Partoftheenjoymentofgoingtoaballgameorfairisgettingtoindulgeinconcessionfood.Gooey,cheesy,meaty,sickeninglysweetconcessionfood.Thesearethefoodsyouknowaren’tgoodforyou,butthey’rejusttoogoodtopassup.Andsinceyouonlygettohavethemduringspecial,concessionstand-relatedeventsitprobablywon’tdotoomuchdamagetoyourgastrointestinalsystem.I’malwayscuriousaboutwherefoodsoriginatedsoIdecidedtolookupsomeinformationaboutthemostpopularconcessionfoodselections.Inmysearch,Ialsocameacrosssomenewandinterestingoptionsthatyoumaysoonseeataconcessionstandnearyou.Thehistoryofconcessionfooddatesbacktothe1400s.That’swhenGermansbeganmakingwhat’snowknownasthehotdog.Thistastymeattreatisastapleofbaseballconcessionstands.Theyaresopopulartodaymanyparkshavespecialhotdogdayswhenfanscangetfranksinbunsforadiscount.Cottoncandywasalsoinventedinthe1400sinItaly,butbackthenitwascreatedbyhand.Finally,in1897,twoTennesseecandymakersinventedamachinethatcouldspinoutlargequantitiesofwhattheycalled“fairyfloss.”MostAmericansdidn’tgettheirfirsttasteofcottoncandyuntilthe1904World’sFairwhenthefairyflossmachinemadeitsdebut.Themovietheaterisanotherplaceyou’llfindconcessionstandfood.TheNationalAssociationofTheaterOwnersestimatesthatmovietheaterownersmake40%oftheirmoneybysellingsnacksforfilmloverstomunchonduringtheshow.ButfoodhistorianAndrewF.Smithnotesthatpopcornwaspopularlongbeforemovieswereimagined.Itbecameaneasysellforindependentvendorswhentheatersbeganopeningin1905.Theaterownersdidn’tstartsellingtheirownconcessionstandfooduntilthe1930s.Popcornwasoneofthebigsalesbecauseitwascheap(anditsmellsreallygood).Candycounterswereconstructedandincludedafewhigh-endoptionslikehandmadebonbons.TheyweresoldalongsidemassproducedcandiessuchasMilkDudsandJujubes.Itwouldn’tbeaconcessionfoodpostwithoutmentioningCrackerJacks.Bothsaltyandsweet,CrackerJackswerecreatedwiththeintentionofgivingpopcornaninterestingtwist.In1893,thecreators,FrederickandLouisRueckheim,mixedpopcornwithmolassesandpeanuts.Theycameupwithasuper-secretsolutiontomakesureeverythingdidn’tglobtogether.Thetreatgotitsnameafteranearlytasterexclaimeditwas“crackerjack.”That’soldschoolslangforawesome.CrackerJacksbecamesopopularitgotamentionintheclassicsong“TakeMeOuttotheBallgame.”
