From cash crop to movie theaters to microwaves and beyond, nothing can stop the appeal of popped corn.
Thanks to its versatility, nutrition, and possibly the fact that dried kernels were popped and"easily consumable with the simplest of technologies: fire," according to Michael Blake in, there’s evidence that the nimble grain was grown and consumed all over Mesoamerica, South America, and North America.
The fluffy popcorn we know and love today is, in part, the result of thousands of years of careful cultivation of a few different strains of corn by those early tribes. Modern processing techniques ensure its dramatic cooking process: Corn for popping is grown, cured on the stalk, picked, and then dried until each kernel contains around 14 percent moisture, according to the USDA. When exposed to heat, that moisture expands, causing the kernel to burst into the final product.
Depression-era stories of wealth amassed through popcorn sales began to flourish; they seem at least partially rooted in fact. Smith writes of an Oklahoma farmer who bought back three farms with popcorn money, and of a Dallas chain that earned $190,000 from popcorn in some locations while its snack-free locations went broke.
It was an undeniable hit: Within two years, microwave popcorn was available nationally and brought in $53 million in sales, according to areport. By 1984, a shelf-stable version hit stores*, and sales climbed even higher. Americans bought $250 million worth of popcorn in 1986, setting off an all-out battle between snack food companies that attempted to corner the market.
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