Popcorn is an integral part of a movie outing for many. Some people can hardly watch a movie without munching on popcorn. God bless microwave popcorn. But where does this strong connection between popcorn and movies come from?
People had been popping corn for a thousand years in North America before the word popcorn existed, but it was first mentioned in a dictionary from around the mid-19th century. Around the same time, popcorn seems to have started to gain ground as a commercial product. Sugar-coated popcorn then began to be sold, often mixed with nuts.
However, popcorn did not begin to gain significant popularity until the late 19th century. The company C. Cretors & Company was instrumental in this. The company, located in Chicago, produced the first popcorn machine in 1893. That same year, a world's fair was held in Chicago where brothers Frederick and Louis Rueckheim sold a treat that was a mixture of popcorn, nuts, and syrup. This was the beginning of the Cracker Jack company, which began producing syrup-coated popcorn in 1896, which some argue was the first „junk food.“ The Icelandic great poet Matthías Jochumsson was present at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair; I wonder if he got a taste from the brothers? The first Icelandic person to enjoy popcorn?
However, it wasn't until the Great Depression in the 1930s that popcorn and movie theaters were combined. During these difficult times, the American public had to deny themselves various luxuries, which greatly increased the popularity of popcorn because it was such an inexpensive snack. Movie theaters were very popular with Americans during the Great Depression, as they offered inexpensive entertainment where one could forget the hardships of everyday life, at least for a while.
The fate was finally decided in 1938 when theater owner Glen W. Dickson installed a popcorn machine in his theater. The novelty became an instant hit, and popcorn machines soon began to appear in movie theaters across the United States. Initially, skeptical voices about the merits of movie theater popcorn were heard, with some considering it a distraction that took people's attention away from the film.
In the course of preparing the article, an unscientific study was conducted on the history of popcorn in local movie theaters. That research did not go further back in time than the year 1952. In an article in the Mánudagsblaðið newspaper, one film was described as follows: „This love blossoms in the middle of the movie, so that after that the viewer can calmly munch on their popcorn and wait for the inevitable.“
It was thus, as is often the case in culture, that poverty began the inseparable relationship between the movies and popcorn.
Compiled by Björn Þór Björnsson
