Cotton candy is a magical and sugary food that people of all ages enjoy. What few people realize is that this spun sugar isn’t a 20th century or even a 19th-century invention, but it’s something that can trace its roots all the way back to the 15th century. It’s no wonder so many people enjoy this special treat, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that this tasty treat has its own holiday. A holiday called National Cotton Candy Day and falls on December 7th every year. 

The History Of Cotton Candy

Cotton candy is a spun-sugar treat that was first enjoyed by Italian socialites during the 1400s. While this was the first instance of cotton candy, it didn’t take the same form as the cotton candy of today. Instead, sugar was melted and then drizzled on different objects to create a special treat that could only be enjoyed by the wealthy. 

It wouldn’t be until the 19th century that cotton candy would assume the form that would be familiar to most of us today. In 1897, William Morrison and John C. Wharton applied for a patent for the first electric sugar spinning machine. This new invention was then debuted first at the Paris Exposition in 1900 and then later, at the Saint Louis World’s Fair in 1904. This product was named “Fairy Floss” and each person who wanted it was charged a quarter a box—a pretty hefty sum for that time. In fact, if you were to adjust this price for inflation, those 25-cent boxes of cotton candy would be approximately $7 U.S dollars today.

Fortunately, for the two men who created cotton candy, people weren’t deterred by the hefty price of it. Over a six month period, over 68,000 boxes of cotton candy were sold—earning the pair approximately $17,000. In today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation, that’s over $471,000.

Through most of its modern history, cotton candy machines were unreliable and very noisy, but that changed during WWII when Gold Medal released their own cotton candy machine—a machine that was equipped with a spring base that reduced the noise level of the cotton candy making process. The cotton candy machine would be improved again during the 1970s. This is when an automatic cotton candy machine was made. This machine not only could make cotton candy automatically but could also back it as well. 

How To Celebrate National Cotton Candy Day

Celebrating National Cotton Candy Day is easy. All a person has to do is to enjoy this treat. Cotton candy is widely available nowadays, so no one should have any problem picking this product up and enjoying it themselves or giving it to their children. And anyone who plans on celebrating this day can also use the hashtag #NationalCottonCandyDay to let friends and family know of this marvelous holiday.