Today (Jan 19th) is National Popcorn Day! Let's celebrate with some photos of popcorn in Downtown Campbell!

Popcorn is the snack of the cinemas, but did you know that popcorn was initially forbidden in most movie theaters?^*

Thankfully, things changed and popcorn has become a staple of modern life everywhere. It's a good thing that they did because we like to break out the popcorn machines in Downtown Campbell whenever we have the chance. Many of you may remember when we did Sundown Cinema and played outdoor movies every summer. We did that for nine years and largely funded it by selling bags of popcorn for $2.

If you've been to the Carol of Lights festivals in Downtown Campbell, the popcorn would have been free. We just like popcorn you see and if you like popcorn (especially free popcorn), Cloud City Supply in Downtown Campbell will give you a free bag of popcorn for stopping by today.

^*-Movies have long been associated with glamour and early movies were especially considered an upper crust form of entertainment because they were silent and you had to be literate to fully enjoy them. In contrast to silent movies, there were rowdy Vaudeville shows where people ate and threw popcorn. The movie going crowd wanted little to do with the riff-raff who went to Vaudeville shows.

Things changed in a big way in the great depression because the profit margin on popcorn is incredible. Theaters that were struggling to make ends meet were able to stay afloat by offering popcorn to families out for a rare evening on the town. Popcorn was so cheap that that it was one of the few things they could actually make any profit and keep the theater open.