Native Americans used popcorn, flavored with dried herbs and spices, as a staple in their diet. Explorer Christopher Columbus noted Native Americans used popcorn to make headdresses and corsages, which they sold to his sailors.
French explorers in the early 1600s documented the use of popcorn by the Iroquois, who popped corn in pottery using hot sand. They also consumed popcorn soup and popcorn beer, according to Wikipedia. Corn was sifted and pounded into a fine, powdery meal and later mixed with water for travelers, making it one of the first true American to-go meals.
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.
Legend has it that Quadequina, brother of Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag Indians, brought bowlfuls of popcorn to the first Thanksgiving for the Pilgrims to try. The Pilgrims were so enthralled with popcorn they served it for breakfast with sugar and cream - the first puffed breakfast cereal. "Each grain bursts and throws out a white substance of twice its bigness," is the way Benjamin Franklin, who was fascinated with the way it popped, described the snack in 1795.
Popcorn continued its popularity from the 1890s until the Great Depression, as street vendors pushed steam or gas-powered poppers through fairs, parks and expositions. The popcorn business thrived during the Depression because at 5 or 10 cents a bag, it was one of the few luxuries down-and-out families could afford.
The No. 1 snack selection made by the majority of adults (76 percent) may be fruit, according to Parade magazine's 2005 "What America Eats" survey. That choice barely surpasses the popularity of popcorn (74 percent). Teens and kids prefer cookies as their No. 1 snack (76 percent), but 74 percent enjoy popcorn.
A popcorn maker (also called a popcorn popper) is a machine used to pop popcorn. Since ancient times, popcorn has been a popular snack food, produced through the explosive expansion of kernels of heated corn (maize). Commercial large-scale popcorn machines were invented by Charles Cretors in the late 19th century. Many types of small-scale home methods for popping corn also exist.
The majority of popcorn sold for home consumption is now packaged in a microwave popcorn bag for use in a microwave oven.As a result, the popularity of popcorn makers for home use has greatly decreased in the last few decades. Home popcorn makers are also available, consisting of an electrically heated circular tray with a powered stirring arm, into which corn and oil can be placed, and a dome-shaped cover that often doubles as a serving bowl.Around 1974, Pillsbury made microwave popcorn available for sale in vending machines; As microwave oven sales increased, the product was released to supermarkets. This reduced the need for a separate kitchen appliance, and more consumers now buy microwave popcorn bags than use home machines.