What did Charles Cretors invent?
Cretors & Company is an American manufacturing company, specializing in popcorn machines and other concessions equipment. It was established in 1885 with the invention of the first large-scale commercial popcorn machine to pop corn in oil. C. Cretors & Co. is in Wood Dale, Illinois and is still owned by the Cretors family.
Charles Cretors was originally from Lebanon, Ohio, but eventually made his way to Decatur, Illinois, where he opened a bakery and eventually a confectionery shop. He purchased a peanut roaster for his shop to broaden his product line to include freshly roasted peanuts. He was not satisfied with the new machine, so he redesigned it to make popcorn. He moved to Chicago where he felt he could become a commercial success by selling his new machine. He purchased a vendor's license in order to test his machine in front of his shop. The license, dated December 2, 1885, marks the inception of C. Cretors & Co.
Charles Cretors took his new popcorn wagon to the Midway of Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and introduced the new corn product to the public. After a trial period where Cretors gave away samples of his new popcorn product, people began to line up to purchase bags of the hot, buttered popcorn. The smell of hot buttered corn being popped in its seasoning right before the buyers' eyes was enough to attract attention and ultimately sales. Cretors applied for a patent on his automated popcorn popper machine, which was granted in 1893.
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