Dark History - 96: Murderous Popcorn Rituals? The Disturbing History You Never Knew | Dark History with Bailey Sarian

Episode Date: July 26, 2023

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Popcorn, your favorite movie time snack, was once connected to human sacrifice and gruesome beheadings. That’s right. The history of popcorn involves way more than just popping corn. Let’s dive into the dark, dirty secrets that have been buried beneath the kernels. Episode Advertisers Include: Rocket Money, Liquid IV, & HelloFresh. Learn more during the podcast about special offers!

This episode was the first episode we did for season two, and I mean it really left an impression on a couple million of you guys. And it's easy to see why. Corn once drove whole civilizations to perform human sacrifice and even cannibalism, which is kind of wild because when you think about popcorn now, it's kind of like a throwaway snack for us. But it used to be very controversial. It was even banned from movie theaters at one point. Yeah, popcorn. And not that long ago, microwave popcorn was linked to a deadly, incurable lung disease.

Hi, friends. I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian, and I like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. If you're new here, well, this is a chance to learn about the history that for some reason was not in our school books, huh? You know, the stuff they just don't want us to know, or maybe they just don't want us to find out. But me and you, we're gonna find out together. So all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot juicy history. Gas.

Spicy. Now, I know some of you are like Bailey. You got a D minus in history. Why in God's name should we listen to you and your history stories? And Linda, listen, Linda, I get it. But I'm learning along with you because listen on this show, we got researchers, lawyers.

We reach out to leading experts on each topic to make sure, back check that we are giving accurate, unbiased information. And I'll be honest, sometimes the feedback we receive is pretty rough. They don't get my humor. The lawyers, they're so serious, you know? Anyways, once I get the feedback,

though, we adjust it and make it right. So what I'm getting at is this podcast is the shit. Thank you. Now, the experts aren't the only people on our team giving feedback. Let me introduce you to my co-host. Now, if you're listening on the podcast, you can't see that at home, but I'll describe. Some of you may remember last season, the beautiful, the wonderful, the stunning Joan Crowford. Joan, Joan's here. Let's welcome her back to the scene. Hey, Joan, hey, girl, how you been?

Okay, great. Also, let's give a big round of applause for this man that you may recognize for my Instagram stories. His name is Paul and Paul likes to party. He's over here, he's gonna be hanging out with us, he's got the sunglasses on, he's got a cigarette. Don't smoke or you're gonna end up like Paul.

They're my friends, okay? So I don't feel so alone in this freaking room. Anyways, all of that aside, just come on this journey with us and let's talk about that hot, juicy history, goss, gossin'. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot, juicy history, goss. Goss it. So sit back, relax, and let's get into some dark history.

I've opened my dark history book to the chapter of popcorn. Let me tell you how I arrived to this topic. So the last couple of nights, I've been eating a lot of popcorn. Honestly, it's because I'm too lazy to go to the grocery store and shop. So now, every night when I watch my television programs, I put a little bag of popcorn in the microwave, beat, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. You know, magic happens. Popcorn appears.

Smells incredible. I'm sure you're aware. Mmm, that smell. So, you know, I pour my little popcorn into my popcorn bowl. I get on the comfy couch. I snuggle up and I turn on my favorite television program. I'm sitting on the couch with my buttery ass fingers.

And I pick the television program, trading spaces. Yeah, you remember that gem? That was a good one. Honestly, it wasn't that great. It's actually really cheesy. I thought it was like so good back in the day, you remember that gem? That was a good one. Honestly, it wasn't that great. It's actually really cheesy. I thought it was like so good back in the day, you know? That's beyond the point.

The point is I got to thinking because I wasn't paying attention to the show. Like, hey, I wonder where the hell like popcorn comes from. It's just always been there, right? I mean, think about it. You've eaten it all throughout your life or at. You've eaten it all throughout your life, or at least you've seen it all throughout your life. And you, my friend, haven't even thought

about it twice, have you? Like, who are you, popcorn? I don't even know you. Does anyone know where it came from? I didn't. Naturally, when I'm curious, and a question comes to my noggin, I get to googling, where does popcorn come from? And honestly, I thought it was just gonna be a simple, you know, Mr. popcorn invented popcorn, you know, just something simple. But let me tell you plot twist, this shit gets dark. Who would have thought like popcorn would be connected to human sacrifice and cannibalism?

Which is very on-brand for me, I feel like. Popcorn. So naturally, I wanted to know more. I mean, hello, cannibalism, popcorn. Let's talk about it. And that, my friends, is how I went down a rabbit hole and got to today's story. So go ahead, grab that stale tin of holiday popcorn. Your boss gave you last Christmas. Honestly, the cheese one is always the good popcorn. Your boss gave you last Christmas. Honestly, the cheese one is always the good one, I think. And buckle up, because it turns out popcorn is pretty hardcore. So if you are new to this planet Earth, popcorn is corn.

So to really get into the history behind it all, we have to start with corn. Now corn, you know her, well maybe, always been there for us when we needed it the most. Corn has been a loyal ass bitch, not even kidding. That's not my own opinion. You can even look at ancient civilizations all across the world and they thought the exact same thing. So I'm not lying. During my deep dive, I discovered that corn is old as hell. Great. So it's very unclear like where it originally came from. The information we do know is that

corn developed from a certain type of grass in Mexico. Now here's the big mystery that like kind of keeps me up at night is corn doesn't regrow on its own. It requires a person to actually physically replant it and that's weird because if corn's been around for so long, like who were the people planting it and taking care of it? Who was carrying the torch of corn? Aliens, people, animal, nature, you know, so many questions, not that many answers to be honest. Starting back in 1200 BC, many ancient civilizations during this time were farming corn. So you know how corn is a little seed and if you bite like into it, you break your tooth. Yeah, we don't exactly know how or why, but at some point somebody figured out that if you heat up this kernel, it would explode into something that you could actually

use or eat. So, for example, like the Mayans and the Inca, they would use corn for tortillas to mollies. I mean, they would even drink corn by grinding it with fruit and honey to make a sweet little drink. It kind of sounds good. I'll try it. So corn was a staple to the ancient Aztecs, which are an indigenous group who they were living in Mexico in the 1300s. Now you might be familiar with the Aztecs from some of their famous inventions, their fresh water system,

their very impressive architecture. I mean, have you ever seen that? I, ooh, they had structures, pyramids, ball quartz, plazas, temples, and homes. Basically, we could do a whole episode dedicated to just the Aztecs. I mean, they're fascinating. But in regards to corn, they, in my opinion, are the most interesting bunch because they fricken partied.. Like no disrespect to the other tribes, but the Aztecs were the most metal when it comes to corn. So the Aztecs actually viewed corn as sacred food. Sacred? I know. I thought it was like just something you eat while you're watching a movie, but no, not an ancient Aztec land.

Corn was a matter of life or death. The Aztec's considered corn to have a life cycle similar to humans. So it was their most important crop, and they ate so much of it that they believed corn was literally in their blood, like running through their blood. And Aztecs believed that when they ate the corn, they were eating the earth. And when they died and buried the earth, then ate them. The frackle of a la. So, this is where the story gets rolled you see, because according to Aztec myth,

there was a point where the future of the Aztec people were once in grave danger. Oh, yes. They were about to be extinct like the T-Rex. According to legend, the Aztec people were starving to death. People were really struggling. They know corn is on the other side of the mountain where they live, but they don't know how to get to it. They'd already asked their other gods for help, but these gods were unable to use their strengths to move the mountains.

So they were becoming desperate and very hungry, and an Aztec priest turns to the god Ketsaquadol, who I'm just going to call Q moving forward, because Ketsaquadol, as you can imagine, is a little harsh for me. So this god Q decided to use something more powerful and what's more powerful than strength? Intelligence, his brain. So here's what as Tec mythology says, now this is a quote, Ketsu Kwaddle or Q was transformed into a small black ant and made his way towards the mountain. The path presented many difficulties, but one by one he overcame them, determined to move forward by the thought

of helping the Aztec people. Now, after several days, Kew arrived at the back of the mountains where he found the corn, and because he's an aunt, took a grain between his cheese and began his journey back over the mountains. Once he returned to his people,

he handed over the grain of corn to be planted, end quote. So this god turns into an ant. And while he's an ant, he goes over the mountain, gets some corn and then comes back. Okay, got it? Great. It wasn't over though. The ant comes back. Okay, got it? Great. It wasn't over though.

The ant comes back with the corn in his mouth, right? And you can't do anything. They have to like plant this kernel and grow it into corn. If the kernel didn't sprout and the corn didn't grow, then the journey, the ant journey, would have been for nothing, right? So the Aztec people were completely relying on this one kernel to grow, or they could be completely wiped out. Great news though, it worked.

The single kernel bloomed and blossomed into beautiful heads of corn, which was now able to feed all of the people. And from that day onward, the Aztecs were devoted to honor, plant, and harvest, the very thing that saved all of their people from starvation. So it's just very important to them, right? And in honor of Q, their God, they built statues and palaces as a way to say thank you. Because that's how you say thank you back then.

You're like, here, I built this say thank you because you know that's how you say thank you back then you're like here I built this for you Do you like that? Which if you haven't just like on some free time do yourself a favor and Google their temples because they went off All the way off like no one asked them to go that off But they did it anyway off they were like let's go off all the way off It's wild. Okay, so back to Q, they went off on those temples and they also would hold annual ceremonies for the God.

Okay, so these ceremonies were designed to keep this God and they had many other gods happy. So they would continue to watch over the crops and keep the corn coming because they don't want to starve again. Great. The Aztec people believed in over 200 different gods and goddesses. So they had a lot and they're all in control of different parts of their life. Like there's a god for weather. There's one for fertility, farming, God for war. There's one God for going to the bathroom. Yeah, could you imagine being the God in charge of shit? Like literal shit.

That's your job. That's shitty. Ah! Anyways, but since we're talking about corn here, I'm just going to be focusing on the corn side of things, right? To the Aztecs, therefore, most important gods were in charge of the different stages in Corn's life. So this lined up with the seasons of the year pretty much.

And for each cycle, there was a ceremony that went along with it. So let's say it's spring. The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing. And Aztec farmers have just planted their corn seeds in the ground. It's like, yay. But to make sure that they're gonna sprout, they have to do something, right? And I know what you're thinking. Yeah, just water.

You water that shit, right? There you go. That's it. But for the Aztecs, have you ever watered plants with blood? Because that's what the Aztec's did. Oh yeah, they would legit take a knife and cut themselves and then just like bleed all over their corn. I know, it's a lot, but listen, it was actually seen as like a gift to the Aztec goddesses

to make sure that the corn seeds would sprout. And to them, blood was symbolic of life. So to the Aztec people, they were giving part of their life to the food to keep the corner live. It's kind of beautiful, if you think about it. Come on. Right Paul? Great. Glad you agreed. He agrees. Shut up. So if you think that's gory, just wait until Fall shows up. You know our favorite season, Fall? Yeah, they weren't bobbin' for apples.

They were chopping kids heads off. This week's episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. Here to help you save money, do you ever get a ping from PayPal or your bank account saying something like, reoccurring charge for $12.99. And you're like, oh man, what? What? But you never really look. You say you're gonna look, but then you forget, you know, uh, well, if you've been in this hot mess, that's where Rocket Money comes in. Rocket Money is a personal

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So stop throwing your money away, cancel unwanted subscriptions and manage your expenses the easy way. By going to rocketmoney.com slash dark history. That's rocketmoney.com slash dark history. Rocketmoney.com slash dark history. So, when the harvest time came in fall, the Aztecs wanted a good supply of corn. So, in order to make sure like this happens, they would hold a big ceremony for another god of theirs. The goddess Chico Maccodal, girls, young girls

would make garlands out of popcorn and wear them in honor of this goddess, which is fun because like I personally love a little like DIY project, you know? And then everyone would come to this ceremony, literally everyone from the whole town, like all of the people would gather and head to the statue of this goddess to celebrate her. So they all get together and they walk over there to gather around, you know, the statue, a priest would step forward and then ask for a young girl

to step forward with him as well. Now, this young girl plot twist, she was their offering. I know. Good. I don't know. We don't know if the girl knew what was about to happen to her, but either way, she was about to go down, you know what I'm saying? And like, this is where things get a little, a little cray. Okay. So the priest would,

he'd be next to the statue, right? He's like holding this little girl. He holds her against the statue. And then in front of everybody, he just whack a rella, chop off her head. The young girl just removed. Again, I don't really know the details. I don't know if we need to know the details, but what we know for sure was that a head was removed in the name of corn. Yeah. Paul, can you look up what they did with the head? I'm dying to know.

You get it dying to know, Paul, because you're dead. I get great. But then it gets worse, because listen, after chopping off her head, the priest then takes her body and pours her blood all over the statue, again, to honor the goddess. It gets worse, it progresses. Let me tell you. The priest, again, the priest,

then takes the girl's body, he flares or peels the skin off and proceeds to put it on himself like a suit, a skin suit. He's literally edgying this shit. He's edgying before edgying, but it doesn't stop there during the same ceremony after the girl is killed. Another woman is also offered up to the gods, so it's a two-for-one deal at the Bogo. But this is a little different. You see, it's already funky on its own. But now they involve this other woman.

And what they would do is they'd bring her forward. They would also kill her or whatever, but they would cut the skin off of her face, specifically her face. So the priest could wear it like a mask. Yeah, like a literal face mask. He puts it on. He's like, Hey guys, it's me. Barbara, you know, the ceremony may sound a little extreme because it does sound a little extreme, but this again is how they honored their god by dressing up like them and saying, thank you. Think of like your uncle Joe dressing up as Santa for Christmas.

You know, you're a kid and you're like, it's uncle Joe, but you're excited because it's Santa and he has presents. So it's like that, but with murder and stuff too. And like, you know, same thing. Okay, so this is the kind of kind of shady part because like the second woman that was sacrificed, now it's believed that she may have been offered

to the priest as a sacrifice by her husband. Yikes. Imagine going to the ceremony with your husband and you're like, oh my God, babe, like I heard there's gonna be a sacrifice. I hear it's Rebecca. Uh, and then your husband looks at you and is like, that's suck, you know. So if you're shady-ass boyfriend, sacrifice to your husband, I'm

excuse me, sacrifice to you, it's a surprise, you know. But again, sacrifices were just part of their religion. It was just part of the whole thing. It was seen as a huge honor to give yourself to the gods for the good of your people. So it could have been a way different experience for them. Like maybe they died with honor and it wasn't this terrible thing. Just an idea, you know, because to us, we're like, what the, chopping a girl's head off? Like, what the fuck?

But maybe they were like, yay, I get my head chopped off today. I'm just trying to see the positive here. Here's gotta be some kind of positive. Okay, so this was all just a warm-up because there was a big feast that came in the winter to close out the life of corn. Now it's time for the annual feast of the flayed man. Oh yes, thunder and lightning.

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So the fees of the flayed man happens after the Aztecs have harvested last season's corn. Now this is to think the gods for that and ensure the success of the new crop they are planting. So the whole city, town, and community, again, they would come out to attend this big ceremony. I'm talking everybody came out like rulers, commoners, prisoners, anyone and everyone. This time it's to honor their god, Z-Pay. He's like the winter god. Z-Pay was actually a very big deal because according to the legend, when his people were starving,

he actually like ripped off chunks of his own skin and then like fed that to the Aztec people. So they went and starved to death. It's like, you know, just here eat this. This is what I'm imagining. But does this remind you of anything? No? Paul?

Okay, Paul says no, but look, let me give you a visual here, okay? Think of your eating corn the old school way. You have to peel the outer skin. It's known as the husks. You have to peel it. It's pretty tough and it's called as the husks. You have to peel it, it's pretty tough, and it's called shucking, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, we're gonna have fun with that word.

Okay, so you're peeling off the husk, the green leaves around the corn, and this was important because it represented Z-Pay's own skin being ripped off to feed his starving people. Symbolic, beautiful. It's almost kind of like they're shedding, shedding sins, a rebirth, if you will. Z-Pay, that's so sweet, you shouldn't have Z-Pay. So they, they peel, they prep the corn, all to celebrate Z-Pay. And now they do a little reenactment. Yeah, we love, we love dinner in a show.

Someone, usually an enslaved person or a prisoner from a different tribe was selected to once again be a human sacrifice for this big feast. So the priest, this poor priest, he was a lot of murder. They would kill the man that was being offered, cut and peel off his skin in large chunks.

Oh yeah, and then they would get like a little RC and they would paint on the skin and wear it. So like they would wear the skin. So it looked like they were a living image of Z-Pay. Right? Great. I kind of wouldn't mind being there. I would wanna to watch and see fly on the wall. I would be. But the rest of the body, they didn't waste that shit, you know. The leftovers were cut up and passed out to the crowd to be eaten and shared.

And again, this was seen as a very beautiful, great thing. Good for them. It's time to eat. So naturally, of course, the wealthy people would get like the best body meets first because they're rich. Like they would get, you know, I want to thigh or like I want to I want some titty meat, you know, so they would get to eat more of it because wealthy people are always seen as more important for some sick reason. And you know, it's just like same shit different era. Well, minus the body meat. Well, depending on heat last, I guess, then they would pass around whatever was leftover to the rest of the people. So organs, elbows, eyeballs, fingers, maybe if you're lucky, you got some of that juicy booty meat, you know, in return, Z-Pay would be pleased with their sacrifice

and bring them an abundance of corn in the coming year. So the flaying man ceremony was all about closing out the year, shedding the skin, rebirth, and just going into the new year cleansed and new. This tradition was passed on from generation to generation and everyone really put their own spit on it. And it's kind of like, again, like Christmas, but you're just eating humans instead of him. That's all. So a descendence of the Aztecs, the Noah people, also worshiped corn, but they had

their own little twist on it. They believed that corn was an actual living being, and you had to treat her with respect. Do not disrespect the corn. They believe that corn actually starts as a boy when it's growing and then once it's picked, it turns into a female. This is according to the know-who-allegend. And this corn is picky. They also believe that seasoning or flavoring the corn in any way was extremely disrespectful. You know, if she was mistreated, she being the corn, she would seek revenge on the people. I'm talking natural disasters, famine, other bad stuff, you know, just because you put a little salt on the corn. Oh, this was serious. Corn was serious. So now let's go to the indigenous people of North

America. As we know, and we think we know, like really mastered the art of farming corn. And by the time the settlers showed up in the 1600s, it's everywhere. Corn was like Megan's way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and she's homebound. faces pass and she's homebound. You know, you're like, if you know, yeah. So at this point, corn was no longer seen as like this god, it's something to be worshiped. It was strictly seen as food, which boring, but okay.

It's just here to provide for the people. So when the French explorers see the earquay tribe making popcorn from kernels for the very first time. They're like, okay, I see what you got going on there. Like, they got some corn kernels and a big ol' heated pot. And then the Eerquoy people, they're like swirling it around.

And then pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. The settlers were like, wait a second. What the hell is that noise? It's corn and now it's like morphing into this beautiful white flower. And it's edible. Kind of witchcraft, you know? But seriously, think about how crazy that first experience must have been for them.

To see popcorn pop, I don't know, I mean, maybe, I would think that would be impressed, right? So I guess the earquay, they teach the French settlers how to make this food known as popcorn. But if you've been listening to Dark History, we know it's less teaching and sometimes more taking and like taking the credit. So allegedly, the Eerquois taught them

and they were super thankful for teaching them how to make popcorn and they were like, thank you so much, that's so nice of you. And then they now carried it back to their place, their home. Anywho, the settlers are super jazzed about learning this new food and they bring it back home to the 13 colonies. You know, it's what's gonna become America.

Honestly, I'm just saying that because that completely left my brain. I've completely forgot about the 13 colonies. Should we do an episode or not? I feel like that's kind of boring. It doesn't matter. It takes it back home. They're like, look, popcorn.

And they really started to like improvise in the kitchen. They were getting really creative. They're making popcorn soup. They're having popcorn for breakfast with cream and sugar. It was like their version of cereal. Kinda sounds bomb. I would've tried it. And popcorn becomes a big staple in their lives.

And it's funny because at least for me, I can't speak for you. But you always hear in history class about America growing at this time, like the 13 colonies, Yada Yada Yada. And who would have thought that popcorn was right there alongside the people? I just think it's cute.

Popcorn, come on, that's cute. This thing, right, that's cute. This thing? Right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right, right. Anyways, by 1848, Popcorn officially made its way into the American dictionary. So now it's like a real thing. And the question here is, how did corn go from like this holy,

sacred representation of life to a stale piece of popcorn you find and your bra after watching like, just binge watching a night of like love island, specifically the UK version. Do you eat it? Sometimes I eat it when I find it like it's warm. This episode and easy to craft recipes are brought to you by HelloFresh! Thank you so much. It is peak summer produce time and if you don't feel like you know

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for, you know, warm summer evenings. I do love a summer evening. Go to hellofresh.com slash dark history 50 and use code dark history 50 for 50% off plus free shipping. That's hellofresh.com slash dark history 50 and use code dark history 50 for 50% off plus free shipping 50% off Hello fresh America's number one meal kit All right, it's 1885 and popcorn is now mainstream popcorn. She's hootin. She's haularin and now she's mobile She's hootin', she's hollering, and now she's mobile. Mobile? Oh yeah, baby. Thanks to the invention of the Steam-powered popcorn maker, vendors can now take this machine

and sell popcorn on the streets to everyday people. This was revolutionary. Mostly because snacks back then, they had like potato chips or jello. They needed a kitchen in order to make and sell these products or food. So steam-powered popcorn machines were a huge hit at crowded places, think like the circus, huh? You know lots of people are coming and going and they want some popcorn while

they watch the sad animals and stolen humans perform before their very eyes. You remember the circus? We did a whole episode on that. Yeah, it all started with the man with a small ego who liked horse tricks pretty much. And that's the summary. It always does. Popcorn at the circus, great, they did that.

And we can't forget about baseball, turns out while watching the ball game, people loved having something to snack on. And this is when we, as the people, were introduced to a new type of popcorn called cracker jacks. Yeah, if you forgot, cracker jacks are technically popcorn, and if you don't know, a cracker jack is popcorn, drowned, and caramel, and salty nuts. Sightnote were a fun fact. Some historians consider cracker jacks,

the original American junk food. It also introduced American kids to sweet popcorn. And this inspired a lot of people to get creative. You know, this is America, so naturally they start saturating popcorn. It's just sugar and fat and they just go off. We love it. Basically, when I'm getting out popcorn

in all her different forms is literally popping off everywhere you go. There seem to be a steam powered popcorn machine and like a monkey in a tiny suit, trying to sell you a snack. And everyone at this time's buying. I mean, the people who are walking by are mesmerized. When they see that steam powered machine on the streets, they're like,

what is this? First of all, many would stop and be like, what is this? And then of course, naturally, the delicious smell, bitch, they're gonna stop, they're gonna look, they're gonna get a little show because the popcorn seem to be like dancing, dancing, because it was like popping off like fireworks. So it's like warring people in. They would stop, they would stare, they would sniff. All the S's are covered. So we've got the circus, we've got baseball, we've got the mobile steam, popcorn machine.

But I know when we say popcorn, every single one of us today, well, I shouldn't say that, but most of us think of the movies, right? Because that's what I thought of, of course. But what if I told you that popcorn was actually banned from theaters for a very long time? It makes no sense, right? Because they go hand in hand. But the joke is on theaters because popcorn always seems to win. So back in the early 1900s, movie theaters were considered, ooh, very luxurious.

It was like a place for the high brow, the high class, the bougie people. And they were like, no peasants allowed. So when you walked in, the theater, it was very ornate, like a grand opera house. I'm talking velvet seats. Ooh, gorgeous rugs. Big old, beautiful chandeliers, bitch. Movie theaters back then. I wish I could have just seen it once

because based off of photos, I've seen it just was grand lush, velvet, gold, gold glamour all for a movie. The best way I can describe what it looks like is like you remember the scene in Beauty and the Beast where Belle and the Beast are dancing and seeing she's wearing the gold dress. It's very grand. That's what the movie theaters look like. The last oldest. With all that being said, it's safe to say these theaters had spent a pretty penny on carpets, very fancy expensive rugs, and they wanted to keep them in pristine condition. And you know what wasn't pristine? Popcorn.

Fucking popcorn. You know, it could be messy as hell. And the movie theaters, they didn't like that. So movie theaters banned popcorn because of this, being messy. And also because, hello, movies were still silent back then. And popcorn, she's a little loud. Then the year 1927 comes around and for the first time movies, they get sound. That must have been really fucking weird, actually. You know, I like to see a movie for the first time was sound.

You mean, what the- But we're in the future, man. But, okay, sound comes to the theater, but this theater's, they're still holding out. They don't want popcorn to enter their building. They want to appeal only to the rich, rich, gorgeous people. And apparently rich people don't eat popcorn. That's what I've gathered from this.

Okay, so all that's happening, but then guess who enters the scene? Something called the Great Depression, the good old GD, everyone was out of work. Food was hard to come by, and people, they really didn't have extra money or cash for entertainment, for fun, for anything really, except for the basics.

So theaters, they end up taking a very big hit because nobody wants to go see a movie. So, guess who comes knocking at the door to save the day once again? Knock knock, who's there? It's me. Back on, you know. The theaters realize that if they want to survive, they have to lower their standards, they have to lower their prices, and they got to get off that little fancy

high horse of theirs. Okay. So move the ears, they're desperate for money, and they go against their own rules. And they're like, you know what? Let the popcorn in, let it in. But if you wanted popcorn, they were gonna upcharge to cover, you know, rugs and shit that you're gonna mess up. And honestly, it works. The smell alone brought patrons in and they loved having something to snack on while they watched a movie. And because there was now sound in the movies,

I mean, you can't hear the loud-ass crunching popcorn noise. It was a win-win. People weren't going out to the movies because it was less expensive now. They were able to spend quality time with their loved ones, and they were still able to afford like a little escape from reality

with popcorn right by their side. I'm telling you popcorn has always been there for us like when we need it most. And then theaters again saw another opportunity. They knew popcorn was inexpensive to buy. Let's say for example like 10 cents for a bag of kernels. So the theaters would then mark it up to like a dollar 50 for a small bucket of popcorn. Now math isn't my strong suit, but that sounds like they're making a lot of money. You know what I mean? And it seems like people are down to buy the popcorn despite the crazy markup. I mean, I don't think they know the difference, you know? And it still holds true today.

You go to the movies, small popcorn, like 25 bucks, and you're like, what the fuck? Why? It's just pure profit for the theaters. Can I just bring my own popcorn? It's not the same though. It's not the same. You can't. You can't. It's not the same. If it's $25 for some reasons better. So the years carry on, right? And then we get to the year 1941 when America joins World War II. Now this sucks obviously. Because of the war, lots of people, they stop going to the movies, again, due to like financial strain. And honestly, yeah, who wants to go to movies when potentially your loved one might not be coming home? Yeah, I just, they don't want to go. They just stop going. So because of the war, lots of things were being rationed and sent out to the troops, one of them

being sugar. What's a little shout out to the, remember the Zoot Suit episode? Zoot Suit Riot, do you remember that episode? They were like having a ration for the war. Lots of shit was happening around this time. Anyway, so if Candy was like your go-to snack, you had to pivot to something else. People are just having meltdowns, like,

no, not my mic and I. You know? Well, guess what wasn't being rationed and was super cheap? A pretensity. Bopcorn! Damn popcorn. You are here for us. And by this point, Americans are eating three times the amount of popcorn as they did before the war.

So eating popcorn at this time actually becomes viewed as being like very patriotic, a way to support and show support for the troops. Yeah, eating popcorn like I'm proud to bring on American when I get my popcorn free. Fun, it worked. In the years after World War II, two important things happened

that really impacted our frying popcorn. One, sugar is back in town, baby, which is great, because I love sugar. But all the candy deprived people want their candy and they need their sugar effects or there's just so much more you can eat with sugar. Need I say more? No.

And then two, there's just so much more you can eat with sugar. Need I say more? No. And then two, there's an economic boom and more Americans can afford to buy televisions. So yeah. So they're like, why go out of the movies? I'll just stay home, sit on my couch, I love my couch. And I'm gonna watch the two channels I have. Yeah, because I had like two channels, good for them. Sounds like a good time, honestly.

But you know what would make the home movie experience even better? I don't know, maybe what if we brought popcorn in a bag to people at home? Huh, idea. Maybe perhaps popcorn in a bag ready in two minutes with all the buttery and yummy seasonings already in there. That's right, baby. The microwave blasts into the scene. So there's this guy. His name's Percy Spencer, which totally sounds like a dog name, right? Percy.

Oh, Polkohannis. Wasn't the dog saying Percy? I think so. I could be wrong, but that's a dog name. So he invents the microwave. We love him. He's my best friend. Without him, I wouldn't be alive.

So he actually used popcorn kernels as a lab rat to run his microwave experiments because it gave Percy a good estimate of cook-a-time microwave strength, the heat, the pressure, the air, everything. And because of the popcorn and the kernel popping, they learned how to create the best microwave, you know, science, waves, science, the popcorn was there helping them along the way. And by the 1980s,

microwaves are being mass-produced and they end up finding their way into American homes. Now, people can enjoy their favorite snack with maximum convenience. Now people can enjoy their favorite snack with maximum convenience. Microwavable popcorn, it's quick, it's easy, it's delicious, just like me. But guess what, it'll kill you also, just like me. Okay, look, convenience, great, we love convenience. But when we mess with the natural gifts from Mother Earth,

it's just a matter of time before it bites this like right in the butt, right? So look, in the year 2000, a doctor reported that eight popcorn factory workers became super sick with a very rare lung disease that became known as maybe you've heard of it today. Popcorn lung. Oh yeah, popcorn lung, real thing, real thing. It's actually called broncholitis, a bloated, a bit of brinneurons, but I can't say that. So we'll put it on screen. Do you need to know how to say it? No, just look at popcorn lung, you're fine. And four of the eight workers were so sick, they had to be put on the lung transplant waiting list. they had to be put on the lung transplant waiting list. Horrible.

So like, what was making them so sick? Turns out it was the vapor from the popcorn's artificial butter. It's like a chemical known or called dia-seedle. I think I nailed that one. The factory workers who were packing the bags of microwave popcorn were inhaling these vapors all day every day. And I mean, it must have felt like like a really great perk at first inhaling buttery popcorn smell all day.

If they made that as an air freshener, I would, I would. So it must have been kind of nice, but really the vapors that they were inhaling, they were toxic. They were making them sick. These workers started coughing nonstop. They were feeling intense short they were toxic. They were making them sick. These workers started coughing nonstop. They were feeling intense shortness of breath. They were getting really sick. And this was the chemical vapor, essentially tearing apart their lungs, slowly suffocating the workers to death.

And scarily enough, the American popcorn manufacturers didn't stop using this butter chemical until 2007. And it's not even like a banned chemical. It's in lots of other things still to the state. Like vapes. I was kind of like thinking about this and I got the chills because I didn't know who a god like punished people for messing with their corn. Chemical butter, messing with the corn. Look at it, maybe the god was angry. Bitch. I just, I don't know. I don't know. Just thought about it.

It was a thought. Okay, so popcorn lung. There's no cure for the condition, and there really still isn't. So, I would say, I would maybe just suggest you stop vaping. Just put your mango nectar, jewel-pa down down and just walk away because it's not go for you, friend.

All right, so that's all the story I have for you. Great. What did we learn today, friends? Question mark. Popcorn has been around forever, and it definitely has seen some shit, right? I mean, think about it. All throughout your life,

Popcorn and Corn has been there,? I mean, think about it. All throughout your life, popcorn and corn has been there, but you never thought twice about it. My curious ass just wanted to know like where the hell it came from. And boy, it was it a wild ride. After this episode and after researching everything, I just have to tell you that I am obsessed with corn. I was in the grocery store and I was looking at the corn

with the, because I had the green stuff on it. And I was like, oh my God, corn is life, corn is body. You know, I was getting all weird with the corn. I am a changed woman. Now the reason I want to tell you this story in the first place is because one, I found popcorn to be absolutely fascinating. And two, I think the takeaway here is to look around Barbara.

You know, like who wouldn't know in that popcorn would have meant so much to so many people throughout time, right? I mean, for me, it's just sitting minding my own damn business and the next thing I know my life has flipped upside down and I'm obsessed with corn, sacrificing myself in the corner, wearing someone else's skin. It's the everyday things you don't notice or maybe even take for granted that might have the wildest story.

My suggestion here or my takeaway for you is to stay corny, but most of all, stay curious. And maybe next time you're chowing down on some popcorn, first of all, think of me hi, and then say a little thank you to the children who lost their heads for your bowl of popcorn. Well, everyone, thank you so much for learning with me today. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions or just be curious because it's fun. I'd love to hear your guys' reactions or thoughts to today's story. So make love to hear your guys' reactions or thoughts to today's story.

So make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can see where you guys are saying, thinking, five and with, I don't know. Join me over on my YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast, Ares. And while you're there, also catch, murder, mystery, and makeup, I hope you have a wonderful day today. You eat lots of popcorn, make good choices, and I'll be talking to you next week.

Goodbye. Dark History is an audio boom original. This podcast is executive produced by me, Bailey Sarian. Junior McNeely from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Clare Turner. Writers Alison Falobos, Katie Burris, and Claire Turner.

Writers Allison Falobos, Katie Burris, and Joy Scvuso. Oh, and me too, Bailey Sarian. Shot and edited by Tafazwa Nimrundway. Research provided by Ashley Spurgeon. A big special thank you to our popcorn expert out there, Andy Smith, Hey Andy, thank you. And I'm your host Bailey Sarian. Now go have some popcorn. Goddamn it.