WEBVTT - Popcorn: Who doesn't love it? 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:04.920 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.360 Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:15.480 Chuck and Jerry's here too, and this is stuff you 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:15.960 should know. 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:21.279 That's right, Popcorn the snack a dish, And I want 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:23.400 to shout out listener Sean O'shullman. 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:25.799 He came up with this idea, send it along. 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.600 And I'm trying to get better about crediting people when 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:30.080 they send great ideas that we use. 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:33.440 Oh that's that's a great New Year's resolution, Chuck. 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:35.600 Yeah, which reminds me I need to do a pickup 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.199 for Cliff's notes because I did not credit Mike D 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.760 of Overland Park, Kansas. Or maybe that'll suffice. 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.199 Yeah, it might. Well I have to ask Mike D. 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.080 Okay, and he'll you know what he'll say. 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:50.640 He'll say the mic stance for money and the D 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:51.280 is for dime. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:51.839 That's right. 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:54.280 Was that exactly what you were going to say? 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.600 No? But that's that was better? So okay. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.960 So yeah, we're talking Popcorn Day and Chuck, there's a 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.920 lot a lot to talk about with popcorn. Who helped 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:05.240 us with this? 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:05.560 Was it? 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:05.920 Anna? 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:07.880 This is Anna Green? 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.920 Very nice? So if you don't know what popcorn is, 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.240 We'll wait a second. You go ahead and google popcorn 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:18.320 and then come back. I'm pretty sure most people know 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:21.720 what popcorn is because it's a global sensation. But I 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.800 have to say I'm quite proud that popcorn is through 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:30.200 and through American, and not just the United States version 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:37.120 of American, Mexico, Central America, South America, Canada will include Canada. 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.200 Sure they love it American in that sense. That is 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:43.200 popcorn through and through. Even still today, most of the 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.920 popcorn in the world comes from the Americas. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:46.640 That's right. 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.120 And we should talk a little bit about corn because 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:52.480 popcorn is just a variety of corn. There are all 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:56.880 kinds of varieties of corn, and popcorn is the everta variety. 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.640 And if you are corn, you have three main things. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:01.920 You have a hull. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.640 Maybe they might call it a pair of carp or 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.200 maybe even the brand. I like calling it the brand 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.440 the brand, and inside that hole you've got the germ 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:15.000 and the endosperm and popcorn specific hull, that outer shell 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:17.760 that has that stuff inside of it. That is the 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.440 main thing that makes it poppable corn. And that's what 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:24.200 makes it different than other kinds of corn because popcorn 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.760 has a really hard, hard outer shell, much harder than 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.720 other varieties of corn, and inside that hull there's a 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.120 much higher ratio of hard starch to soft starch. 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:37.800 And all that sounds well and good. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.400 But a little tidbit I never ever knew until this 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.760 episode was like, what is making that stuff pop? 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.040 And it's very simple, right it is. 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.120 It's awesome. It's a little tiny bit of water. Yeah, 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:55.760 Apparently anything less than thirteen percent water inside the popcorn 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:57.839 kernel is not good enough. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.480 I think you mean the hull, yes, you're right, sorry, 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:02.240 or the brand as you like to see the bran. 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:05.079 Yeah, brand to me is like mast It's like one 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:09.000 of those homey words. I love it. It's the sweet 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.720 spot is between thirteen and twenty percent water content inside 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:17.560 the brand. And when you heat that, because the brand 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:22.040 is non porous, that that steam that gets generated gets 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.560 trapped inside. Well, as we all know, when steam expands, 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:29.679 it really expands, and it expands so much that it blows. 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.400 It blows the popcorn inside out. 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:39.320 Yeah, and that what you're eating, the white styrofoamy deliciousness 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:42.560 that you're eating, that is the starch while you're eating 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.720 that kernel up, I'm sorry, that hole. I guess it's 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.840 a kernel too, and that water is turning into steam 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:53.600 and expanding, the consistency of that starch is changing, becoming 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:58.960 more pliable of aka edible, and you're eating that interior 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:01.640 starch and you can still you know that that little 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.560 thing that gets stuck in your teeth, that's the last 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.600 bit of that hole that has exploded. And like you said, anything, 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:09.720 like when you get that unpopped stuff at the bottom 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:11.920 and you're like, what was your problem? Why didn't you 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:12.800 do what you were told? 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:15.600 They said, all right, less than thirteen percent. 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.000 More exactly, that's probably the case. It also could be 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:21.600 the case where that hole was fractured or something was 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:22.360 wrong with that hole. 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.920 Yeah, something's wrong with that. It ain't right. Yeah, And 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:29.239 so you're like, okay, well, why doesn't rice pop suckers? 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.960 Why doesn't Why isn't wheat pop smart guys? Well, it 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.880 turns out it's because they have porous holes, so steam 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.839 will come out of them. It won't build up pressure 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.640 inside like it does popcorns. So popcorn is a very unique, darling, 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:47.200 peculiar little thing that everybody loves. Yeah, no, don't don't 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:49.840 even come at us like you don't love popcorn. Everyone 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:50.640 loves popcorn. 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:54.440 Sorry, agreed, And we're going to get some some young 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:56.440 yuckers that are gonna say they hate popcorn. 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.120 I just don't get it. I don't get it either. 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:05.000 There's a guy named Andrew Smith and he's a popcorn 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:10.000 aficionado and in popped culture. Pretty great name for something 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.840 on the internet. He has gone through and shared popcorn 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:18.120 varieties that were sold in the early I guess twentieth century, 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:21.080 between nineteen oh one and nineteen oh two. He said, 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:23.320 some of these may be different names, you know, like 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:25.919 the same thing that was named different by whoever was 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.280 growing it. But they had some pretty fun names like 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:34.440 tom thumb popcorn or tattooed Yankee. But popcorn wasn't sold 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.599 commercially at scale like that. Maybe a couple of varieties were, 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:41.200 but there seemed to be a lot more sort of 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.000 local varieties that people could grow and just sell kind 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.880 of locally. But again, it's not branded or anything at 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:49.840 this point. You're just buying it by like the scoop 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:50.400 or the bag. 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.640 Yeah, it was all popcorn. It was just a generic 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:56.240 term for popcorn. It's all called popcorn. But I think 0:05:56.240 --> 0:06:00.360 in the mid nineteenth century. Later nineteenth century, the company 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.320 started to come along and basically branded their own version. 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.440 And there was even a mascot in the eighteen seventies 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.240 called Kernel Pop Love that one. I couldn't find a 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:12.080 picture of them, could you. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.080 No, But that's because I did not look. 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:21.000 The same here. And there's actually a popcorn company from 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:24.640 not too far after Colonel Pop was developed nineteen fourteen, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.520 called the American Popcorn Company. And they're the people who 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.840 make jolly Time popcorn. And if you've never made jolly 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:35.080 Time popcorn, you should just do it. Just go buy 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.720 one of those little foil things that has all the 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:40.640 stuff you need to pop the corn in it. And 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.839 as it pops, like the foil expands. It's just such 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.560 a great little thing. Word of advice, though I learned 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.839 this the hard way. Don't do it on a ceramic 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:55.000 cook top. It's really really bad for the ceramic cook top. 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.440 Oh wait, I'm talking about Jiffy pop. Jolly Time comes. 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.440 In the bangs. Yeah, yeah, still you should try and 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.000 Jiffy pop I get. 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.080 I mean, before we go further, I'm curious of how 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:08.960 you how do you pop your popcorn? 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.080 You know, I don't very much. We have like a 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.520 stir crazy I don't remember who makes it, but it's 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:21.480 like the the big like black, heavy bottom with like 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.760 a thing that spins around slowly on it so that 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:28.760 it stirs your your popcorn apparently in a crazy way, 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:33.480 and then it pop pop pops, but transparent. Well there's 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:35.560 a hamster that runs the whole thing. I guess technically 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.120 it's mechanical energy, but there's like a transparent yellow bowl 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:40.960 that keeps it from popping out, and then you just 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.360 turn it upside down, okay, yeah, and then you have 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:44.880 your bowl of popcorn right there. 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.080 So you got the old school sort of can't you 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.920 plug it in and it turns the little stirring thing. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.360 Yeah, But weirdly we got it in the last few years. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:55.720 We tried air popping for a while. 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:57.840 And that's just like punishment garbage. 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:02.000 I use a whirlypop that is the stovetop thing that 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.640 you put, you know, on your stove. I have a 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.680 gas stove, so it's cooking with gas and you hand 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.480 crank that thing and it stirs it around. 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:11.960 You need a hamster, I do. 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.120 Those are like seventy bucks, so you know, not cheap 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:21.120 but not expensive. There's also more expensive brands like that 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.280 that are like a couple of hundred bucks, like the Popsmith. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.040 But the whole point is you're cooking it on your 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.000 stovetop and you're turning it yourself, right, And that's how 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.920 I like to do it. As the the you know 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.720 that yellow oil that's got the butter flavor in it, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.680 and I just do a little bit of that popcorn 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:43.000 salt because I love salt. But that stuff is super 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:45.440 salty and goes a long way I saw. 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:49.600 Yeah, for sure. There's a specific kind called Flavacall and 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.760 that's what the movie theaters use, and it's designed to 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.080 dissolve in oil and get in every part of a 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:01.559 popcorn pop popcorn. I can't remember, I ah the name 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.439 for what? Oh flake, that's what a pop popcorn is called. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:05.080 Did you know that? 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:06.440 Yeah? 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.000 I did not know that. Well at any rate. It's 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.520 meant to get in every crevice and nook and cranny 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.360 of a popped flake, and yeah, I would guess it 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.160 doesn't take very much of that stuff. 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.640 Yeah, and we don't pop popcorn a lot, like we 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.640 should do it for every single family movie night because 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.440 there's really no reason not to. But uh, you know, 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:28.760 Ruby loves it, the family loves it. So I'm gonna 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:30.800 start popping more popcorn. But let's go back. 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:34.080 Wait, I'm not quite done. I should say, like, more 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.160 often than not, it's microwave popcorn that. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.120 We Sorry, I'm judging you. 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:42.280 Yeah, it's all right. I can take it. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:43.600 I just don't like it. 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:46.120 What about smart food? I like that stuff too. 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.400 Yeah. Bag popcorn that's a whole other game, but a 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:50.320 huge industry. 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:50.960 Yeah. 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.200 Remember it used to be on our what do they 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:54.080 call it, a rider? 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.360 Yeah, like you had to give us smart pop popcorn 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:58.560 backstage at our shows. 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:02.400 Yeah. It's good snack, calorie filling for sure, and cheesy, 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:03.839 pleasing to the tongue. 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.439 Let's go back a little bit though, and talk about cultivation, 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:12.000 because if you look at you know, indigenous Americans before 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.679 Europeans came along and wrecked everything, they were farming popcorn 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:21.120 in South and Central America, mainly in North America where 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:24.560 it was farmed it was in the southwest of the 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:26.960 United States and Mexico, or I guess most of that 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.800 was Mexico at the time. But when non indigenous Americans, 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:35.160 you know, white Europeans, came here, they started farming popcorn 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.400 in New England was a surprise. 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:37.880 Yeah. 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.560 Through most of the nineteenth century that was sort of 0:10:40.559 --> 0:10:46.760 the center of popcorn, I guess, growing and manufacturing, until 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:50.200 eventually it moved to the Midwest in Chicago became the 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:51.319 hub of popcorn. 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:54.839 Yes, which explains why Chicago is a caramel corn town. 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.280 And despite the fact that people in Chicago won't admit it, 0:10:58.400 --> 0:10:59.960 Chicago is a caramel corn town. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.839 But most of the popcorn these days that comes for 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:09.920 the United States, well not most, but twenty five percent 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.240 of the popcorn popped in the US is grown in Nebraska, 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.800 it should be no surprise, but also grown in places 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:22.000 like Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:26.760 Yeah apparently also Brazil and Argentina grow a lot of 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:27.120 it too. 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:28.200 Yeah. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:32.600 Okay, so chuck. A big question is whether popcorn is healthy, 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.120 and the answer is the resounding yes. If you just 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:40.760 air pop popcorn and only eat popcorn undressed in anything 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:42.400 and not cooked in oil. 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:48.920 That's right. But what kind of serial killer does that? Yeah, 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:49.280 it is. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.560 It's it's low in calorie. Like I said, it's a 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:56.000 really good source of fiber. It's one hundred percent whole grain, 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:59.040 and if you eat one serving as three cups of poppedcorn. 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.240 If you eat three cups of popcorn, that's about fifteen 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.480 percent of your daily recommended fiber intake. So if you 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:07.080 double that, you're getting thirty percent. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.840 I saw so I was like, there's got to be 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.920 something wrong with popcorn. I searched Dark side of popcorn, 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:14.640 and the best I could come up with is that 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:17.280 it's there's enough fiber in it that if you have 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.880 irritable bowel syndrome, you need to be careful of your 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.839 popcorn intake. That's the worst thing anyone has to say 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:23.600 about popcorn. 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.440 Yeah, you can also get about three grams of protein 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.760 preserving eighteen grams of carbs, one gram of fat. You 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:33.960 can get vitamin B six, a e K riboflavon, buyme 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:36.040 nicene folate, So. 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:37.440 It's pretty good for you. 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.040 The nutritional values are going to shift some when you 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.480 cook it in oil and add toppings and butter flavored stuff, 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.480 but it's not like it destroys the nutritional value. 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:51.000 The fiber's still in there right. 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:53.720 Yeah, for sure, it just makes it less healthy. You know, 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.320 you've got all the problems that you have for eating butter, 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.920 and not just eating butter, but liquid butter. Wow, you 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.120 want to talk about where popcorn came from? 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:04.520 Because I do, yes. 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.760 So, like I said, popcorn is indigenous to the Americas, 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:12.800 and that's because corn is indigenous to the Americas. As 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.120 far as we can tell, especially if you've read fourteen 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:21.120 ninety two, corn was domesticated from the wild Taosenti plant 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.199 as far back as nine thousand years ago. And the 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.880 whole thing began in Mexico, and it was such a 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:31.160 good idea that it spread throughout Central and South America. Right. Yes, 0:13:31.240 --> 0:13:36.760 popcorn itself is not that much younger, maybe about twenty 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:38.320 five hundred years or so. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:43.880 Yeah, I mean sixty seven hundred years ago there was popcorn. 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.400 We just you know, don't know exactly when people started 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:47.880 eating it. 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:52.680 Right, but we do have archaeological evidence. I think people 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.880 have found popcorn buried with people in like South America, 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.720 and I think there was one burial in per maybe 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:03.839 where the burial was one thousand years old, but the 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:07.480 popcorn was still viable, like you could have popped it. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:12.320 Imagine eating thousand year old funeral burial popcorn. That would 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:13.120 really be something. 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:17.120 Yeah, It's probably in some fancy menu somewhere in a 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:17.960 fancy restaurant. 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.120 Yeah, one of those underground restaurants for richies where they 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:21.760 eat people. 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:26.680 Yeah, where they eat ancient foods and people, yeah, disguised 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:32.320 as tasty. There is written documentation. I believe the first 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:37.600 written documentation of popcorn comes from when the Europeans came 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.040 over again to the Americas. There was a missionary in 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:46.320 the sixteenth century name Bernardino the Sahagun. He was not 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:51.520 Italian really, and he claimed Aztecs were wearing popcorn garlands, 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.720 so it was already being used as sort of a decorative. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.280 And they called it momo cheetle okay. 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:01.760 And there was a seventeenth century missionary rename I'm not 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.440 even gonna try. His last name was Kobo, I can 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:08.160 say that one. And he saw Pruvian's toasting a quote, 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.280 a certain kind of corn until it burst, clearly popcorn. 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:13.160 Yeah. They called it pens and cola. 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.880 Cool, that's all I got, good stuff? 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.440 Uh Yeah, so yes, they were. They were. These guys 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.280 were witnessing popcorn, and you would think like, oh, okay, well 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.480 it would immediately become a big deal everywhere. That's not 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:32.000 necessarily the case. Despite there being a legend that popcorn 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:35.520 was introduced to the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving, that 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.000 seems to have been a nineteenth century invention, which is 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.560 actually about the time that popcorn became a favored American 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.080 snack in the United States. 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.200 Yeah, we should probably take a break and come back 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:48.680 and talk about what happened from there. 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:49.160 Huh. 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:51.600 I think that's a great idea, Joe, all right, we'll 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:52.120 be right back. 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:53.880 I want to learn about a terror sort and call 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.800 it red actel. How to take a berg fractal gink 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:57.200 is Khan. 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.920 That's a little hunt the Lizzie Borderers and all run 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:11.080 on sport up Jerry. 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:24.480 So euro Americans knew of popcorn long before they started 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:27.040 eating it. It was just associated with Native Americans. There 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.280 was a Native American thing. They love their popcorn. But 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:33.440 in the nineteenth century, as far back as the eighteen twenties, 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:38.240 people selling seeds started selling popcorn. Seeds kind of slowly 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:42.480 but surely started to gain traction. Thurreau was a fan. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.680 He called popcorn a perfect winter flower, which seems like 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.600 a miss to me. And in eighteen forty eight popcorn 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.720 showed up in the debut edition of the Dictionary of Americanisms, 0:16:55.400 --> 0:16:57.840 and I was looking through that. Chuck and keep a 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:01.320 stiff upper lip was in there too, which I associate 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:05.040 one with the UK. But apparently that's American. 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.359 Oh. I never really thought about where that might have 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:08.800 come from. 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.480 I always thought it was the UK, but I was wrong. 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.520 Well, as far as popcorn goes, they used to make 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.360 it in all kinds of crazy ways early on. Sometimes 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.080 they would just throw it in a fire and wait 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:21.960 for it to pop out, I guess, and eat it 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.360 with a little little ash on it. Sometimes they would 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:29.560 put like an iron like an iron plank on a fire, 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.280 like you might do steamed oysters or something. If you're 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.080 sitting by the beach these days and you've got some 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.800 oysters and you throw a wet towel over those oysters. 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:40.800 With popcorn, you could just throw those kernels on that 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.280 hot plate, storm around just like it was on your stovetop, 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:45.280 and wait for it to pop. 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.080 What's the towel for. 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.520 The towel is for the oysters to steam them? 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.320 Oh, so you cover the oysters with the towel and 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:54.840 it keeps the steam inside. 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:56.920 Yeah. Yeah, with a wet to gotcha. 0:17:56.640 --> 0:17:59.440 Guy, Yeah, and creates that steam. So, but that's oysters 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:00.320 just neither here there. 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:00.840 Okay. 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:05.080 So a frying pan obviously is one way you could 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.000 have popped it early on, but those things were really 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.200 really heavy to work with. They still are very heavy 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:11.800 you work with as far as like holding one and 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.760 shaking it over a hot fire. And before they had 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:16.240 gas s doves, you know, you got to nail the 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:20.040 popcorn heating temperature or else you're gonna scorch it and 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:21.800 it's not gonna taste great or it's never going to pop. 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.040 So until gas stoves came along, it was just harder. 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:28.679 Yeah, so it wasn't quite as popular, you know. Yeah, 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:31.480 although you can imagine there were some country women who 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:34.560 had like a much bigger, stronger right arm from popping 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.840 popcorn iron skillet, yeah, dead give away that they were 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:42.040 a popcorn fan. Yeah. Finally, in eighteen sixty six, the 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:45.239 first patent was issued for a popcorn popper, and it 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:49.520 was essentially just like you know those old timey toast makers. 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.360 There's like a it's like an iron rod and it 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.680 ends in like a mesh basket that you'd put the 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.439 bread in and toast it. Yeah, something like that. But 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.880 the mesh was thin enough that the popcorn brand wouldn't 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:05.480 fall out when you're popping it, and it would just 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.040 go pop pop, pop pop. My feet can't stop. 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.280 They still make those for camping, you know, you can 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:10.920 still get those. 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.399 Okay, that makes sense. Well, that is the first patented 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.000 popcorn popper that came on the market, and it was 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.200 I mean still hard to do, but it was much 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.359 lighter than holding an iron skillet over the fire until 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:24.359 your popcorn popped. 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:26.639 Yeah, at the very least is lighter and had a 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:27.440 much longer handle. 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:29.840 Right, So people were like, okay, I can kind of 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.359 get into this, and that's when it just started to 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:32.960 take off. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.680 Yeah, So that was eighteen sixty six. Like you said, 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.000 so in the eighteen seventies, if there was a public event, 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:40.800 you were going to be able to buy popcorn there. 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.280 Anything that had a concession stand was going to be 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.760 selling popcorn by that time. And in the eighteen nineties 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:51.080 that was a guy named Charles cr Etrs Creditors, I 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:55.680 guess in eighteen ninety three. He was a confectionery shop 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:59.440 owner in Ohio and he patented, I guess the first 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:04.240 sort of mobile portable popcorn machine that he adapted from 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.520 a peanut roaster of his own design, and all of 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:10.399 a sudden you could have like a popcorn stand on 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:12.400 a sidewalk, and that became like a thing. 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:14.800 People were buying popcorn because it was always pretty cheap. 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.800 Yeah. I looked at a picture. This is glorious. It's 0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:20.640 super got like the big old penny farthing wheels on it. 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:21.639 It's just I would love to. 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:23.240 Buy popcorn from it, you know. 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.800 I penny Thuring farthing is called that, no, because one 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.000 wheel was relatively the size of a penny to the 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:30.800 size of the farthing. 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:31.960