Popcorn Lovers Day

Popcorn Lovers Day is a special opportunity for popcorn lovers and is celebrated every year on the second Thursday in March.

History of Popcorn Lovers Day

Today is for everyone who loves popcorn. It is rumored that Popcorn Lovers Day was begun on January 6, 2012, by a man named Bob Matthews from Rochester, New York. Bob's favorite snack is popcorn, and he and his wife eat it most Thursdays—which explains why Popcorn Lovers' Day is on Thursdays. Bob is a gardener and with a lot of his own popcorn.

Popcorn is one of four types of corn—the others are corn, flint, and sweet—and it is the only one of the four that can pop. The hull is thicker, allowing steam pressure to build up inside before it explodes. When it breaks, the starch melts, and when it cools, it turns into the shape we're familiar with. Popcorn kernels with a moisture content of 13 to 14.5% are ideal for making popcorn and 13.5% are best. If there are 98 seeds out of 100, it can be considered delicious popcorn. Popcorn is a whole grain food made up of germ, endosperm, and crust — which is the shell. It is low in fat and calories. There are only about 31 calories in a cup of popcorn. It is also rich in fiber and inexpensive.

70% of popcorn is eaten at home. Of those, about 90% were purchased as unappreciated kernels. Of the thirty percent that are eaten outside of the home, the majority are eaten in theatres, sports stadiums and schools. The main states that produce it are in the Midwest, and most of the popcorn eaten around the world is grown in the United States. Americans eat more popcorn than anyone else. About 13 billion liters of popcorn are eaten annually, which is about 42 liters per person. Another account puts the number even higher. About two tablespoons of popcorn makes a quarter of a popcorn. It is mainly eaten in the fall, and is also eaten heavily during the winter months, but not much is eaten in the spring and summer.

Popcorn was first used by Native Americans in both South and North America. The oldest popcorn ever found is between 4,000 and 5,600 years old and was discovered in the Bat Cave in west-central New Mexico in 1948. The Aztecs used popcorn when Cortes invaded Mexico in AD. 1519, not only for food but also for decorating their hats and idols. Humans are also found in South American burial sites in Chile. Some Americans believe that there is a spirit inside popcorn seeds and they will get angry when they are heated, and then escape.

The early colonists called popcorn "dried corn," "rice corn," and "roasted corn," and it wasn't called popcorn until the 1820s. It became popular during the holidays, especially during the holidays with children and during Christmas, where in addition to being a snack, it is also hung on the Christmas tree. A popular original at-home preparation is to cook it over an open flame in a wire box with a long handle. In the 1870s, molasses was added to popcorn and popcorn began to be produced. They became one of the most popular confectionery; they are given as a gift and are eventually included in the recipe book.

Cracker Jack started selling in 1896 and included popcorn, peanuts, and molasses. It was actually sold without a name at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. It quickly became a staple in baseball games. The portable popcorn machine was also first introduced at the Columbian Exposition, and became very popular with street vendors over the next half century who sold popcorn at fairs and parks and exhibition. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, popcorn was also eaten for breakfast, similar to how cereal is eaten today.

Since popcorn was cheap, it was easily obtainable during the Great Depression, and sales actually increased during that time. It also gained popularity in movie theaters during this time, and continued to grow in popularity during the Second World War years. When television became popular in the early 1950s, fewer people went to the movies and less popcorn was eaten. Percy Spencer discovered that popcorn could pop from the microwave, and by the early 1980s, many brands were making microwave popcorn. One of the first brands to make it was Golden Valley Foods in 1971. The invention of microwave popcorn greatly increased home popcorn consumption.

Celebrating Popcorn Lovers Day

Show your love for popcorn today! Make it with a hot air blower, with oil on the stove, over an open flame, or in the microwave. Have it at home or at the Movie Theater or sporting event. Get a few friends over and guess the number of popcorn kernels inside a container. Then count who is closest and light the popcorn. You can eat it, but you can also get some sewing needles and string and thread some popcorn as a decoration.