The History of Kettle Corn Kettle Corn was first introduced in the early 1700's.  Pioneers would end a day rendering lard from hogs by using the lard to pop corn in their large cast iron kettles.  They would add to the corn whatever confections they had on hand, such as molasses, honey, and cane.  The corn was then cooked over a wood fire and scooped out by hand.  While the tradition may have been long and forgotten, Gary Mann reintroduced Kettle Corn in 1984 at Mule Days in northern Missouri, where he still used a wood fire and physically picked up the kettle to dump the corn. As one tale told "Kettle Corn" has a German origin.  Supposedly, two hundred years ago German immigrant farmers on the Plains featured lightly sweetened and lightly salted popcorn as the grand finale to their fall festivals.  At the end of the day, they would use a little lard and their large open cast iron kettles to pop wonderful, unique popcorn over wood or coal fires.  As far as we can tell, this method pretty much disappeared until about 10 years ago when a Midwestern farmer remembered how his grandparents used to pop this wonderful popcorn.  About to lose his farm to the local bank, he revived the Kettle Corn tradition at local events.