National Popcorn Day: हजारों साल पहले पॉपकॉर्न से होती थी सजावट, मंदी का दौर आते ही पलटी इनकी किस्मत

Last Updated:January 19, 2025, 7:18 PM IST

Explainer- Popcorn can be eaten at any time. These are the best snacks because they are low in calories. This also does not increase weight. Popcorn is made by roasting corn grains which everyone likes to eat. Movie without popcorn…read more

Popcorn is very popular in every corner of the world. It also comes in many flavors like butter popcorn, salted popcorn, chocolate popcorn, caramel popcorn. The more you eat these, the less you feel. Apart from being tasty, it is also healthy. There was a time when they were roasted in sand but now they have started being made in machines and microwaves. Popcorn has always benefited cinema halls. 19 January day of National Popcorn Day Is made as. Let us know its story on this occasion.

The journey started from America
Maize started growing in Mexico 10 thousand years ago and the story of popcorn began 5 thousand years ago. Archaeologists found evidence of its existence in Peru, South America. At the same time, according to Britannica, popcorn originated from a wild grass named Mexican Teosinte which when roasted would burst and bloom like popcorn.

Jewelery was made from popcorn
Popcorn was used for decoration thousands of years ago. God’s crown was made from this. The caves of Utah were also decorated with them 1 thousand years ago. Popcorn was also used in many ceremonies. In Mexico, women used to dance popcorn by wearing popcorn garlands on their heads. Necklaces and earrings were also made from it. Some people in America believed that corn had a soul. When they are roasted and burst, the souls get angry and come out of them.

The world’s largest popcorn ball was made in Sack City, America. It was 24 feet long (Image-Canva)

Luck shines in the Great Depression
The period from 1929 to 1939 was a very bad time for the entire world because the economy faltered. This is called the Great Depression. Popcorn’s fortunes changed during this time. Earlier people did not like to eat it much but due to it being cheap, it started becoming popular in this era. When every business was failing and drowning in losses, the popcorn business was making profits. During the Second World War, its demand increased so much that people used to buy popcorn and eat it three times a day.

Joined movie theater in 1938
Today, if you go to watch a movie in any cinema hall, the smell of popcorn is definitely there. Everyone has popcorn in their hands and is enjoying the movie by eating them. Popcorn became associated with movie theaters in 1938. Glenn W. Dickinson, owner of America’s Dickinson Theatre, installed a popcorn machine in the lobby of the Midwestern Theatre. Popcorn started becoming more profitable than movie tickets because it started selling in abundance. Dickinson had bought a corn field after seeing popcorn being sold. Earlier, popcorn was considered a distraction from the movie. However, there came a time when it was banned from movie theatres. In 1949, Chicago movie theaters temporarily banned it because it made too much noise while eating.

Sometimes popcorn was eaten for breakfast too.
In 1800, Americans used to eat popcorn for breakfast. He used to eat it by mixing it with milk and sugar. It is so famous in America that 6 cities there call themselves the ‘Popcorn Capital of the World’. But United States Department of Agriculture According to , most popcorn is made and eaten in Nebraska, Texas and Indiana.

Strange shape of popcorn
In the popcorn industry, when corn kernels burst, it is called flake, which is of two types. Butterfly flaps have many wings and are irregularly shaped. Mushroom Flakes are thick ball shaped popcorn. But butterfly flake popcorns appeal to people more and their mouths water after seeing them. Mushroom Flake Popcorn is mostly used to make caramel popcorn.

Most popcorn is eaten in America in the world (Image-Canva)

beneficial for health
Dietician Satnam Kaur says that popcorn is a gluten free snack. People who are allergic to gluten can eat it without any worry. Due to low calories and low fat, they are considered healthy. Eating popcorn reduces weight. It also does not increase blood sugar, hence diabetic patients can eat it tension free. This keeps the digestion process healthy, bones become strong and mood also remains good.

Avoid popcorn sold in movie theaters
The smell of popcorn that makes you go crazy in a movie theater can also make you sick. Coconut oil is used to make them in movie theaters and after the popcorn is made, butter is put on it. These popcorns contain high amounts of saturated fat and sodium. In order for its smell to attract people, chemicals named 6-acetyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydropyridine and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline are added to it, which are harmful for health.