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The Orville Redenbacher
Official Popcorn
Popper |
Orville's posthumous biography by Len
Sherman |
Tin Box with
Reden-Budders, Movie
Theater Butter Gourmet Popping Corn |
TRIVIA NOTE:
Being a "pop" culture icon, the folksy character of
Orville Redenbacher has appeared in a variety of tribute's to
his popularity. He appeared on the animated cartoon THE SIMPSONS as a member of
a secret Masonic-like club called The Stonecutters on episode
"Homer the Great," and was mentioned in a conversation between
Homer Simpson and his family on episode "Homer Goes to College":
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Homer Simpson tells his family
about his 3 new friends. |
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Homer: |
We played
Dungeons & Dragons for three hours! Then I was slain by an
elf. |
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Bart: |
Listen to
yourself, man: you're hangin' with nerds. |
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Homer: |
You take that
back! |
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Marge: |
Homer, please!
These boys sound very nice, but they're clearly nerds. |
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Homer: |
Really? But
nerds are my mortal enemy! |
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Lisa: |
Dad, nerds are
nothing to fear. In fact, they've done some pretty
memorable things. Some nerds of note include...popcorn
magnate Orville Redenbacher, rock star David Byrne,
and supreme court justice David Souter. |
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Homer: |
[gasp] Oh, not
Souter! Oh, no! |
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-- Episode
"Homer Goes to College" |
One Internet site created an animated
short called "Orville
Redenbacher's Last Commercial." In this morbid but funny
cartoon, Orville is presumed to be senile, When he is given stage
directions to "eat a handful of popcorn,"
Orville goes crazy and "eats the hand" of a stage
crew member. The film ends with the director of the spot
shooting a volley of bullets into Orville. Outside the studio, the
gunshots were thought to be Orville just popping his corn.
Orville Redenbacher also
mingled with TV character greats like the millionaire Howell
couple - Thurston (Jim Backus) and his wife, Lovey (Natalie Schafer) from the cult hit GILLIGAN'S
ISLAND.
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Orville: |
Hello. I'm
Orville Redenbacher. Do these millionaires know about the
delicious, economic snack.... |
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Mr. Howell: |
Caviar?
Truffles? |
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Mrs. Howell: |
Oh no darling,
this is gourmet popping corn. |
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Orville: |
Right! It pops
bigger and fluffier than regular popcorn. Most every
kernel pops. And you can pop all of this [multiple bowls
of popped popcorn on table[ for about the
same price as two bags of chips. |
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Mr. Howell: |
Call my
broker! We'll corner the market! |
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Orville: |
Pop my Gourmet
Popping Corn tonight. It's the best. Or my name isn't Orville... |
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Mrs. Howell: |
Hello. Corner
Market? |
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Orville: |
...Redenbacher |
A competitor to
Orville Redenbacher's product was "Explod-O-Pop®", a microwave
popcorn (the world's first all-natural atomic popping corn) featured on
the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.
Initially the popcorn was imaginary, but after repeated
references on the show, the popcorn was sold through the
CBS Store for five dollars a box. Explod-O-Pop® was first
mentioned on April 1, 2002.
During one of
Dave's calls to Stephanie Birkitt, he asked her to choose her
favorite brand of popcorn. He offered her a selection of four
brands which included Jolly Time®, Orville Redenbacher's®, Newman's Own®
or Explod-O-Pop®. Dave expected her to pick the CBS product but Stephanie chose Orville Redenbacher's® because
she thought Explod-O-Pop® sounded too scary.
A final note: A
USA Today report in 2005 based on the American
Chemical Society's BioMacromolecules journal
reported that researchers at Redenbacher's alma mater
Purdue University in Indiana revealed the mystery of "Why do
some popcorn kernels pop while others don't?"
"Food scientist Agung Tandjung, a
native of Indonesia and newcomer to the entire popcorn
concept, found that something surprising happens when heat is
applied to the outer bran layer of the kernel, called the pericarp. (For non-biologist readers, that's the yellow bit
that gets caught between your teeth.)
In the few seconds before the
cellulose matrix that makes up the pericarp is destroyed by
the popping kernel, it actually reorders itself and gets
stronger. A pericarp strengthened by a better crystalline
structure makes for a fully popped corn kernel, the
researchers found....A strong pericarp is the key to
popability." (The average popping temperature for popcorn is
around 175°C )
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