Get the Inside Story on Who Invented the Popcorn Machine

If there's one snack that is often dubbed as an indulgence for life's blissfully idyllic moments, is defined by an unimaginable number of flavors and is blessed with an eternal appeal that's unsurpassed in every way, it just has to be popcorn. Cheddar cheese popcorn, peppermint popcorn, white chocolate or chocolate fudge popcorn, there are innumerable ways to celebrate the enduring mystique of this wonderful snack. History is no stranger to its iconic status, and neither is the world's appreciation of it.

Such is the unabashed hype and hoopla about this snack, that other equally intriguing aspects remain shrouded in a cloak of exotic mystery. Take for example, the fascinating question that teases you about your knowledge of popcorn machines, and asks, 'who invented the popcorn machine?'

Facts With That Nostalgic Echo

Popcorn gained immense popularity during the Great Depression, when street vendors made quite a killing by selling it with assistance from steam or even gas-powered popcorn poppers. It was sometime during the year 1885 that Charles Cretors caused a sensation by inventing the world's first popcorn machine.

Originally designed as a peanut roaster, Cretors simply added a contraption on top to make the machine look different. But what really catapulted C. Cretors & Co. to the rockstar league was their spectacular showing at the Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in the year 1893. It was here that the first steam driven, mobile popcorn machine popped more eyeballs that probably Madonna and Justin Timberlake together on stage.

What followed was nothing short of a revolution. With the impressive spike in the appeal of mobile machines, the movie going experience changed forever. Today, movie halls without popcorn or their redoubtable machines are like chocolates without sin or Windows without Bill Gates!

Trigger For Innovation

More innovations followed, and in 1925 home poppers made their debut, followed by the microwave popcorn by Percy L Spencer in 1945, which, in fact, provided the trigger for inventing the microwave oven.