Sac City is home to the World’s Largest Popcorn Ball. The record-setter is on display in its own building at 13th and Main streets. Photo courtesy of worldrecordacademy.org
Sept/Oct 2026 (Volume 18, Issue 5)
By Arvid Huisman
The Huisman kids ate well during our childhood. (We still do!) Our mother was an excellent cook and fed her hungry husband and six ravenous kids delicious meals on a very modest budget.
The one night each week that we did not sit down to a meat, potatoes and vegetable meal was Sunday night. Sunday nights were reserved for popcorn.
Though she later acquired a more modern popcorn popper, my first memories of our mother popping corn involve a large kettle and hot lard.
Once popped, Mom drizzled lots of butter over her popped corn. She also made sugared popcorn. As we kids grew older we sometimes took our turn popping corn on Sunday nights.
These memories came to mind when I read that October is Popcorn Poppin’ Month which was made official by the USDA in 1999.
There’s little doubt that popcorn is America’s favorite snack food and when it is popped at home it is an inexpensive snack. Who can resist the aroma of freshly popped popcorn?
Back home they tell the story of the cheapskate who took his date to the county seat on Saturday night. They were parked on Main Street, not far from the familiar popcorn wagon. When his date commented on how good the popcorn smelled, the stingy fellow started his car and moved to a parking spot closer to the popcorn wagon. Then he told her, “Now you can smell the popcorn even better.”
Historians tell us that popcorn was discovered by Native Americans. Researchers have found evidence of popcorn from about 3600 B.C. in New Mexico. Modern Americans began regularly snacking on popcorn at home in the 1820s. When sugar was strictly rationed during World War II popcorn consumption skyrocketed by 300 percent because candy production dropped.
Today Americans consume upwards to 68 quarts of popped popcorn each year and, beyond its taste, we eat it for good reasons. Plain popcorn is a naturally low-fat, non-GMO, gluten-free whole grain that is packed with fiber and healthy antioxidants.
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