by Sarah Parrish

Created on: April 05, 2009

Predecessors of what we know of today as "cotton candy" can be traced back to times as early as the 1400s. The place of origin is disputed; while some say Europe, others have claimed it originated in the Middle East.

The earliest known written recipe for cotton candy as it is commonly known today dates back to 1769 when a recipe book for British housekeepers suggested that people could make cotton candy (also known as "fairy floss," "spun sugar," or "spun web") at home. The recipe suggested melting sugar in water and boiling the mixture until it caramelized, then dipping a clean knife into the syrupy solution and letting the sugar dry as it drips from the knife in a very thin line. The best way to get the sugar to extend into a thin enough line from which you can build a "spun sugar web" is to drop sugar from the knife while making a fast motion with the knife like spinning.

In the late 18th century spun sugar continued its popularity as a table decoration to accompany other candies (referred to as "sweetmeats") at dinner. Many would say housekeeping used to be more of an art than it is today and while the process of making cotton candy by hand was tedious, requiring the maker to stand up on a stool and quickly spin the sugar from on high, it was considered one of the arts a wife or housekeeper should know how to do. Regardless of the tedious work involved in spinning cotton candy, the increase in popularity shows the trouble wasn't too much for the reward.

Industry will drive invention and people love their candy, especially for products that are difficult for people to make but that a machine could do. The cotton candy industry was in full enough swing that in 1897 Morrison and Wharton of Nashville, Tennessee made the first electric cotton candy maker. This electrical machine could spin cotton candy without the work and the mess that comes along with spinning it by hand. The machine was portable, clean, afforded mass production, was new and novel, and made circuses and fairs a lot of money. Needless to say, the electric cotton candy making machine of Morrison and Wharton quickly caught on.

In the 1900s, Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus helped make cotton candy even more popular by selling it to circus-goers. At the circus, the price of cotton candy was high, especially for a confection, but nevertheless, the product made the circus a significant profit.

Today cotton candy isn't used as much at home as a table decoration, but at almost every fair or circus you'll ever attend, you're bound to find racks of cotton candy for sale on paper cones, sometimes pink, sometimes blue, and almost always guaranteed to make a delicious, sticky mess.

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