For many years, consumers made popcorn the old-fashioned way...either on the stovetop or in an electric corn popper dedicated to that purpose. The increasing popularity of the microwave oven in the early '80s, however, paved the way for an entirely new popping method and accompanying products. In 1983, several major companies began offering microwavable popcorn varieties, but perhaps none was as well-known as Orville Redenbacher's brand, made by Hunt-Wesson Foods.
Orville Redenbacher was a familiar face to anyone following pop culture in the 1980s, thanks to his regular appearance in TV commercials and print ads. He had been a popcorn grower and businessman since the 1950s, and had done promotional work on behalf of his company's brand in the past, but it was the microwave popcorn advertising campaigns that made him an icon, much like Colonel Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
My family didn't own a microwave until about 1986, so I can't vouch for the quality of microwave popcorn in its earliest days, but I can say that the Orville Redenbacher brand has generally been very good. Today, it is available in all sorts of varieties as opposed to just the Natural and Butter flavors that were available in 1983-84. But there's something to be said for the basics.
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