Popped culture : a social history of popcorn in America / Andrew F. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Andrew F., 1946-

Contributor:

Chef Fritz Blank Culinary Archive and Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Culinary Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cooking (Popcorn).

Popcorn--History.

Popcorn.

Popcorn--Social aspects.

Social aspects.

History.

Penn Provenance:

Blank, Fritz (bookplate) (donor) (inscription) (Blank Collection copy)

Smith, Andrew F., 1946- (autograph) (Blank Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xxi, 264 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbia : University of South Carolina Press, [1999]

Summary:

Whether in movie theaters or sports arenas, at fairs or theme parks, around camp-fires or family hearths, Americans consume more popcorn than any other snack. To the world popcorn seems as American as baseball and apple pie. Within American food lore popcorn holds a special place, for it was purportedly shared by Native Americans at the first Thanksgiving. In Popped Culture, Andrew F. Smith tests such legends against archaeological, agricultural, culinary, and social findings. While debunking many myths, he discovers a flavorful story of the curious kernel's introduction and ever-increasing consumption in North America.

Unlike other culinary fads of the nineteenth century, popcorn has never lost favor with the American public. Smith gauges the reasons for its unflagging popularity with the invention of "wire over the fire" poppers, commercial promotion by shrewd producers, the fascination of children with the kernel's magical "pop, " and its affordability. To explain popcorn's twentieth-century success, he examines its fortuitous association with new technology -- radio, movies, television, microwaves -- and recounts the brandname triumphs of American manufacturers and packagers. His familiarity with the history of the snack allows him to form expectations about popcorn's future in the United States and abroad.

Smith concludes his account with more than 160 surprising historical recipes for popcorn cookery, including the intriguing use of the snack in custard, hash, ice cream, omelets, and soup.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [249]-254) and index.

Local Notes:

Blank Collection copy has dust-jacket retained.

Blank Collection copy has bookplate of Chef Fritz Blank.

Blank Collection copy inscribed to Chef Fritz Blank by the author, Aug. 22, 1999.

ISBN:

1570033005

OCLC:

39981313