Why Popcorn is Associated with Movies
You enter the movie theatre and the first thing you see is the delicious, buttery popcorn waiting near the ticketing booth. Popcorn has been a major part of the movie theatre industry since the 20th Century. This is because the companies recognized the affordable prices and the simplicity of making it. But this wasn’t always the case. So, how and why did this happen?
The Boom of Popcorn
Popcorn didn’t become popular until the mid-1800s. Before that, it wasn’t as known to the world. This sudden uproar in popcorn was because of one man, Charles Cretors. Cretors was a candy shop owner when he was tinkering with a machine, a peanut roaster. A couple of years later, this tinkering led him to find a way to make popcorn in a steamed power machine. So, in 1885, the first steam-powered popcorn machine was built. This meant popcorn was more available in places such as carnivals or festivals.
Why Movie Theatres Didn’t Like Popcorn
This might come as a shock to some of you, but yes, movie theatres despised popcorn. Companies back then wanted movie theatres to reflect the feeling of going to the actual theatre and watching the play happen right in front of you. In the theatre, the seats and floors are spotless, people expect silence during the play. Popcorn was the opposite of this cleanliness feeling. Companies found popcorn to be messy and easily left on the floor; the price reflected that to them.
How Popcorn Became Part of Movie Theatres
Before the 1920s, movies were soundless, hence, restricted to upper-class and literate people. Then, sound was available on screens, which broadened the audience of movies to almost everyone, literate or not. This meant that more people would be arriving to see movies. This was also during the great depression when people lacked money. Movies were cheap entertainment available to the public, meaning their popularity grew to almost 90 million people per week. Popcorn was also a very cheap snack, so popcorn vendors began selling it in front of movie theatres.
Movie theatres began to notice these popcorn vendors and how many people were willing to buy, so they took the idea and made their own stands in the theatres, selling popcorn, alongside other snacks and drinks. Popcorn also became a very popular snack during World War 2 as it brought a sugar shortage. This meant sugary drinks and other candies weren’t readily available in theatres, which meant people were buying more popcorn.
Popcorn at Home
In the 1950s and 60s, television became common in many people’s households, which meant more movies were being televised at home and the need for theatres weren’t needed. But, people wanted the feeling of theatre at home which is why the 1980s brought microwaveable popcorn. This meant that instead of having to buy expensive popcorn at the theatres, you could buy cheap microwaveable popcorn at the shops and have popcorn at home by yourself.
Did you know that movie theatre companies make most of their money from snacks alone? That’s why they’re so overpriced!
