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C. Cretors & Co., Chicago, Ill.
The Cretors company were well-known manufacturers of
popcorn machinery who built nine special popcorn wagons powered by 22.5 hp
4-cylinder Buda engines. They had a complete steam plant with a gas-fired
boiler and mill-type steam engine which drove the popcorn popper and peanut
roaster. Of the nine made, one survives in Harrah's Automobile Collection at
Reno, Nevada.
The Popcorn Popper:
Fresh, buttered popcorn has been a good friend of filmgoers for more than a
century now. The machines that heat the kernels and mix the oil, butter and
salt have been popping corn since 1893, when inventor Charles (C.C.) Cretors
first exhibited his steam-driven popcorn wagon at the Chicago World's Fair.
Previously, vendors popped corn by holding a wire basket over an open flame,
until C.C. developed a steam-powered engine that did the job uniformly and
in its own seasonings.
C.C.'s original popper hasn't changed much, except that electricity
replaced the steam engine and the sidewalk hand-driven wagon eventually gave
way to the lobby's steel-framed bins.
What's the secret behind the popper's longevity? "In a word,
dependability," says Charles D. Cretors, president of the Chicago-based C.
Creators & Co. "For four generations, the theater industry has depended on
Cretors equipment to be running when they needed it on Friday evenings."
Built popcorn/peanut wagons 1890-1920
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