Popcorn for Peace
And the birth of movie palaces...
Popcorn is a thing in my life. When I was a kid, my dad was a movie theater owner in DC. He had two cinemas — one called Janus (with 2 screens — this links to my dad’s story about how it was designed in an office space) — and one called Cerberus (with 3 screens), in Georgetown — with a groovy 1-2-3 wall of neon flashing in every thinkable sequence.
Most of the films he showed were art films and foreign films, and not really suitable viewing for a young child (yes, I remember a string of John Waters movies, but also movies like Cabaret, The Man Who Fell to Earth with David Bowie, Performance with Mick Jagger, and of course the one movie he ever let me see, when I was about 11, called Phase Four, trailer here — I’m still traumatized thinking of — ants invading a mid-western town), but what I remember most was that when we would pick him up I was often allowed to choose one treat from the concession stand — normally munching on it while we waited for him in the car with my mom.
My mom would normally choose Good & Plenty or a 3 Musketeers bar — and sometimes we were allowed to choose one of the fancy Swiss chocolate bars with the mountain pictured on them. But of course, the concessions also included fresh popped popcorn. That was my favorite.
My father was the third generation of movie theater owners in my family — his grandfather Moses Finkelstein was a pioneer in the movie business, with a chain of more than 100 theaters spanning the Twin Cities, Iowa, and more. The family lore has it that one day Moses and his buddy went down to the fair by the great Mississippi river (where they liked to play poker), and saw a novel machine called a Nickelodeon. Apparently Moses had a small corner store and set one up there; it wasn’t long before my great grandmother looked out the window and saw a line going around the block to experience this new device.
The history books tell the story differently — that Moses was a jeweler from Lithuania (I’m guessing more like a carpet bagger!), and partnered with a beer magnate to finance the building of the movie palaces. Just before the depression, due to the monopolization of the movie business, the chain was sold to Paramount Pictures, and they became a major share-holder of Unix, their exhibitor arm (sadly most of that value was lost during the great Stock Market Crash only 4 months after the sale. I believe Moses passed away before this tragic loss of 99% of the value of his empire).
Whatever the accurate origin story, their largest theater was known as the Capitol Theater, and sat nearly 3000 people, in an extravagant auditorium with three sets of balconies, space for a 30 instrument orchestra and an enormous Wurlitzer organ complete with various sound effects to accompany the silent movies.
Even after the chain sold to Paramount-Unix, my grandfather (my dad’s father Harold) still operated theaters in St. Paul and across Iowa (apparently Lucille Ball movies put my dad through college). And then in around 1967 my father finally opened the afore-mentioned theaters in DC.
Back to popcorn.
My father always told me popcorn was actually how they made their money — not from the movie ticket sales, but the popcorn at the concession stand! While popcorn had been popular at fairs and carnivals since the mid-1800s, early movie theaters actually banned it - they had beautiful carpets and rugs and didn't want popcorn being ground into them. It wasn't until the Great Depression that theaters finally embraced popcorn vendors in their lobbies, and by the 1940s, the two were inseparable. Apparently By 1945, popcorn and the movies were inextricably bound: over half of the popcorn consumed in America was eaten at the movie theaters.
PLAY THE POPCORN AD
Fast forward to 2022, when I was pivoting my farm to table home delivery business to corporate gifting (small batch yummies in a box), post-pandemic. Around that time, my partner in crime, Beau Buck, introduced me to a smoked salt blend he was selling in his Olympia spice shop, Bucks Spices. He was calling it “Fakin’ Bacon” because of the smoked flavor. The moment I tasted it I had an “aha moment” that this salt would be awesome as a popcorn topping (and that we should re-name it!). Salty, sweet, with a hint of heat, it was truly a match made in heaven. Meanwhile this is when Russia had just invaded Ukraine, and so I thought perhaps we could drive some popcorn sales to benefit World Central Kitchen, an incredible organization feeding people in crisis all over the world. This is how Popcorn for Peace was born: with a fun illustration by my daughter, and incredibly, the discovery of popcorn kernels I could source from Grain Place Foods — one of the first organic growers in the USA and recently certified Regenerative Organic — everything came together. I joked “Beau’s the Spice of my life, and I’m his main dish” as we made this pairing. Now, when we sit down to watch movies or TV at night, this is our go-to. It’s addictive and always on hand.
Building on the creation of this product, we have just launched an entire range of products created in a similar spirit, and giving back to different non profits. Coffee for Community, Caramels for the Climate, Walnuts for the Watershed, Chocolate for Change, Pears for the People etc.
So that’s the narrative behind Popcorn for Peace, from the birth of cinema to your movie nights at home, and how this idea was born! Happy munching!
