TIME MACHINE: Iowa was once No. 1 in popcorn

Marion Donley (proper) sells a bag of popcorn to “Slim” Meyer of Bellevue in January 1954 at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids. Donley and his father, Bert Donley, owned the Vinton Popcorn Co. plant that processed and bought tons of popcorn. (Gazette archives)

Hardly anybody has heard of the Chicago-based Shotwell Manufacturing Co. popcorn plant in Arthur, east of Ida Grove in northwest Iowa.

Sitting within the coronary heart of what was then often known as popcorn nation, the elevator and cribs had been constructed round 1913.

In 1918, the Carroll Occasions reported about 18 million tons of popcorn had been raised the earlier yr round Arthur and Odebolt, “the biggest popcorn markets in america.”

The plant at Arthur was the biggest popcorn processor within the nation when it was bought for $50,000 — about $850,000 in right now’s {dollars} — to Shotwell’s fundamental competitor, the Cracker Jack Co. of Chicago, in August 1925.

Cracker Jack started including extra buildings to the property’s 5 numerous popcorn cribs and buildings.

Fashionable snack

Folks beloved Iowa popcorn.

Dr. Stuart Bowman, of Stamford, Conn., returned to Maquoketa for a go to in 1928.

“If some enterprising particular person would open a popcorn stand or run a wagon on the streets of New York Metropolis, and promote honestly, ‘We promote solely Iowa popcorn,’ he would make a fortune,” Bowman informed a reporter. “Folks within the Japanese cities who used to stay in Iowa are positively homesick for this good Iowa delicacy, and there’s none available.”

Appearing on his suggestion, his sister, Nora Goldin, shipped her brother two barrels of popcorn at Christmastime. It’s unlikely any of it was strung for adorning a Christmas tree.

One other Maquoketa native thoughtfully included a corn popper when he shipped a bag of Iowa popcorn to his brother in Los Angeles.

1931 fireplace

On Dec 5, 1931, fireplace destroyed the Cracker Jack popcorn plant in Arthur.

“The blaze swept by the elevator and shelling and cleansing plant of the Cracker Jack Popcorn Co., destroyed costly equipment and induced harm estimated at $50,000.” in accordance with a wire service story in The Gazette.

Firefighters had been in a position to save “a number of hundred thousand bushels of popcorn on the cob that was saved within the firm’s cribs,” the story said.

By 1935, although, the storage cribs — that after had held 7 million kilos of ear corn and 1.75 million kilos of shelled popcorn — had been empty.

Popcorn acreage had expanded in Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. Iowa popcorn manufacturing was down, however not out.

Vinton popcorn

Bert Donley of Vinton and his son, Marion, fashioned a partnership in 1947 to arrange a popcorn concession. They planted 7 acres of popcorn close to Vinton however quickly found demand for his or her product far outpaced their provide.

In September 1949, the Vinton Metropolis Council granted the Donleys a allow to construct a 30-by-40-foot popcorn processing plant on West Fourth Road.

Geared up with a sheller, a cleansing machine, fanning mill and grader, the brand new plant processed 20 tons of popcorn in 1949. The plant had the capability to deal with 50 tons.

Quickly, the Donley title turned synonymous with popcorn in Japanese Iowa.

In 1953, the Donleys added a 12-by-20-foot retail constructing to the entrance of their plant. Prospects might purchase packaged popcorn kernels, popped corn, popping oil, poppers, salt and different gadgets. It was the one firm within the nation to course of and retail popcorn below one roof.

“We began promoting packaged corn in 2-, 7- and 50-pound heaps,” Marion stated in a 1954 Gazette interview. “Since then, we’ve boosted our operation to 160 acres of land and expanded our plant significantly. We’re elevating round 100 acres of popcorn a yr now.”

In 1961, Iowa was ranked fourth within the nation in popcorn manufacturing. By 2022, it had dropped to ninth, in accordance with the U.S. Census Bureau.

Jager period

Donley Jager of Cedar Rapids purchased the Vinton Popcorn Co. in January 1966.

Jager planted 175 acres of a small yellow popcorn that was extra in style than the white popcorn that had been grown.

In 1972, Jager launched “Krunchy Nuggets.” The snack quickly turned 4 occasions extra in style than common popcorn.

Jager added a 24-by-40-foot warehouse and cooking room to the plant in February 1973. One other addition in September housed an oil storage tank, packaging room, storage room and cooking room.

Microwaves

Enterprise on the Vinton Popcorn Co. enterprise was already declining when Kathy Kloss took over the shop in 1994. It closed three years later.

The arrival of microwave popcorn was responsible, in accordance with Brian Clarke, a spokesman for the American Popcorn Co. in Sioux Metropolis, which made Jolly Time Popcorn.

The Flood of 2008 broken the previous popcorn plant in Vinton, and the storage bins had been demolished in 2011.

A Vinton-Shellsburg Excessive Faculty entrepreneurship class needed to revive the Vinton Popcorn model in 2012. They did their market analysis, solicited donations from Vinton companies, purchased a scale and popcorn (grown in Iowa, although not in Vinton) and opened a storefront.

Feedback: D.fannonlangton@gmail.com

Marion Donley (left) attends the popcorn grading machine as his father, Bert (proper), waits for extra corn to bag of their popcorn processing plant on the west fringe of VInton in January 1954. The grading machine separates lower-grade corn from the higher high quality corn. (Gazette archives)

Vinton-Shellsburg senior Wyatt Tumilty (left) and junior Abby Gloede fill 12.5-pound luggage with Vinton Popcorn on March 11, 2015, at Vinton-Shellsburg Excessive Faculty in Vinton. College students on the faculty revived the one-famous model. (The Gazette)