Jiffy Pop
Jiffy Pop is a popcorn brand of ConAgra Foods. The product combines un-popped popcorn kernels and oil with an aluminum pan and folded aluminum foil lid. As the pan is heated, the popping corn causes the foil to unfold and puff up. "Jiffy" in the name references the short cooking time.
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[edit] History
Frederick C. Mennen of LaPorte, Indiana, a chemist, inventor and industrialist[1], is credited with developing the product in 1958. Mennen began marketing Jiffy Pop in 1959[2]. American Home Products purchased Jiffy Pop from Mennen that same year, and within one year the product had reached the national U.S. market.[original research?]
Jiffy Pop was based on a similar product designed five years before by Benjamin Coleman of Berkley, Michigan, and marketed by the Taylor-Reed Corporation as E-Z Pop.[3] In the early 1960s, Taylor-Reed sued Mennen Food Products for patent infringement. The district court ruled for the plaintiff, finding Jiffy Pop and E-Z equivalent products, but the case was overturned on appeal.[4]
In the early 1970s, magician Harry Blackstone, Jr., appeared on several TV commercials for Jiffy Pop, emphasizing the corn's "magical" appearance from its aluminum foil lid after popping.[original research?]
American Home Products spun off its food division, and renamed it International Home Foods, in 1996. In 2000, ConAgra purchased International Home Foods.
[edit] References
- ^ "Obituaries: Frederick C. Mennen; Industrialist, 62". New York Times. March 22, 1991. http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/22/obituaries/frederick-c-mennen-industrialist-62.html. Retrieved June 26, 2011.
- ^ http://www.conagrafoods.com/consumer/brands/getBrand.do?page=jiffy_pop ConAgra Jiffy Pop: Fact Sheet
- ^ Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America, by Andrew F. Smith, 1999.
- ^ The TAYLOR-REED CORPORATION v.MENNEN FOOD PRODUCTS, INC., American Home Products Corporation, and Frederick C. Mennen
[edit] Further reading
- Andrew F. Smith (1999). Popped Culture: A Social History of Popcorn in America. University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 1-57003-300-5.
- Adeena Sussman (2006). Just Heat It and Eat It!: Convenience Foods of the '40s-'60s. Collectors Press. ISBN 1-933112-19-0.
- Carolyn Wyman (2004). Better Than Homemade: Amazing Food That Changed the Way We Eat. Quirk Books. ISBN 1-931686-42-4.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
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