Popcorn popping was a regular treat for Boomer kids. With a new Zenith TV console in the living room, a typical weekday night featured watching westerns and popping corn, with a pitcher of Kool Aid as a chaser. The earliest popper I remember was just a pot with a lid. Mom would get the oil hot, add a half cup of corn and we hoped for the best – that most of the kernels popped and nothing burned.
Then came the electric popper! I think we bought one with S & H Green Stamps. It was an aluminum pot and a glass lid and a plug to heat it all up. This worked a little better than a plain old pot, but you still had to watch it like a hawk, or it would burn the bottom kernels. The next product to become popular was Jolly Time Popcorn which came in a can along with the oil, so you didn’t have to measure, but you still had to watch the cooker. For years, that was our go-to popper recipe until they came out with an Instant Popcorn product all enclosed in small aluminum pan with the corn and oil already inside. It sounded good, but it wasn’t. The popcorn would either be greasy or burn, and it was never fresh.
The best popper of all time finally arrived as a part of our family – a Whirlybird Popper. This simple piece of kitchenware turns out theater-grade popcorn. It’s thin aluminum which means the heat transfers quickly to the oil and gets the “pops’ going quickly. Takes about 30 seconds and it’s done. Just wait until you hear less than one pop in five seconds, remove it from the heat, pour the popped corn in a big bowl, add salt and butter and go watch some TV.
Too bad Gunsmoke is no longer on the air, but with a Whirlybird Popper the popcorn is as good as ever.