From Small Places Come Big Ideas.
The story of Popcorn, Indiana began when Warren Struhl and Richard Demb, seeking
inspiration for a gourmet popcorn business they wanted to start, traveled
to meet Dale Humphrey in Mr. Humphrey's hometown of, yes, Popcorn,
Indiana, a tiny farming community just 20 miles southwest of
Bloomington. A fourth-generation Popcorn, Indiana resident and a
passionate popcorn lover, Dale took Mr. Struhl & Mr. Demb on a brief tour,
introducing them to the lush, rolling terrain of Lawrence County,
driving down such lanes as Popcorn Road and Popcorn Church Road (which
leads, not surprisingly, to Popcorn Christian Church), before returning
to Mr. Humphrey's farm.
As the three men sat in the living room, Warren & Richard learned that
according to local legend, Popcorn, Indiana's name actually stems from an insult.
A family visiting from Vincennes, a town located on Indiana's border
with Illinois, boasted of the corn they grew while deriding their host
area's crop as "popcorn." Fiercely proud of the corn they grew, the
town took the insult as a compliment and quickly adopted the moniker as
their own. "We used to have a wheat mill, post office and a general
store," Mr. Humphrey told his visitors, "But that was all before I was
born."
Reinvigorated with the image of a town so pure, simple, down to earth,
and so committed to corn, Warren & Richard returned to New York City and
opened their first Popcorn, Indiana store in 2002. Using only premium grade
popcorn, grown specifically for popping, Warren Struhl & Richard Demb began
churning out kettle corn, a colonial recipe for popcorn that combines both sugar
and salt, for a subtly sweet-and-salty taste that has endeared it to many.
Popcorn, Indiana's Authentic Kettle Corn has been joined by additional
flavors, (six in all), which have been inspired by the kitchens of
Dale and Thomas Popcorn.
Unfortunately, in 2007, Dale Humphrey passed away, but his legacy lives on.
The company is now known as Dale and Thomas Popcorn (the Dale should be
obvious; the Thomas comes from Isiah, the former Indiana University
and NBA star, who in 2005
approached the company as a "self-proclaimed, passionate popcorn lover", became
so enamored of our crunchy confections he asked to become an investor), but
it still produces the cheerful red bags of deliciousness that bear the
Popcorn, Indiana name. Every mouthful is rich with the spirit of the farms and
wide-open spaces of Dale Humphrey's hometown, one so proud to grow "popcorn" it
became its name. So take a visit to Popcorn, Indiana, stay a while, and
experience the all-natural ingredients and rich flavor of our lovingly crafted popcorn.
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