Fun Popcorn Facts for Popcorn Lovers

Popcorn is a wonderful treat.  It is a favorite snack, a decorating item and even a historically treasured gem.  Popcorn is many things, but the bottom line is that it is interesting.  There are many, many fun popcorn facts that can tell you so much about your favorite snack food.

- The majority of popcorn grown in the world is in the Midwestern part of the United States of America.

- Some Native American tribes believed that spirits lived within popcorn kernels and when the popcorn was heated the spirits became angry and burst out.

- In 1890 popcorn became a market crop.  Before that time t was only grown by individuals for their own use.

- It is believed in Mexico that historically popcorn was considered important to the Maize Gods.

- As early as 300 A.D. people were popping popcorn.  Popcorn makers dated to 300 A.D> have been found in Peru to prove this fact.

- Aztec Indians used popcorn for a food source, to create necklaces, headdresses and to decorate statues of their gods.

- Iroquois Indians used to make popcorn soup, as discovered by 17th century French explorers in America.

- Early American colonists called popcorn by many different names, including, popped corn, parching corn and rice corn.

- In colonial America popcorn was served as a breakfast food with sugar and cream.

- In 1885 Charles Cretors in Chicago, Illinois created the first popcorn machine.

- In 1914, the first American brand name popcorn was introduced
- Jolly Time.

- In World War II, due to the sugar shortage, popcorn consumption went up three times the normal consumption.

- The sale of popcorn rose when television was introduced because people started staying home and popping their own popcorn instead of going to the theater and buying it.

- In the United States 17 billion quarts of popcorn is consumed every year.

- Popcorn is a low calorie snack.  Air popped varieties have 31 calories per cup and oil popped has 55 calories per cup.

- Popcorn is the only type of corn that will pop.

- Popcorn is a whole grain snack food.

- In order for popcorn to pop it must have exactly between 13.5 and 14% moisture content.

- Popcorn has a thicker shell then other types of corn kernels.

- The biggest sales time for popcorn is the fall.

- Popcorn has two basic shapes once popped
- snowflake and mushroom. Snowflake is bigger and mushroom does not crumble as easily.