History of Cotton Candy

I have not had cotton candy in a long time.  I haven't even been anywhere that sells cotton candy in a long time.


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The candy is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes—by which the sugar rapidly cools and re-solidifies into fine strands.[2] It is often sold at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and festivals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_candy

The last time I was where it was sold it was served on a paper cone or a stick.

Several places claim the origin of cotton candy to a form of spun sugar found in Europe in the 19th century. At that time, spun sugar was an expensive, labor-intensive endeavor and was not generally available to the average person.[7] Others suggest versions of spun sugar originated in Italy as early as the 15th century

Machine-spun cotton candy was invented in 1897 by dentist William Morrison and confectioner John C. Wharton, and first introduced to a wide audience at the 1904 World's Fair as "Fairy Floss"[9] with great success, selling 68,655 boxes at 25¢ (equivalent to $7.2 in 2020) per box.[citation needed] On September 6, 1905, Albert D. Robinson of Lynn, Massachusetts submitted his patent for an Electric Candy-Spinning Machine. The patent was for a combination of an electronic starter, motor-driven rotatable bowl, that maintained heating efficiently. By May 1907 he transferred the rights to the General Electric Company of New York. His patent still remains today as the basic cotton candy machine.

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This is in honor of today being National Cotton Candy Day

That's interesting history. I used to work for a company that taught after-school science lessons to elementary kids. We were hired once to do some hands-on demos for a mega church's Vacation Bible School, and I was in charge of the cotton candy machine. I was supposed to teach the kids how the sugar was melted and spun, and some history would have been a great addition of o had known any. It was my first experience with making cotton candy, and I had a bit of a mess! It was fun, though. My station was one of the favorites of the kids since they each got their own unbalanced cone of cotton candy.

Nikki, thanks for sharing your experience.

That job sounds like one I could have enjoyed, the one teaching science lessons and I probably would have gotten a kick out of learning how to make cotton candy and giving it out to the kids.

This put a smile on my face!

A dentist invented it?  Kinda suspicious...

Mike, I thought that was funny and yes, suspicious!

Here's what happens when you give cotton candy to a raccoon....   :-)