Duration: 1st October – 31st October 2020
Number of books: 7
Hosted by: Crazy Challenge Connection
October 2020 Scavenger – National Popcorn Poppin’ Month
Timeframe: 10/1/20 to 10/31/20
5/7
October was officially proclaimed National Popcorn Poppin’ Month in 1999 by then Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. October was chosen because of the popcorn harvest which takes place each fall in the Midwest.
Have you ever wondered who popped it first? Here’s a bit of history about this ‘pop’ular type of maize (corn).
Information gathered from www.popcorn.org
1. The oldest ears of popcorn ever found were discovered in Bat Cave in New Mexico. Ranging from smaller than a penny to about 2 inches, they date back about 4,000 years. Not only that, but kernels of popcorn found in burial grounds in Chile were so well preserved they would still pop even though they were 1,000 years old.
🍿 Read a book with “00” in the total number of pages (tell us how many pages) – or – a book that has been on your TBR the longest (tell us when you added it). – Feels Like Family by Sherryl Woods (400 pp.)
2. Popcorn was integral to early 16th century Aztec Indian ceremonies where young women danced a popcorn dance, with thick tassels of maize placed upon the girls’ heads. It was an important food for the Aztecs who also used it as decoration for ceremonial headdresses, necklaces and ornaments. Writing of Peruvian Indians in 1650, the Spaniard Cobo says, “They toast a certain kind of corn until it bursts. They call it pisancalla, and they use it as a confection.”
🍿 Read a book in which there is some sort of dance scene – or – a book where the first letter of every word in the title is found in PISANCALLA (two-word minimum, all words count). – Bad Boys in Black Tie by Lori Foster, Erin McCarthy & Morgan Leigh (the dance of love, and you know… actual dancing)
3. Although popcorn is typically thought of as a snack food today, it was once a popular breakfast food, eaten just as we eat cereal nowadays–ground with milk or cream. John Harvey Kellogg praised popcorn as being “easily digestible and to the highest degree wholesome, and hence superior to many denatured breakfast foods which are found in the market.”
🍿 Read a book with some sort of breakfast food on the cover–bacon, eggs, cereal, etc. (show us the cover) – or – a book with an author with three names (such as Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Elizabeth Spann Craig, initials don’t count).
4. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, popcorn balls were very popular confections and often given as gifts. Their popularity created an industry of popcorn ball-making gadgets. Victorian families often festooned fireplace mantels, doorways and Christmas trees with ornate decorations made from popcorn balls.
🍿 Read a book with a fireplace, doorway, or Christmas tree on the cover (show us the cover) – or a book with a word in the title containing the double letters “LL.” – The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
5. During the Depression, popcorn at 5 cents a bag was an affordable luxury. While other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived. An Oklahoma banker who went broke bought a popcorn machine and set it up in a small store near a theater. After a couple of years, his popcorn business made enough money to buy back three of the farms he’d lost. Unlike other confections, popcorn sales increased throughout the Depression, mostly because of the introduction of popcorn into movie theaters. One theater owner actually lowered the price of his theater tickets and added a popcorn machine. He soon saw huge profits.
🍿 Read a book with a character who owns his/her own business (tell us who) – or – a book that was inexpensive (library book, gift, thrift store, etc.). – Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood (ARC book)
6. During World War II, sugar was sent overseas for U.S. troops, which meant there wasn’t much sugar left in the United States to make candy. Thanks to this unusual situation, Americans ate three times as much popcorn as usual.
🍿 Read a book whose title starts with a letter in SUGAR (disregard A, An, The) – or – a book that is #3 in a series (tell us the series). – Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh
7. Percy Spencer, at Raytheon Manufacturing Corporation, figured out how to mass-produce magnetrons which were being used to generate microwaves for use in World War II. Looking for post-war applications of this technology, Spencer spurred the development of the microwave oven in 1946. Popcorn was key to many of Spencer’s experiments. Microwave popcorn became available in the marketplace in the early 1980s.
🍿 Read a book with an inventor character (tell us who) – or – a book set in the 1940’s OR the 1980’s (tell us which).
CHALLENGE RULES:
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Earth and Skye 
