Fun Popcorn Facts
From the U.S. Popcorn Board

    The folklore of some Native American tribes told of spirits who lived inside each kernel of popcorn. The spirits were quiet and content to live on their own -- but grew angry if their houses were heated. The hotter their homes became, the angrier they'd get -- shaking the kernels until the heat was too much. Finally they would burst out of their homes and into the air as a disgruntled puff of steam.

How does popcorn pop?
From the U.S. Popcorn Board

    Each kernel of popcorn contains a small drop of water stored inside a circle of soft starch. (That's why popcorn needs to contain 13.5 percent to 14 percent moisture.) The soft starch is surrounded by the kernel's hard outer surface.   As the kernel heats up, the water begins to expand, and pressure builds against the hard starch. Eventually, this hard surface gives way, causing the popcorn to explode. As it explodes, the soft starch inside the popcorn becomes inflated and bursts, turning the kernel inside out. The steam inside the kernel is released, and the popcorn is popped!

Facts from the U.S. Popcorn Board

• The U.S. produces 498,000 TONS of popcorn every year, of which 103,000 tons is exported. 
• The U.S. Government Popcorn Board comes from the Popcorn Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act signed by President Clinton, a big fan of popcorn, on April 4, 1996.  Here is a link to the actual law:
  [7 U.S. C. 7481-7491]
• The Popcorn Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act tells us right off the top, that no lesser authority than the U.S. Congress finds, "popcorn is an important food that is a valuable part of the human diet." 
• The nine-member Popcorn Board works to expand the popcorn market by conducting special promotions, research, and informing consumers of the qualities and economic importance of popcorn.
• Membership is currently limited to nine U.S. processors chosen from among all processors who typically distribute over 4 million pounds of popcorn annually. Members are appointed to the board by the Secretary of Agriculture from a list of nominations submitted by the industry itself.
• Funding for the board comes from assessments collected from all U.S. popcorn processors who distribute over 4 million pounds per year, with annual individual assessments limited to $81,000.
• Under this arrangement, the popcorn industry itself pretty much covers the cost of the Popcorn Board.
• The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) monitors the Popcorn Board's administration of the program.

Popcorn Production, Export and Import
Facts from the U.S. Popcorn Board

• According to the latest Census of Agriculture (Census) data, domestic production of popcorn totaled over 996 million shelled pounds in 1997. Popcorn is grown in 25 States. According to the Census, the top five major popcorn-producing States in 1997 were Nebraska (27 percent), Indiana (21 percent), Illinois (13 percent), Ohio (9 percent), and Missouri (6 percent).
• U.S. exports of popcorn totaled 206 million pounds in 1999 (down from 219 million pounds in 1998), with a value of $58 million (down $8 million from 1998). Popcorn was exported to over 90 countries. The two largest export markets in 1999 were Mexico (with 17 percent of the poundage exported) and Canada (with 14 percent). Other major destinations for U.S. popcorn included Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Denmark, the Philippines, and Japan.
• Nearly all of the world's popcorn production is in the United States, and imports are usually minimal. In 1999, only 0.3 million pounds were imported from all countries. Normally, small amounts are imported from Canada and Argentina.

The Origin of Kettle Corn

   For the uninitiated, kettle corn was first introduced in the early 1700s.  After rendering their lard, settlers would use it to pop popcorn in large cast-iron kettles, adding to the corn whatever confections they had on hand, such as molasses, honey, or sugar cane, to sweeten their treat.  Today it's cooked in cast-iron or stainless steel kettles using propane as a heat source and soybean or canola oil instead of lard. Usually every popper has his or her favorite sweetening agent to add to the pot. The end result is a slightly sweet, slightly salty popcorn that has universal appeal. If the aroma of the cooking popcorn doesn't get them, the taste always does!

If you have seen kettle corn being popped at a local fair or market, then you know that it is the hottest concession around. The overhead is extremely low, and most vendors have been able to recoup their original equipment investment in just a few shows. Not many other business opportunities can make this claim, but it is true. If you are unsure, find a farmers market or craft fair and spend half an hour watching the kettle corn people. You will notice that the vendors are smiling, the customers are smiling, and there is a lot of money being made.

Popcorn Trivia
Facts from the U.S. Popcorn Board

In an average bag of popcorn, the number of yellow kernels will outnumber the white ones by 9 to 1.

It is believed that popcorn was the very first form of corn to be cultivated.

In 1945, Percy Spencer discovered that when popcorn was placed under microwave energy, it popped. This led to experiments with other foods, and the birth of the microwave oven.

Varieties of popcorn are grown to pop into two distinctive shapes: "snowflake," the large popcorn sold in theaters and ball parks; and mushroom, the smaller variety used in popcorn candies and snacks.

Biblical accounts of "corn" stored in the pyramids of Egypt are misunderstood. The "corn" from the bible was probably barley. The mistake comes from a changed use of the word "corn," which used to signify the most-used grain of a specific place. In England, "corn" was wheat, and in Scotland and Ireland the word referred to oats. Since maize was the common American "corn," it took that name -- and keeps it today.

It is believed that the first use of wild and early cultivated corn was popping.

The oldest ears of popcorn ever found were discovered in the Bat Cave of west central New Mexico in 1948 and 1950. Ranging from smaller than a penny to about 2 inches, the oldest Bat Cave ears are about 4,000 years old.

Popcorn was integral to early 16th century Aztec Indian ceremonies. Bernardino de Sahagun writes: "And also a number of young women danced, having so vowed, a popcorn dance. As thick as tassels of maize were their popcorn garlands. And these they placed upon (the girls') heads."

In 1519, Cortes got his first sight of popcorn when he invaded Mexico and came into contact with the Aztecs. Popcorn was an important food for the Aztec Indians, who also used popcorn as decoration for ceremonial headdresses, necklaces and ornaments on statues of their gods, including Tlaloc, the god of maize, rain and fertility.

An early Spanish account of a ceremony honoring the Aztec gods who watched over fishermen reads: "They scattered before him parched corn, called momochitl, a kind of corn which bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower; they said these were hailstones given to the god of water."

Writing of Peruvian Indians in 1650, the Spaniard Cobo says, "They toast a certain kind of corn until it bursts. They call it pisancalla, and they use it as a confection."

The use of the moldboard plow became commonplace in the mid-1800s and led to the widespread planting of maize in the United States.

Popcorn was very popular from the 1890s until the Great Depression. Street vendors used to follow crowds around, pushing steam or gas-powered poppers through fairs, parks and expositions.

During the Depression, popcorn at 5 or 10 cents a bag was one of the few luxuries down-and-out families could afford. While other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived. An Oklahoma banker who went broke when his bank failed bought a popcorn machine and started a business in a small store near a theater. After a couple years, his popcorn business made enough money to buy back three of the farms he'd lost.

During World War II, sugar was sent overseas for U.S. troops, which meant there wasn't much sugar left in the States to make candy. Thanks to this unusual situation, Americans ate three times as much popcorn as usual.

Popcorn went into a slump during the early 1950s, when television became popular. Attendance at movie theaters dropped and, with it, popcorn consumption. When the public began eating popcorn at home, the new relationship between television and popcorn led to a resurge in popularity.

Microwave popcorn -- the very first use of microwave heating in the 1940s -- has already accounted for $240 million in annual U.S. popcorn sales in the 1990s.

Americans today consume 17 billion quarts of popped popcorn each year. The average American eats about 58 quarts.

Exploring Paraguay during the 18th century, Felix de Azara told of a kind of popcorn with kernels on the tassel which, when "it is boiled in fat or oil, the grains burst without becoming detached, and there results a superb bouquet fit to adorn a lady's hair at night without anyone knowing what it was. I have often eaten these burst grains and found them very good."

Charles Cretors, founder of C. Cretors and Company in Chicago, introduced the world's first mobile popcorn machine at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Scientific American reported: "This machine...was designed with the idea of moving it about to any location where the operator would be likely to do a good businesss. The apparatus, which is light and strong, and weighing but 400 or 500 pounds, can be drawn readily by a boy or by a small pony to any picnic ground, fair, political rally, etc. and to many other places where a good business could be done for a day or two."

Percy Spencer, Raytheon Manufacturing Corporation, figured out how to mass produce magnetrons which were being used to generate microwaves for use in World War II. Looking for post-war applications of Raytheon technology, Spencer spurred the development of the microwave oven. Popcorn was key to many of Spencer's experiments.

Popcorn!
Some books of interest.

The Biggest Popcorn Party Ever in Center County
Jane Hoober Peifer, Marilyn Peifer Nolte (Illustrator)
Date Published: January 1987

Corn - 140 recipies: roasted, creamed, simmered + more
Olwen Woodier
Date Published: 2002

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies
Laura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illustrator)
Date Published: 2000

Popcorn
Frank Asch

Popcorn at the Palace
Emily Arnold McCully
Date Published: September 1997

Popcorn Magic
Phylliss Adams, Virginia Johnson
Date Published: December 1991

Popcorn Plants
Kathleen V. Kudlinski
Lerner Publications 1998

Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America
Andrew F. Smith
Date Published: 1999

Science Fun With Peanuts and Popcorn
Rose Wyler
Date Published: 1986

The Popcorn Book
Tommie DePaola

The Popcorn Dragon
Jane Thayer, Lisa McCue (Illustrator)
Date Published: February 1991

The Popcorn Shop
Alice Low, Patti Hammel (Illustrator)
Date Published: 1993

The Popcorn Tree
Carolyn Mamchur, Laurie McGaw (Illustrator)
Date Published: September 1998

What Makes Popcorn Pop?
Dave Woodside
Atheneum Publications 1980

• eats about 58 quarts.