WYANDOT POPCORN MUSEUM--
A World Famous Collection

The world's largest collection of popcorn poppers and peanut roasters is located in a circus tent in the old post office building, now known as Heritage Hall, in downtown Marion, OH.

It is, in fact, the only popcorn museum in the world and at an admission cost of 4 bucks a head it is one of life's bargains.

The Wyandot Popcorn Company began business in an old schoolhouse in Wyandot County in 1936 selling only un-popped corn.  At the request of a customer it added popped corn to its product line in the 1950s when the company moved to Marion and expanded rapidly.

The museum concept was the outgrowth of historical research by the Brown family, founders of Wyandot popcorn.  The museum's first acquisition happened in 1981 and the museum opened in early September 1982 just prior to the 2nd annual Marion Popcorn Festival.

The exquisitely restored, horse-drawn popcorn and roasted peanut cart in the lead photo was made in 1915 and is being described to visitors by docent Alex Proffit, a museum volunteer and historian of encyclopedic quality.

He also is visible in the smaller photo explaining a selection of popcorn poppers, described as Rube Goldberg devices, capable, nonetheless of automatically buttering the freshly popped product.

Popcorn machines like these often were used by vendors outside theaters in the early 1900s selling their tasty products to movie customers, much to the chagrin of the movie house owners who recognized their lost profit potential.

That led to the vendors being invited to sell their wares inside the theaters which ultimately led to theater concession stands as they exist today.

Museum Director Gale Martin (left) responds to guest questions in the lower photo.  The black rectangle above her is a 1892 Olson, hand-cranked popcorn popper, the oldest in the museum's collection.  The wooden, horse-drawn cart to the right was once owned by actor Paul Newman.

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http://www.wyandotpopcornmus.com/