By Michael Pramik
Posted On: May 22, 2024
Century-old culinary contraptions, classic Cracker Jack toys and a brush with Hollywood fame meld like butter under a circus tent in downtown Marion, thanks to a kernel of popped corn.
The Wyandot Popcorn Museum boasts 45 popcorn and other snack-making machines collected by the late George Brown, the longtime leader of Wyandot Popcorn Co. (it's now called Wyandot Snacks). The museum reflects a simpler era, when popcorn was becoming popular in America and precision craftsmanship produced beautiful machinery.
"Wedding cake" display tells the history of the Brown family and Wyandot Popcorn
The vivid, red-white-and-blue tent, which Brown ordered from a craftsman in Galion, Ohio, lends a festive atmosphere to the display of meticulously restored popcorn machines, nut roasters and affiliated items. They're all contained within Heritage Hall, which also houses an amalgam of local artifacts as the home of the Marion County Historical Society.
Brandi Wilson, executive director of the historical society, says it's the only popcorn machine museum in existence, after the 2022 closure of the Antique Popcorn Museum, in Holland, Ohio.
"This is George's baby," she said. "He spent a lot of time collecting and documenting all of his machines. It's impressive the number of things he amassed and how he detailed everything.
"I'm sure he drove his family nuts."
Whimsical clowns were a design feature on Cretors popcorn machines
The popcorn popper collection, which is owned by a Brown family foundation, includes several Cretors machines from the late 19th century and early 20th century. They bear the name of Charles Cretors, who invented the first commercial popcorn machine in 1885. His steam-powered gizmo stirred the nation's love of the salty snack, which hit a peak during the Great Depression because of its affordability.
The museum includes three Holcomb & Hoke machines from the 1920s topped with lighted globes advertising "Butter-Kist" popcorn. There are several self-serve machines, a simple Olson popper from 1892, and lots of assorted popcorn memorabilia.
Newman in the 1980s to promote Newman's Own Popcorn, made by Wyandot Popcorn
Perhaps the most-notable attraction is a 1909 Dunbar Model 950 horse-drawn wagon that contains a dry popper and a peanut roaster. The late actor Paul Newman owned the wagon in the 1980s to help promote his Newman's Own Popcorn line. The museum says it's the only Model 950 still in existence.
Wilson says Newman, an avid race car driver, was preparing to race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington when Brown approached him about making popcorn for Newman's company. The two hit it off, and for years Wyandot manufactured regular and microwavable popcorn for the Newman's Own brand.
Photos of Newman and Brown's wife of 55 years, Millie, are posted next to the wagon. There's even a note to Millie signed by Newman, who was well-known to refuse autograph requests.
"All of these machines, at the time they were popular, would have been just phenomenal to see," Wilson said. "We take popcorn for granted because of technology, but when you think about being in the 1800s and seeing these on the street, they must have been really cool."
The museum has a display dedicated to Cracker Jack prizes
The Wyandot museum also has examples of popcorn-making supplies and types of corn used to make popcorn. Because the company was a contract manufacturer of Cracker Jack, there's a display of dozens of Cracker Jack toys. It's fun to see how the QR-code "prizes" of today compare to actual toys and jewelry that were included in the boxes decades ago.
A wedding cake-shaped tower in the middle of the room tells the history of the Brown family and Wyandot Popcorn, which also had its own line of products including the Pow-Wow, Munch Mates and Tender Delite brands.
The popcorn museum is but one section of Heritage Hall, which was the city's post office until the historical society acquired it in 1989. The entry-level portion of the building also includes a room dedicated to old telephones, and an atrium where the society displays rotating exhibits.
Wilson said the contents of the Buckeye Telephone Museum mostly came from local retired phone company employees who wanted a visible location to store their pieces. It includes a rotary phone that often amazes children.
The current atrium exhibit has dozens of articles that reflect Marion County history. They include an old-time pharmacy setup, a barber shop and a glass case containing clothing and a black medical bag that once belonged to former Marion County Coroner Dr. B.D. Osborn.
Prince Imperial, a stuffed horse from the late 1800s, stands at attention inside Heritage Hall
Always available to view is Prince Imperial, a huge, stuffed Percheron horse that was one of the first half-dozen of its kind imported into the United States. The story goes that local farmer Jacob Howser traveled to France and acquired the animal, to be used for breeding stock, from the stable of none other than French monarch Napoleon III – the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. The horse was stuffed upon its death in the late 1880s and wound up remaining in Marion.
Collection of memorabilia related to the late President Warren Harding
More local history is on display downstairs. The exhibits include a tribute to Marion County native Warren Harding, the nation's 29th president; a general store; and a room dedicated to Mary Ellen Withrow, who was a local treasurer, the Ohio Treasurer and later the 40th Treasurer of the United States during the Clinton Administration.
The hall is open from 1-4PM Wednesday through Sunday, through October. It's also open by appointment and for selected days in November. One admission price provides access to all of the building's showcases. And visitors can pick up a complementary bag of freshly popped popcorn on their way out.
Wyandot Popcorn Museum visitors always leave with a freshly made box of popcorn
For more museums and things to do, check out #OhioTheHeartofitAll at Ohio.org.
