potential. Currently, a medium bag of popcorn might only cost 60 cents to produce, but it sells for roughly $6 at retail—a 1,000% markup.

Nearly 40% of all movie theater income comes from popcorn sales, which aid in reducing the hefty fees that theaters must pay to the film industry. People in the Americas have continued to pop corn for the past century, and various preparations have become popular in markets around the world. Popcorn popped off once more in the 1980s, when microwave popcorn was introduced.

Popcorn is now grown in the US in dozens of varieties. When their kernels explode, various strains take on diverse shapes, most frequently resembling "mushroom" and "butterfly" morphologies. Furthermore, they were developed for maximum "poppability." Popcorn expands by twice as much as it did a century ago; currently, when popping, kernels can grow up to 50 times their original size. Not to sound cheesy, but popcorn has advanced considerably.