For most of us, “going to the movies” isn’t just about seeing a movie. Rather, it’s a powerful multi-sensory experience—one so powerful, in fact, that there’s a decent chance the mere suggestion of going to the theater has your mind drifting to thoughts of popcorn and candy. That’s why theater owners sometimes joke, “We’re not in the movie theater business. We’re in the popcorn and candy business.”
But if you’re wondering what previous generations ate at the movies, or just want to take a trip down memory lane, we’ve got you covered.
Just as it is today, popcorn was a movie theater staple in the 1970s. It was also the first movie theater snack, the one which started it all back in the 1930s. Although movie theaters had been around since the turn of the 20th century, snacks weren’t part of the early theater-going experience. Back then, most theater owners were building theaters as grand entertainment “palaces” meant to rival the sophistication of European opera houses, and movie snacks didn’t seem to fit with that aesthetic.
But everything changed as the Great Depression put a squeeze on American wallets, forcing movie theater owners to figure out new ways to get their dwindling audiences to spend more money. Although candy and soda arrived in movie theaters soon after, sugar rationing during World War II put popcorn back at center stage. By the end of the war, popcorn and the movies were now “inextricably bound,” as Smithsonian puts it, with more than half of all American popcorn being consumed in movie theaters. After all, it was certainly easier to get it at the movies than it was to pop it at home in those pre-microwave days.
Credit : Eat This Not That
Picture Credit : Google
