But the first modern popcorn-making machine appeared in Chicago on Dec. 2, 1885. That’s when inventor Charles Cretors got his ...

Until the mid-19th century, Americans prepared popcorn on kitchen plates. At the end of the 19th century, a confectioner from Chicago, Charles Cretors, created a steam-powered machine for roasting ...

Chicago, the birthplace of the popcorn machine thanks to C. Cretors & Co., no longer will be home to the historic manufacturer — it's leaving for west suburban Wood Dale.

At first, it was difficult to make really good popcorn, says Smith. But that all changed in 1893 at the World’s Fair in Chicago, when Charles Cretors & Company unveiled the first popcorn machine.

By 1848 the term ‘popcorn’ made an appearance in the Dictionary of Americanisms. But its real success can be put down to the work of one man: Charles Cretors. A confectionary shop owner from ...