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© History Oasis / Created via Midjourney
Cotton candy's roots trace back to 15th-century Italy, where Renaissance-era chefs created elaborate spun sugar confections for the wealthy elite.
Cooks melted large sugar pans and used forks to flick strands of the molten sugar over sticks. Creating delicate, crunchy sugar nests in artistic forms.
But these earlier versions of cotton candy were so labor-intensive and expensive that spun sugar remained a delicacy reserved for the ultra-rich.
Cotton candy, as we know, wouldn't be invented centuries later.
Modern cotton candy was invented in 1897 in Nashville, Tennessee, by a partnership between dentist William Morrison and confectioner John C. Wharton.
Morrison graduated from dental school in 1890, but ironically, he became fascinated by its potential and sought to create a device to spin sugar.
Morrison invented a machine that worked by melting sugar crystals in a central bowl, forcing the liquid sugar through a wire screen using compressed air, and spinning the rapidly cooling strands into a nest using a rotating drum.
Morrison and Wharton patented the "electric candy machine" in 1899.
Cotton candy debuted at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair (Louisiana Purchase Exposition), where Morrison and Wharton sold their creations under the name "Fairy Floss."
They sold 68,655 boxes at 25 cents each—about $8.75 in today's currency.
The fair's success established cotton candy as a permanent fixture at carnivals and circuses.
"Fairy Floss" became "Cotton Candy" in 1921 when another dentist, Dr. Joseph Lascaux from New Orleans, Louisiana, invented a similar cotton candy machine.
To avoid being associated with Morrison and Wharton's original "Fairy Floss," Lascaux decided to market his version as "Cotton Candy," inspired by the fluffy cotton grown in Louisiana, where he resided.
Throughout the 1920s, Americans gradually accepted the term, and "Cotton Candy" became the permanent American name.
Cotton candy machines remained unreliable and dangerous until Gold Medal Products Company introduced an innovation in 1949.
After World War II, manufacturers used surplus military motors to power cotton candy machines. Still, these motors caused violent shaking that often destroyed the machines and required them to be bolted to sturdy tables.
J.C. Evans, founder of Gold Medal Products, solved this problem by creating a spring-loaded base system that eliminated the destructive vibrations.
He invented the "1949 Whirlwind Cotton Candy Machine," which used spare parts from Sno-Kone cabinets and war surplus components.
In 1978, the first automated cotton candy machine was introduced for commercial use.
The development began in 1973 with Walter B. Warning's Automatic Cotton Candy Machine design (Patent 3930043, issued 1975), revolutionizing large-scale production.
Modern commercial machines can hold up to 3 pounds of sugar, store multiple flavors, and operate at 3,450 revolutions per minute.
These machines have enabled Tootsie Roll Incorporated to become the leading producer of pre-packaged cotton candy in grocery stores.
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