We go to the movies, buy a popcorn, and enjoy the show without even thinking twice about it, but popcorn wasn't always the go to movie snack.

我們不假思索地買了爆米花就進戲院看電影，但爆米花並非一直都是看片必備。

In fact, this little thing was actually banned.

事實上，這小東西還曾經遭到禁止。

So, how did popcorn go from being banned to saving movie theaters?

所以爆米花是怎麼從戲院黑名單晉身成為戲院救星的？

Let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby.

來去大廳，來去大廳。

Popcorn started in South America where people were popping maize over 8,000 years ago.

爆米花源自南美，8000 多年前就有人在爆爆米花了。

Back then though, the popping of it was actually the entertainment itself.

但對古早人來說，樂趣在於看玉米爆開而不是吃爆米花。

It's said that North Americans went to Chile on business, found varieties of the popcorn, thought they were cute, and brought them back to New England in the 1800s.

據說是在 19 世紀，北美人到智利出差，看到各種的玉米覺得很可愛，就帶回到新英格蘭。

Popcorn quite literally popped into the scene and thanks to the creation of the mobile steam powered popcorn maker by Charles Cretors in 1893, you could find the snack almost anywhere.

爆米花真的是突然「爆」到人們的生活中，而多虧於 Charles Cretors 在 1893 年發明的蒸汽爆米花機，到處都看得到爆米花了。

Sporting events, circuses, fairs, but just not at the theaters.

像是運動比賽現場、馬戲團、園遊會，但就是不會出現在戲院。

Theaters wanted nothing to do with the snack since they were focused on keeping a luxurious aesthetic.

戲院可不想和零食沾上邊，因為他們希望能維持戲院的奢華美學。

In April of 1896, the first public projection of a motion picture came using Thomas Edison's Vitascope in New York City.

在 1896 年的四月，電影首次在紐約市透過愛迪生的放映機公開播放。

By 1902, the electric theater was built and became the first permanent structure just for films.

在 1902 年，第一座電影院出現了，而且也是首棟專門為了電影播放而蓋的建築。

The cinema was an experience.

進電影院是為了體驗一種氛圍。

It was an art meant for wealthy, well-educated people and that meant no snacks.

這是一種有一定知識水平的有錢人專屬的藝術饗宴，意味著不會有零食。

This was before Talkies existed.

這時候有聲電影還沒出現。

When literacy was a necessity to be able to read the words on screen.

人們必須要能夠閱讀螢幕上的字句。

The loud crunching and chewing of popcorn would have been a distraction from reading the subtitles.

吃爆米花的卡滋卡滋聲會讓人們分心。

And the theater owners didn't want their beautiful rugs and carpets ruined from the inevitable droppings of snacks into the aisles.

電影院老闆也不希望他們漂亮的地毯被掉在走道的食物用髒。

But in 1927, after the release of "The Jazz Singer," which was the first feature length film with synchronized dialogue, silent films disappeared virtually overnight and the doors opened up for everyone to be able to come and enjoy the experience, whether you could read or not.

但在 1927 年，長篇故事片《爵士歌手》上映了，而且有同步音軌對話，默劇一夕之間消失不見，無論識字與否，人人都能夠進電影院享受看電影了。

Street vendors decided to capitalize on this large amount of people and set up their carts outside of the theaters to sell popcorn.

路邊攤販看準了這群人的荷包，在電影院外面擺攤賣爆米花。

Movie theaters wanted no part of this.

電影院不想和爆米花扯上關係。

Popcorn was officially banned and you would actually have to check the popcorn with your coats at the door.

爆米花正式被禁止，你在入口處就需要把外套連同爆米花交出來。

We were in the middle of the Great Depression and vendors were making a huge profit selling popcorn at five to 10 cents a bag.

我們正處於經濟大恐慌時期，攤販賣爆米花賺翻了，一包買到 5 至 10 分錢。

By the mid 1930s, movie theaters started to go under due to the rough financial climate.

到了 30 年代，由於環境不景氣，電影院接連倒閉。

R.J. McKenna, a general manager of a chain of 66 theaters, was against popcorn but decided to experiment with popcorn sales at his theaters anyways.

R.J. McKenna，一位負責管理 66 間連鎖電影院的總經理，起先非常反對爆米花進戲院，最後還是決定嘗試在戲院賣爆米花。

In 1938, his theaters lost money on admission sales but he made nearly $200,000 on popcorn.

在 1938 年，他的戲院損失了大量入場費收入，但卻靠著賣爆米花賺進 20 萬美金。

That's about $3.5 million today.

換算過來大概等於今日的 350 萬美金。

He cut the admission price from 50 cents to 15 cents just to get people in the door to buy more popcorn.

他於是把入場費從 50 分砍到 15 分錢，就為了吸引人們進門買爆米花。

As popcorn's wealth circulated, theaters realized they needed to sell concessions without the street vendors as the middleman.

隨著爆米花的收益錢滾錢，戲院意識到他們必須開設小賣部，才不會讓街頭攤販當中間人把錢賺走。

The theaters are selling popcorn, candy, and soda.

戲院開賣爆米花、糖果和汽水。

Things are going great until World War II came around and the United States entered a sugar shortage.

一切都很順利，直到二戰開打，美國面臨糖短缺。

Sugar exporters were cut off from America, and we needed to ration the sugar we had.

糖供應國和美國斷交關係，所以人們需要限定糖的用量。

That meant no candy and no soda.

那表示要放棄糖果和汽水。

They needed to rely solely on popcorn for concession sales and by the end of the war, that was it for America.

戲院的小賣部只能單靠賣爆米花，而到了戰爭結束時，大局也已抵定。

Popcorn was the official movie theater snack.

爆米花成了官方的電影院零食。

Over half of popcorn in America was consumed in the theaters.

在美國，超過半數的爆米花都是在電影院被吞下肚。

After all, movie theaters keep almost 100 percent off of concessions and only keep 40 percent of ticket sales.

畢竟，戲院業者經營小賣部幾乎是純賺，電影票則只有賺到其中的 40%。

The movie theaters can't rely on ticket sales to stay afloat.

戲院光靠售票是無法支撐的。

So, they have to raise the prices of concessions to make a profit.

所以他們必須提高小賣部的零食價格才能賺錢。

The cost of popcorn actually saves the movie theater.

爆米花真的是拯救了電影院。

It pays for lights, the sound system, heating and cooling, and if you weren't paying the high amount for concessions, the theaters would charge more for the tickets.

它的收益足以負擔照明、音響系統、暖氣和冷氣的開銷，而若是你沒有在小賣部花大錢，戲院就會提高你的票價。

One thing we can't deny though is when we think of the movies, we think of popcorn and in the end, we have the Great Depression to thank for it.

毋庸置疑的是，當我們想到電影院，就會想到爆米花，到頭來這一切都該感謝經濟大恐慌。

Thank you for watching our video.

感謝你的收看！

Please be sure to like, comment, and subscribe to our channel and turn on the little bell below so you can get notifications whenever we post a new video.

請按讚、留言然後訂閱我們的頻道，開啟提示鈴鐺才能收到我們新影片的通知哦！