60 Fun Facts About Popcorn

What is the scientific name of the corn variety that pops?

The other names belong to dent corn, sweet corn and flour corn; popcorn is technically a special kind of flint corn.

Popcorn is one of how many major types of corn?

Dent corn is what fills American silos; sweet corn is what you eat off the cob.

What moisture level, by weight, makes kernels expand the most?

Freshly harvested corn is too wet and pops chewy; over-dried kernels simply refuse to burst.

Roughly what internal pressure does a kernel reach just before its hull ruptures?

That is more than four times the pressure in a car tire, all held by a shell a fraction of a millimeter thick.

At roughly what temperature does a kernel pop?

Cretors' original butter-and-lard mix was chosen because it could handle the higher oil temperatures needed to get there without smoking.

By what factor does a kernel expand when it pops?

The starch inside literally turns itself inside out as the steam flashes off, then sets into the familiar white foam.

The oldest evidence of popped corn, dated to about 4,700 BCE, was found in which country?

The cobs came from the Paredones and Huaca Prieta sites on the northern coast.

In which US state is the 'Bat Cave' where 1948 excavations found ears of popcorn dated to about 3600 BCE?

The rock shelters in Catron County held some of the oldest corn ever found north of Mexico.

Who invented the first steam-powered popcorn machine in Chicago in 1885?

His company still builds theater poppers today, more than 135 years later.

What kind of business did Cretors run before he built his popcorn machine?

He had built steam machines for roasting peanuts and simply pointed the technology at corn.

At which event did Cretors introduce his popcorn machine to the public in 1893?

The same fair gave the world the Ferris wheel and the first caramel corn.

How did street vendors pop corn before steam machines existed?

The result was smoky, unevenly popped and easily burned, which is why an oil-and-steam machine caught on so fast.

Cretors' machine popped corn in a mixture of salt, lard and what?

The one-third butter, two-thirds lard blend could take 450°F without much smoke.

Under what name did Louis Rueckheim sell a tweaked version of his brother's 1893 caramel corn from 1896?

The name supposedly came from a taster exclaiming 'That's a crackerjack!', slang for something excellent.

In which year did prizes start appearing in every box of the Rueckheims' caramel corn?

Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo joined the box around 1916 and were trademarked in 1919.

Which company has owned the Rueckheim brothers' caramel-corn brand since 1997?

The PepsiCo subsidiary replaced the paper prizes with QR codes in 2016, to loud complaints.

During the Great Depression, roughly how much did a bag of popcorn cost?

The cheap treat kept many struggling farmers afloat, including a family named Redenbacher.

During World War II, sugar rationing cut candy production. What happened to American popcorn consumption?

With sweets scarce, salted popcorn became the default snack of the home front.

Why did many early movie-theater owners dislike popcorn?

Vendors sold it on the sidewalk outside instead, until theaters realized how much money they were missing.

Theater owner Glen Dickinson Sr. put popcorn machines in his lobbies in 1938, then bought what?

Popcorn was making him more money than the tickets, so he took over the supply chain.

What new technology of the 1940s caused popcorn consumption to fall?

The Popcorn Institute responded by promoting popcorn as a snack to eat at home in front of the set.

In which year was the Orville Redenbacher's brand launched?

Redenbacher was already in his sixties, and had spent decades breeding hybrids before an ad agency put his name and face on the jar.

Orville Redenbacher earned his degree in agronomy from which university?

He was born in Brazil, Indiana, and stayed loyal to the state, which is why Valparaiso holds a popcorn festival in his honor.

Before an ad agency renamed it, what did Redenbacher and partner Charles Bowman call their prized hybrid?

The agency told them nobody would remember RedBow, but that Orville's own odd name was unforgettable.

To which company did Redenbacher and Bowman sell their popcorn business in 1976?

Redenbacher stayed on as spokesman in his horn-rimmed glasses and bow tie until his death in 1995.

How did Orville Redenbacher die in 1995?

He was 88 and living in Coronado, California; a bronze statue of him sits on a bench in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Which company received the first patent for a microwave popcorn bag, in 1981?

The key was a susceptor, a metallized film that concentrates heat on the oil and flavor coating.

What is the metallized film in a microwave popcorn bag that concentrates heat called?

Without it the oil slick at the bottom would never get hot enough before the bag itself scorched.

Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer discovered microwave cooking when what melted in his pocket?

He then aimed the magnetron at popcorn kernels, which became the world's first microwaved popcorn; an egg tested next exploded in a colleague's face.

What was the first food Percy Spencer deliberately cooked with microwaves?

Raytheon filed its patent for a microwave cooking oven on October 8, 1945.

The first affordable countertop Radarange microwave went on sale in 1967 at what price?

That was nearly $5,000 in today's money; the earlier commercial Radaranges had been refrigerator-sized and cost thousands.

Which state contains two of the six towns that claim to be the 'Popcorn Capital of the World'?

Valparaiso and Van Buren both claim the title, alongside Ridgway, Schaller, Marion and North Loup.

Popcorn became the official state snack of which state, thanks to an elementary-school project?

Second- and third-graders in Joliet lobbied the legislature; the law took effect in 2003.

What does the popcorn industry call kernels that fail to pop?

Soaking them briefly and re-drying usually fixes the problem, since it is a lack of moisture, not a bad kernel.

Which flake shape is preferred for caramel corn because it is sturdier?

Butterfly (or snowflake) flakes have wings and a better mouthfeel, so theaters prefer them.

Kernels are classed by shape as 'rice' or which other type, now dominant commercially?

Rice kernels are long and pointed at both ends; pearl kernels are rounded at the top and were traditionally yellow.

If you pop red, blue or black kernels, what color is the popped corn?

Only the hull carries the pigment, and it ends up as tiny colored flecks on the white starch.

Which aroma compound gives popcorn, basmati rice and fresh bread much of their smell?

Its partner molecule, 6-acetyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydropyridine, is the other heavy hitter; together they explain why the smell carries across a whole theater.

How many calories are in 100 grams of plain air-popped popcorn?

It is 78 percent carbohydrate, including 15 percent dietary fiber, which is why it counts as a whole grain.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says popcorn should not be served to children under what age?

Hull fragments and half-popped kernels are the problem, alongside grapes and hot dogs on the same list.

'Popcorn lung' is a respiratory illness linked to which artificial-butter flavoring chemical?

Orville Redenbacher's, Act II, Pop Secret and Jolly Time all dropped the chemical; the same compound later turned up in some vape liquids.

In which country is popcorn traditionally eaten sweet, with caramelized sugar, rather than salted?

German cinema popcorn is sugary by default; salted is the special request.

How did 19th-century Americans commonly eat popcorn at breakfast?

It predates flaked cereals; the Kellogg brothers came along decades later.

Popcorn balls, hugely popular around 1900, survive today as a traditional treat for which holiday?

They are held together with a sugary 'glue' of syrup or molasses; the tampering scares of the 1970s pushed them out of most trick-or-treat bags.

The term 'popped corn' first appeared in print in which 1848 reference work?

Bartlett's book catalogued words peculiar to American English, from 'caucus' to 'popped corn'.

Some shipping companies have tested popcorn as a biodegradable substitute for what?

It works, but attracts rodents and goes stale, so starch-based peanuts won out.

Which company took over Jiffy Pop, the stovetop popcorn in an expanding foil pan, in 2000?

It was developed in 1958 by Frederick Mennen of LaPorte, Indiana, and passed to Conagra with its 2000 purchase of International Home Foods; the slogan called it 'as much fun to make as it is to eat'.

Kettle corn was introduced to America in the 18th century by whom?

The sweet-and-salty style faded in the 20th century, then came roaring back at craft fairs and living-history events.

A 'popcorn ceiling' gets its bumpy texture from tiny particles of polystyrene or what mineral?

Pre-1970s formulations often contained white asbestos, which is why removing one is a job for professionals.

According to the US Census Bureau, about how many quarts of popcorn do Americans eat each year?

That works out to 43 quarts for every man, woman and child.

On what date is National Popcorn Day celebrated?

October is separately promoted as National Popcorn Poppin' Month, timed to the harvest.

What was the value of US popcorn exports in 2022?

Popcorn is one of the few snack crops the US ships abroad in bulk, much of it to Mexico and Europe.

What oil do movie theaters commonly use to pop their corn?

That, plus the topping, is why a large theater bucket can carry a full day's saturated fat and sodium.

What happens if kernels are heated too quickly?

Heat too slowly and the tip where the kernel joined the cob leaks steam, so nothing pops at all.

What small mechanical figure helped merchandise Charles Cretors' early steam-powered machines?

The company dates its founding to 2 December 1885, the date on the vendor's licence for the sidewalk peanut roaster outside his Chicago shop.

Which American botanist's 1904 puffing device is seen as the ancestor of the 'popcorn cannon'?

Quaker Oats bought his process to make puffed rice cereal; the street-vendor cannon was photographed in China by 1938.

Which company introduced the hot-air Popcorn Pumper for home use in 1978?

Hot-air popping yields popcorn with only about 5% of calories from fat, against roughly 45% for oil-popped cinema corn.

Why is high kernel expansion so closely tied to a cinema's profit on popcorn?

Film historian Stuart Hanson joked that popcorn is 'second only to cocaine or heroin in terms of profit'.

Besides North America, where is strung popcorn traditionally used as a Christmas decoration?

Popcorn has also been tested as biodegradable packing, but it attracts pests and is flammable and denser than polystyrene.

Besides Nebraska and Indiana, which state is increasingly growing popcorn, per the USDA?

All six towns claiming to be Popcorn Capital of the World are in the Midwest, from Ridgway, Illinois, to North Loup, Nebraska.