hi I'm Craig I eat popcorn like this a
method of Mental Floss video today I'm
gonna answer Bradley Stein's big
question how did he think popcorn become
a custom at movie theaters nowadays
movie theaters depend on popcorn they
earn about 85 percent of their profits
and 40 percent of their total revenue
from concessions well that was not
always the case today I'm going to tell
you how the tradition got started let's
get started
popcorn is a snack gained popularity in
the US 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 and movie
theaters on the other hand wasn't a
custom yet probably because there wasn't
movie theaters in 1907 there were around
5,000 Nickelodeon theaters in the US
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 Class
E movie theaters emerged in the 20s so
we're 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't uncommon for them to
have antiques chandeliers marble columns
and expensive carpets popcorn and
expensive carpet are not friends me and
popcorn aren't 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
ten 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
has 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 thousand four
hundred dollars annually which is about
three hundred and thirty six I was in
dollars today 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 a
mission and started earning more through
their own concession stands and so a
custom was born thanks for watching
Mental Floss video which was made with
the help of all of these popped kernels
if you have a big question of your own
that you'd like answered leave it below
in the comments I'll see you next week
you