William morrison cotton candy

Cotton candy is undoubtedly a fairground favourite, adored by sweet-toothed circus goers and theme park revellers around the globe.

Cotton candy buy Publication types Biography Historical Article Portrait. As the demand for this whimsical treat grew, so did the need for more efficient production methods. The artisanal cotton candy movement has also gained momentum, with small-batch producers experimenting with natural flavors, organic ingredients, and unique color combinations. Their legacy lives on in the smiles of countless fairgoers, the sticky fingers of children, and the nostalgic memories of generations.

But who first came up with the ingenious idea of turning sugar into a luminous, sticky cloud?

Well, people have been eating spun sugar for centuries, melting and shaping it into strands and nests not entirely dissimilar to cotton candy. But it wasn’t until William J. Morrison and John C. Wharton created the first ‘fairy floss’ machine in that the sweet treat became available to the masses.

The unlikely duo, comprising a dentist and sweetmaker, patented a device that could throw out strands of sugar quicker and easier than ever before.

Within a few decades, cotton candy was beloved the world over.

Here’s the history of cotton candy.

The origins of spun sugar

Long before machine-made cotton candy came along, there was spun sugar. Back in 15th-century Italy, for example, chefs are known to have melted huge pans of sugar and then spun it using a method involving a fork to flick strands of it over a broom handle.

This process created crunchy twigs and nests of sugar not too dissimilar to the cotton candy we eat today.

Given the cost of sugar in early modern Europe, spun sugar was by no means a popular treat: it was a reserve of royals and the ultra-rich.

William morrison inventor cotton candy biography books Publication types Biography Historical Article Portrait. Its affordability and ease of production made it a profitable venture for concessionaires, contributing to the growth of the broader confectionery industry. As the sugar strands are spun around the drum, they are stretched and aerated, creating a fluffy, lightweight texture. The speed at which the sugar strands cool determines the size of the crystals that form, with faster cooling resulting in smaller, more delicate crystals.

Henry III of France was no doubt aware of this fact when, on a trip to Venice, he was presented with a platter of more than 1, different items of spun sugar.

Cotton candy also bears a resemblance to other sweet treats from around the globe.

For example, ‘dragon’s beard candy’, which is essentially sugar vermicelli, has been eaten in China for centuries. There are also similar dishes, such as the Turkish dish pişmaniye.

Yet these precursors to modern cotton candy possess slight differences – in shape, texture and ingredients – to the fairground favourite.

They’re also more laborious to produce than machine-made cotton candy.

What was cotton candy originally called?

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Was cotton candy invented by accident

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And that’s where William J. Morrison comes into the story.

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William Morrison

Morrison graduated as a dentist in Tennessee in , but rather than steering clear of sugar, given his profession, he started exploring ways to make spun sugar in a short space of time.

After some investigating, Morrison enlisted the help of a Tennessee confectioner, John C.

Wharton, to make a prototype cotton candy machine.

In , the unlikely duo of dentist and sweetmaker completed their first, functioning cotton candy machine. It worked by melting sugar crystals in a central bowl, forcing the liquid sugar through a wire screen using compressed air and then spinning the rapidly cooling strands of liquid sugar into a nest using a rotating drum.

Morrison and Wharton patented their machine shortly after.

The ‘fairy floss’ craze

With their cotton candy machine designed and patented, all Morrison and Wharton needed was to build up a customer base.

Cotton candy mm2 Rebecca Gibb has written a fascinating research paper on the riots that tore through the region of Champagne just before the First World War as the small wine growers rose up against the power of the big Champagne brands. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata All stub articles. The global popularity of cotton candy is a testament to its universal appeal and the ingenuity of its creators. William J.

They found it in , at the St. Louis World’s Fair.

The duo sold their product, which they named ‘fairy floss’, to the exposition’s throngs of visitors at 25 cents per box. It was a roaring success, and they ultimately sold more than 60, portions. So began the start of the ‘fair floss’ craze in America.

Decades later, in , Gold Metal Products Co.

developed a new cotton candy machine that could pump out the fluffy clouds even faster than Morrison and Wharton’s model.

A global treat

Somewhere along the way, ‘fairy floss’ became popularly known as ‘cotton candy’ in America, but Australians still tend to call it ‘fairy floss’. Britain and New Zealand, meanwhile, meet halfway and generally use the term ‘candy floss’.

Other nations have been more creative with their terminology.

Cotton candy arthur nery lyrics The success of cotton candy at the St. Today, the cotton candy industry continues to evolve, with new innovations and artisanal producers pushing the boundaries of what is possible with spun sugar. William J. The speed at which the sugar strands cool determines the size of the crystals that form, with faster cooling resulting in smaller, more delicate crystals.

Like ‘candy floss’, the Afrikaans word for the treat, spookasem, is fairly fantastical and essentially translates to ‘ghost breath’. But the French name for cotton candy, la barbe à papa, is decidedly less magical, translating to ‘dad’s beard’.

Ultimately, the many different names for cotton candy used around the world are just a testament to the food’s global popularity.

Before Morrison and Wharton’s invention, spun sugar was a reserve of the wealthy and a time-consuming treat to make.

But their ingenious device made cotton candy a staple of funfairs, theme parks and circuses the world over.

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