Today’s post is by John LeGloahec, Archivist in the Electronic Records Division at the National Archives in College Park, MD.
On Sunday January 19, the deeply underappreciated holiday of National Popcorn Day will be celebrated. There are about seventy-five properties that are returned when you search for “popcorn” in the National Register files (National Archives Identifier 20812721). Of course, several of the properties are theaters or reference “popcorn” ceilings, but there is also the Ohio MPS Red Popcorn Wagon (National Archives Identifier 71985028), located in Washington Park in Sandusky, Ohio. “For about the first fifteen years of its existence, this wagon traveled the streets of Sandusky. From about 1890 to 1924, it was a fixture in front of the old post office and customs office at the corner of Columbus Ave. & Market St. When the post office moved to the park, the popcorn wagon moved too. It’s significant because it is one of the real symbols of Sandusky.” “Cut metal decorates the curb on the roof. A metal sign with scroll work, a later addition, proclaims that it is “The Red Wagon”. Glass encloses the upper portion with old panel signs advertising “buttered popcorn”. A rear door, not original, has access to the interior. Four yellow wooden wheels, two smaller ones in front and two larger ones in the rear, are mounted on the original axles. It rests on a new concrete slab.”
In Edna, Texas, is the Edna Theatre, which was “completed in March 1950 . . . [and] constructed as a flagship location for the Long Theatre Company, which operated approximately sixty movie houses throughout central and south Texas. Situated adjacent to important civic buildings, including the Jackson County Courthouse square and Edna City Hall, this movie palace was the focal point of entertainment for Jackson County residents for nearly three decades.” The lobby of the theatre “has a vaulted ceiling. On the left side of the lobby, a two-sided concessions area once included a popcorn machine and glass display cases with countertops for popcorn and candy sales; the two sides of the concessions counter accommodated sales to the segregated audiences. During the segregation period, African American patrons who entered through the single set of double doors could stop and purchase their candy and popcorn through a pass-through window on the left side of the counter, and continue straight ahead, up a narrow staircase to the second-floor balcony. On the right side of the lobby is a black-tiled wall from which two white porcelain water fountains are installed at different heights, to accommodate both adults and children. A cold drink machine—which automatically dispensed a cup full of ice and soda pop at the mere touch of a button—was located to the left of this black-tiled wall, and former patrons of the Edna Theatre fondly recall its novelty.”
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the New England Confectionery Company Factory (National Archives Identifier 63795712) is a Moderne-Style manufacturing facility located in a densely developed urban setting, about a ½ mile from Central Square and a mile from Harvard Square. Situated near the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1/3 mile from the Charles River, and on a major thoroughfare between Boston and Cambridge, the massive NECCO plant has a significant impact on the streetscape and is a visual landmark . . . The New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) factory is significant as the headquarters of one of the oldest continuously operating candy companies in the United States. The signature product—the Necco Wafer—is believed to be the oldest American product continuously manufactured and still sold today in unchanged form.”
“In 1847 Oliver Chase of Boston invented and patented the first American candy machine, a lozenge cutter which serves as the technological source of the Necco wafer, the iconic candy which remains the flagship product of NECCO to the present day. With his patent secure Chase partnered with his brother Silas to found Chase and Company, the “pioneer member of the NECCO family”. In 1848 Daniel Forbes began a second candy factory in Boston, creating commercially produced confections from native products like maple syrup and popcorn.”
In Bellevue, Ohio is the Tremont House (also known as the Popcorn House) (National Archives Identifier 71989409), a hotel that opened in 1846, but only operated for a few years. “In 1861 the Chandlers sold the property to Joseph Egle, whose family owned it until 1959, when it was sold to Esther Leonard. The Bellevue Historical Society and Heritage Museum purchased the property from the Leonard family in 2002. From the 1850s through the present, the property served numerous functions. The first floor housed a grocery store (operating under various names from the 1880s until 1948), hardware store, pharmacy, army surplus store, and pet store (its last use before the historical society purchased the building).”
“From the 1920s through the 1950s the Popcorn House operated from the addition on the west side. During different periods of time, a cigar factory, real estate office, and electrical engineer’s office occupied the second floor. The International Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of St. John, and Star of Italy were among the fraternal organizations that gathered in the third floor meeting room.”
In Tacoma Washington, is the Hob Nob Restaurant (National Archives Identifier 75611464), which when “constructed in 1925, was designed as three separate storefront businesses. The building’s detailing links it visually with an adjacent apartment building built by the same developer. Located opposite Wright Park on a main east west neighborhood thoroughfare, the 712-716 offered commercial tenants high visibility to neighborhood residents, commuters riding the Sixth Avenue streetcar, as well as park visitors.” “Throughout its history, 712-716 has housed businesses targeted at the neighboring residents. The site’s proximity to Wright Park and the Sixth Avenue certainly would help attract customers as well. While the specific businesses changed over time, the neighborhood focus remained the same. In 1928, the building held the Wright Park Cleaners and Dyers and the H.P. Kemp Confectionery. Kemp had owned a popcorn stand downtown before opening his store. By 1935, the Cleaners had closed and the Confectionery turned into a grocery. These changes probably were driven by the economic troubles of the depression. In 1940, the grocery became the Hob Nob Food Shop, and the confectioner opened again. By 1945, the Hob Nob Food Shop had expanded its offerings to include a restaurant. After the war, new businesses opened which reflected greater prosperity and leisure time in the community. Louis Fruchter, a furrier, opened at 712, and The Heatherland Dance Studio took over the long-vacant center space. Fruchter closed his shop in the 1960s, and the dance studio remained into the 1970s. In the 1970s, the Hob Nob Restaurant expanded to occupy the entire building, and remains the sole tenant today.”
In Virginia, Minnesota, the City Hall (National Archives Identifier 93203044) was constructed in 1923-24. Prior to the building’s construction there was controversy in 1919, while the city sought to make a “fresh start for the new city hall project, in part because of the desire to dedicate a new building to World War I veterans. The council voted to continue occupation of lots 17,18 and 19 in Block 25, where the existing city hall was located, and condemned the adjacent lots in this block to the east. These were occupied by dwellings and a few small warehouse buildings that supported the businesses on the north side of the block. The only record of conflict in this location was in 1923, when the council requested that Bickford order a vendor, who had taken to operating a popcorn stand on the new building site, “to remove his building at once.””
Within the Catherine Street Historic District of Noblesville, Indiana, was Grandpa’s Candy Store, “a small corner store at 10th and Harrison. [The proprietor, Will Mabee] learned the candy trade under his father-in-law, George Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins was known all over Indiana and other states as Gran’Pa, selling candies, crackerjack and other sweets at fairs, meetings, political gatherings, etc. Mabee invented the famous brand of crackerjack, known as “Gran’Pa’s Wonderful Popcorn Candy.” He also introduced ice cream cones, ice cream sandwiches and the ten-cent lolly pops to this community. Under Mabee, the business grew and in 1903 he built a small store on the comer of North 10th Street and a candy kitchen on the rear of the lot. He made 49 kinds of candies in that building.” So let’s all go to the Lobby and get ourselves a snack of some popcorn (and maybe some Ju-ju bees, and some junior mints, and an Icee, and a . . . ). Happy National Popcorn Day!
This post is part of an ongoing series featuring records from the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 – 2017 (National Archives ID 20812721), a series within Record Group 79: Records of the National Park Service.