Cotton confect , in all of its colored , puffy glory , is one of those timeless treatscapable of provoke childhood with one disintegrating bite .
In downy pinkish bushel , it pervades fairgrounds and festival . Held high up above pep up crowds , it bobbles its agency between row at sporting events . In the presence of snarling circus lions , its airy , soft fibers are stuffed , soothingly , into the rima oris of panic-struck tot .
Even in New York ’s Four Seasons Restaurant , where dishes soar upwards above $ 80 , the confection isservedto patron post - meal , at no charge . “ This restaurant is a duomo of solid food , ” says the eatery ’s maître d. “ hoi polloi amount here and they ’re not too comfortable . Giving them cotton candy gives them their puerility back . ”
cotton wool candy is also particularly unexpended : It ’s made up mostly of air and refined sugar , and contains only tracing amounts of flavoring and food coloring . The standard serving , which is turgid than the typical child ’s head , weigh less than one ounce . Odder yet , the modern invention of cotton confect and its machine stems from a lineage of dentists .
cotton plant confect ’s earliest line of descent date back to15th century Italy . Here , in forte bakeries off cobblestone streets , sugar sirup would be boiled in a pan and “ flicked out ” with forks to create decorative , wispy string . Due to the laborious process and the high price of its only ingredient , this “ spun sugar ” was only bring on in lowly quantities , exclusively for the uber - wealthy .
For 300 year , the concoction stick in fashion — but only among elite traffic circle . Ornately - gyrate Easter eggs and “ webs of gold and flatware ” were uncommon delicacies for high society Europeans . Italians were especially skilled at sugar spinning ; as one historiandescribes , Venetians “ moulded it into a fantastic tableau of animals , mythic figures , buildings , snort , and pastoral scene . ” When Henri III of France visited Venice in the late 1500s , he was treat to a notional spread at which 1,286 items — including the tablecloth — were spun of loot . For the medium citizen though , the treat remained wide inaccessible .
Centuries later , in 1897 , a 37 - year - previous dentist from Tennessee decide the sugary good should be enjoyed by everyone .
Born in Nashville in 1860 , James Morrison ’s passion were queerly conflicting . He surpass in odontology school ( by 1894 , he wasnamedPresident of the Tennessee State Dental Association ) , but was also a confection partizan with a preference for culinary advancement . By the mid-1890s , he patented several devices — one which extracted oil colour from cottonseed and convert them to lard , and another which chemically purified Nashville ’s drinking water .
But Morrison ’s biggest breakthrough come up in1897 , when he paired with John C. Wharton , an old brother and fellow confectioner . Together , the two contrive and co - patented what they called the “ electric candy machine . ” utilize motor force , the equipment quickly spun and melted sugar through through minor holes until it was fluffy and nigh 70 % air . They call the new kickshaw “ pouf floss , ” formed the “ Electric Candy Company , ” and spend several years perfecting the outgrowth before debuting it to the public .
Morrison ’s original patent ( 1899 ) .
At the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition ( more popularly know as the1904 World ’s Fair ) , the duo introduce their product , selling it in small wooden boxes for 25 cents each ( about $ 6 today)—nearly half the admission price to the carnival . Despite its mellow price , the confect floss was a smash success . Over 184 days , Morrison and Wharton sold68,655 box , grossing $ 17,163.75 ( $ 438,344 in 2014 dollar sign ) .
The World ’s Fair , which house 35,000 hungry attendant and had antecedently been the cradle of hot cad , peanut butter , glass ointment cones and other legendary treats , honored fairy floss ’s success by holding a special “ confectioner ’s day . ”
“ Perhaps you have seen the mysterious vaudeville man eat fistful of cotton wool on the stage . you could do the same matter with the confect floss that this new Candy Spinning Machine sprain out . It is good to eat and lasts a foresightful prison term , and does n’t cost much money — 5 to 10 cents . ”
While the dental practitioner ’s invention thrived , it proved to be unreliable over meter . As the first of its kind , it was plagued by its rudimentary nature : It rattle , randomly shut off , overheated , and was hard to descale and reproduce . In 1921 , soon after Morrison ’s 17 - class patent expired , another enterprising dentist , Josef Lascaux , took it upon himself to “ reinvent ” the machine , but he never followed through with his patent and his advancements did n’t quite pan out out .
He did , however , strike the term “ cotton confect , ” and betray it to children at his exercise . Over fourth dimension , this new name replaced the onetime one ( though cotton candy is still call “ poof dental floss ” in Australia ) .
It was n’t until 1949 , with the initiation of spring - loaded base , that the cotton wool candy machine received its first solid raise — so substantial that the company responsible for the innovation , Gold Medal Products ( Cincinnati , Ohio ) , construct and sells nearly all cotton wool confect machines in production today . Throughout the 1960s and 1970s , a variety of advancements automated the total process — from spinning to packaging — and expedited the physical process of creation .
Today ’s car are compact , effective , and fast : They contain up to three pounds of sugar at a fourth dimension , spin at rate of up to 3,450 revolution per minute ( rev ) , and can producefour servingsper arcminute . Industrial wares run anywhere from $ 500 to $ 2,000 — not a tough investment , consider the claims onepitchmakes : “ In as lilliputian as two straight feet of floor or counterpunch quad , you may localise this loose - to - employ cash author that will continually bestow in AT LEAST 90 cents profit on every dollar sold ! ” As the factor of cotton candy are thin — air , little amounts of dinero , flavoring and dye — each serving yields almost 100 % profit .
If you ’re a tooth doctor bet to follow in the footsteps of cotton confect entrepreneurs , there ’s another upside to consider : an increase in bodily cavity .
This posthas been republish with permission from writer Zachary Crockett andPriceonomics . For more , you could follow Zachary onTwitter hereorGoogle Plus here .
Everything Is Bullshit , by Priceonomics
This postoriginally appeared on Priceonomics , theauthors of the above record , Everything Is Bullshit .
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