July 16, 1907 Orvelle Redenbacher was born in Brazil Indiana, the son of a farmer. He went to Purdue University to study agriculture, and then went to work as a county agriculture agent. He then managed a twelve thousand acre farm in Princeton Indiana, and began work with hybrid popping corn. Orvelle Redenbacher and his partner Charles Bowman discovered a hybrid that popped twice as large as regular popcorn, and had fewer unpopped kernels. They called it Red Bow popcorn, using the first part of each of their names.
The main problem was that the corn had to be dried on the cob, and it had smaller yields than regular popcorn. In fact, it was twice as expensive to grow and process. Orvelle Redenbacher decided he would convince the American public that the extra price would be worth buying a gourmet popcorn. He marketed it in glass jars, instead of plastic bags, selling it for seventy five cents for fifteen ounces when competition was selling popcorn for fifty cents for a two pound bag. It became a great selling product.
I found this and more, in the book”Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America” by Andrew F. Smith, 1999.
Not only did I find out about Orvelle Redenbacher, but other incredible facts. The author tells us Columbas found popcorn in the Caribbean; Pilgrims ate popcorn on the proverbial first Thanksgiving; popcorn was cultivated in the Americas long before Columbus’s arrival.
The book goes into much detail of the history of popcorn, starting with Indians, and the success of popcorn at circus’s, movies, and other events (the aroma!) Then there is story of Olmsted Ferris from Galesburg Illinois. He was one of the first settlers in Galesburg in 1837. He grew popcorn. When an English reporter said he had never seen popcorn in England, Ferris took 20 barrels of popcorn seed to London to sell. He had an audience with Queen Victoria, popping some corn for her. When he came back, he brought dandelion seeds with him. In England, they ate the leaves, and made wine from the plants. He was suprised at how easily and quickly the plant would spread.
Olmsted’s nephew, George W. Ferris invented the Ferris Wheel. My Grandma Nelson (her family also many generations from Galesburg, said we were second or third cousins somehow from the Ferris’s.) In rereading this book, I found out that a children’s book about taking popcorn to Queen Victoria was made. I now have it on order, to add to the library.
As well as an interesting history of popcorn, this book has a ton of recipes for popcorn. There are some wonderful sounding recipes. How about popcorn marguerites, grinding up popcorn and putting it in homemade frosting and then on wafers. Or popcorn pie, or stuffing, or popcorn wafers (for the popcorn marguerites), and of course popcorn balls and bars. There are almost 60 recipes using popcorn.
What is the difference between popcorn and pea soup? You can pop corn but you can’t pee soup.
Thanks for popping in…
Librarytomes 