Popcorn saved movie theaters from bankruptcy during the Great Depression.

During the Great Depression from 1929 to 1939, movie theaters faced a massive decline in attendance as household budgets tightened. While high-end theaters initially tried to maintain an air of prestige by banning snacks, independent owners began allowing street vendors to sell popcorn in front of their buildings. By 1930, theater owners like Glen W. Dickinson realized they could double their profits by installing their own popcorn machines inside the lobby.Popcorn was an ideal survival food for the industry because the raw kernels were incredibly cheap to purchase in bulk. A five-cent bag of popcorn cost only about one cent to produce, providing a massive profit margin that ticket sales alone could not match. By the mid-1930s, theaters that refused to sell popcorn were significantly more likely to go bankrupt than those that embraced the snack.The popularity of popcorn was further cemented during World War II when sugar rations made traditional candy scarce. According to the Popcorn Board, by 1945, nearly half of all popcorn consumed in the United States was eaten in movie theaters. This economic shift permanently changed the business model of cinema, making concessions the primary source of revenue for modern theater chains like AMC and Regal.