by Denise Calaman

Created on: April 02, 2009   Last Updated: August 07, 2009

Cotton candy, that sticky, sweet treat made from 100% sugar that many of see stuck to so many children's faces seems to be found everywhere; at fairs, carnivals and sporting events or anywhere else people can be found with smiles on their faces. We've all grown up with cotton candy but few people realize just how old this sweet treat really is. Italians first made "spun sugar", as it was first called, at home as early as the 1400's. They melted sugar in a pan and twirled it with a fork until they got strands of sugar. The strands were then placed over an upside down bowl or a cup to dry. Once the spun sugar was dried it was enjoyed by children and adults alike as a dessert.

Other Europeans were quickly turned onto the craze of making spun sugar in their homes and often used colored spun sugar as decoration. Gold and silver spun sugar was formed into elaborate webs used as decoration for Easter. Spun sugar was usually enjoyed by the wealthy. Hundreds of years ago when spun sugar was made my hand it was a lengthy process; the peasant class couldn't afford to devote the time required to make spun sugar, not to mention that sugar was quite expensive and hard to come by.

Spun sugar was enjoyed by Americans much later than Europeans. In 1897 two men, William Morrison and John Wharton made the first spun sugar machine. A bit prehistoric compared to today's cotton candy machines, the machine would melt the sugar and use centrifugal force pushed the melted sugar through a screen, creating strands. The strands were then hand twirled around cardboard. In 1899 Morrison and Wharton obtained a patent for their machine and it 1900 they obtained a patent for the spun sugar candy itself.

It was also in 1900 that the world was introduced to mechanized spun sugar candy during the 1900 Paris Exposition. The candy was introduced to Americans as fairy floss at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. The candy was quite expensive; it sold for 25 cents per box or the price of admission to the fair. As expensive as it was the candy was a success and earned the men over $17,000.

Cotton candy was known as fairy floss throughout North America until the 1920's when it started to be known as cotton candy as it still is known today, however; in most other parts of the world cotton candy is still called fairy floss or candy floss. In 1949 Gold Medal Products introduced a spring loaded cotton candy machine which was a minor improvement over the old machine designed by Morrison and Wharton. But in the 1970's a new and much improved cotton candy machine was introduced to confection makers. The new machine was capable of mass production.

The popularity of cotton candy has grown over the years. The pastel treat that used to come in only blue and pink now is available in a rainbow of colors and it is now sold in candy stores and supermarkets. Cotton candy flavoring is used to flavor candies, gums, ice cream, popsicles and it is also found in the one place you wouldn't expect to find it; in dental fluoride. Cotton candy remains a favorite at circuses, carnivals, sporting events and any other large public gatherings. Throughout the world it is the one sweet treat that we all look forward to whenever we attend large scale events.

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