How did eating popcorn become a custom at movie theaters? - Big Questions - (Ep. 213)

Hi, I'm Craig. I eat popcorn like this

And this is Mental Floss video. Today I'm going to answer Bradley Stein's big question

How did eating popcorn become a custom at movie theaters? Nowadays movie theaters depend on popcorn

They earn about 85% of their profits and 40% of their total revenue from concessions

But that wasn't always the case. Today I'm going to tell you how the tradition got started

Let's get started. Popcorn as a snack gained popularity in the U.S. during the 19th century. It quickly became

associated with the places where it was sold, like fairs and circuses. It was easy to make

and transport for these events. The first steam-powered popcorn maker was invented in

1885. Eating popcorn in movie theaters, on the other hand, wasn't a custom yet. Probably

because there wasn't movie theaters yet. In 1907, there were around 5,000 Nickelodeon theaters in the U.S., which were often little

spaces the size of a storefront that showed moving pictures for 5 cents. It became common

for food vendors to set up shop near these theaters, so food was initially part of the

movie-going experience, but that changed when a bunch of huge, classy movie theaters emerged

in the 20s. There were typically signs posted saying, no food allowed at the theaters, and they didn't

sell food either. This was probably because the owners didn't want to deal with messes in their fancy venues

and they also hated fun. Plus movie theaters were inspired by actual theaters rather than places like the circus Some of them cost millions to build It wasn uncommon for them to have antiques chandeliers marble columns and expensive carpets Popcorn and expensive carpet are not friends Me and popcorn aren friends either because I eat it You

don't eat your friends. By the 30s, some theater owners were allowing vendors to keep food stands

either inside or directly outside. One thing that probably helped convince them to do this

was that movies now had sound, so eating would no longer be allowed distraction. Another

big factor was the Great Depression. People could afford to see a movie and spend five to 10 cents on a bag of popcorn. Plus, the theater owners benefited financially from

having popcorn vendors there because the vendors paid them a daily fee. Even with a fee, vendors

earned a lot of money quickly. One of the earliest movie theater popcorn vendors was a woman named Julia Braden, the popcorn gal, as no one called her. She first started a little

stand at the Linwood Theater in Kansas City. By the early 30s, she had expanded her business

to four theaters and started earning $14,400 annually, which is about $336,000 today. As

As I mentioned earlier, this was the Great Depression, so not everyone was profiting like Julia Braden

Some movie theaters started closing, but many were able to stay open thanks to popcorn

They lowered the cost of omission and started earning more through their own concession stands

And so, a custom was born