MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Are you planning on going out and seeing a movie today? If not, maybe you should consider it because if you go to a Marcus Theatre today, you can get free popcorn!
All Marcus Theatres locations will have free popcorn all day Thursday in honor of National Popcorn Day.
That's right, Jan. 19 is National Popcorn Day! According to NationalDayCalendar.com, popcorn started becoming popular in the U.S. in the middle 1800s. However, it was used as far back as the 16th century for headdresses worn during Aztec ceremonies.
In the 1800s, Charles Cretors, a candy store owner, developed a machine for popping popcorn. By the 1900s, he had wagons going through the streets of Chicago selling the delicious snack.
As popcorn got more popular, people started getting creative with it. Louise Ruckheim decided to add peanuts and molasses to the snack, introducing Cracker Jack to the world and forever-changing snacks at baseball games.
Then, after a slow start for the snack, it became a staple at the movies. And that brings us to today when popcorn is still just as popular when seeing a new movie on the big screen.
Marcus Theatres shared a few more fun popcorn facts with us on this National Popcorn Day. The company said Americans consume 14 billion quarts of popcorn annually, which comes out to about 43 quarts per person.
Marcus Theatres also said an online poll found that America's favorite popcorn flavors are butter (30%), salted (18%), white cheddar (14%), cheddar (10%), and kettle corn (9%).
According to the Marcus Theatres website, everyone who goes to the movies Thursday can get one free complimentary-size popcorn.
For a full list of theatres in the area and what movies are showing, click here.
