Street vendors used to follow crowds around, pushing steam or gas-powered poppers through fairs, parks and expositions. During the Depression, popcorn at 5 or 10 cents a bag was one of the few luxuries down-and-out families could afford. An Oklahoma banker who went broke when his bank failed bought a popcorn machine and started a business in a small store near a theater. After a couple years, his
popcorn business made enough money to buy back three of the farms he'd lost. During World War II, sugar was sent overseas for U.S. troops, which meant there wasn't much sugar left in the States to make candy. Thanks to this unusual situation, Americans ate three times as much popcorn as usual. Popcorn went into a slump during the early 1950s, when television became popular. Attendance at movie theaters dropped and, with it, popcorn consumption. When the public began eating popcorn at home, the new relationship between television and popcorn led to a resurge in popularity.
