A Guest Blogger, Carbonated Crystals, and the Value of Myth-Busting

Today, Eat Your Veggies! features a Returning Guest Blogger! You may recall that Uncle Lynn told you the first chapter in his Amazing Pop'rs Story last month. Well, he's back to fill you in on more of his extraordinary journey.

Before we get started, though, Lynn wanted me to remind each and every one of you that his Great New Pop'rs Giveaway ends Friday at 11:59 p.m. EST. Click here to enter! Also, the photo above shows Uncle Lynn on our recent OBX Vacation. Seems the poor guy was trying to get back to the beach house, and was cornered by a young hawk. Neither Uncle Lynn nor the hawk knew quite what to make of the situation!

So, sit back, relax, and I'll turn it over to Our Guest Blogger, The Pop'r King. Hope you enjoy Chapter 2!

When I left off telling the Pop'rs Story, I had just found out that the owners of Pop Rocks were in Spain. In this chapter I thought I would fill you in on a little "popping" background; by the way, these are things that I have heard over the years from various people, not due to any historical research I have done–so if I get something wrong, I'm sorry; I am just repeating what I have heard!

Pop Rocks were actually invented in the '50s by a man named Dr. William Mitchell. He died four years ago, much to my regret, because his invention has become a great part of my life. I met his daughter, Cheryl, at a trade show some years ago, and she invited me back to California to meet her father. I will forever regret that I did not find the time to take her up on that offer–always remember, when you have extraordinary opportunities, never get too busy and decide to “do it later”!

Anyway, Dr. Mitchell worked for General Foods (GF–now know as Kraft General Foods) and invented Pop Rocks while he was trying to make an instant carbonated Kool-Aid, but the invention was considered a failure since it only made a "noisy" drink. What I have been told is that the product was a GF curiosity, and Dr. Mitchell would make a batch once a year or so for many, many years and offer the little magic crystals at company summer picnics, much to the delight of all, especially the kids.

Somewhere in this, GF bought a chip company located in Canada. The former owner of that company was touring GF plants, and happened to be at one of Dr. Mitchell’s "popping picnics." Delighted by the crystals, he arranged to get enough packets to use as a premium for his chips in a promotion he ran. Apparently, kids were seen going into stores to buy the chips, and throwing the chips away just to get the little packet of Popping Magic! That was apparently enough for GF to decide to introduce the product, and in the mid-'70s, Pop Rocks were born.

I think we all know about the rumors about the “dangers” of Pop Rocks, all of which are fun to tell and all of which Are Not True. I know–in fact, I inadvertently helped prove this: Several years ago, the popular but crazy Mancow Radio show asked us for samples of our Carbonated Crystals. Thinking this might be a fun opportunity for our little company, we sent him several pounds of a number of flavors. Should have thought that one through better: On the morning of the show, we all got by the radio in our offices in Neenah, WI, and got ready to hear our national introduction. Well…..

Mancow did a nice job of introducing our company, and all seemed to be going well. Then, we listened as he asked one of his assistants to lie down on a desk; then we, in growing fear, listened as spoonfuls of our crystals are poured into this assistant’s mouth–flat on his back. Then came the horrible sound of a Coke can being opened. Flat on your back, with a mouth and throat full of the explosive little crystals, and now a Coke about to be poured on top of that–I thought I was going to listen to the death of my little company on national radio as Mancow killed his assistant!

Well, I am more than pleased to report that there was certainly some sputtering and a lot of laughing, but no death! So, if anyone ever tells you that popping crystals can hurt you, I can tell you Mancow did his darned best, and NOTHING bad happened. There was also a great "MythBusters" show on the Discovery Channel, which showed for all time that there is nothing but fun to be had with Carbonated Crystals.

Anyway, when I pick this up next, I will tell you about my travel to Spain and how I introduced Popping Popsicles and more to the world!

Today's Guest Blogger: "Mr. Pops;" aka, Uncle Lynn!

Uncle Lynn, The Pop’r King, is guesting today on Eat Your Veggies! He wants all Our Bloggy Friends to know how his little ol’ family-run company got started. So here’s Chapter One: What to Do When a Good Idea Pops into Your Head! And Don't Forget to enter this week's Great Pop'rs Giveaway!

Hi there, Blogosphere! I’m Mr. Pops; aka, Uncle Lynn, The Pop’r King. Veggie Mom has asked me to write a bit of The Pop’rs Story, and while it is hard for me to write about me, it may be an interesting story to tell. What I plan to do is publish The Pop’rs Story every once in a while, and if Veggie Mom tells me it’s interesting, I’ll keep on going. Soooooooooo...

It all started at the end of a business trip in 1992. Our family then lived in a very small town in the Southwestern part of Wisconsin. On my way home, I stopped to fill up my car (probably for about $1.25 per gallon!) and noticed a sign advertising Pop Rocks. Remember those? Since I had not yet bought the “Look what I brought home for you!” present for the three kids, this jumped out at me and I was sure the three boys (this was before Soccer Boy came along) would think they were cool–problem solved.

I bought each boy a pack or two, and headed home. I got about a mile away, and that “light bulb” you sometimes hear about went off in my head, and I wondered out loud whether Pop Rocks could be put into Popsicles. I started to giggle a bit thinking about it, and then decided I would go back to the gas station, where I bought every Pop Rock packet they had! Over the next weeks I played around with the idea, and eventually got something that actually worked. This was a little tricky, since water sets Pop Rocks to popping, but when I got it going it made a very interesting experience for my kids and their friends.

I guess I have always been a bit entrepreneurial (I once tried to make a Trivial Pursuit-like game using a school's curriculum as a fun study aid, and pretty much lost all the little bit of money we had at that time trying to figure out how to market these games, but that is another Very. LONG. Story!), so once I had a sample Pop Rocks/Popsicle product that worked, I started doing some research.

If you remember, you couldn’t just Google an answer back then, so it was a bit of a test of my resolve to find a contact at the Pop Rocks company, but eventually I did. Turns out back then Pop Rocks were marketed in North America by a company named Carbonated Candy Ventures, which was managed by a fellow named Raul. I was able to convince Raul to let me come to Pennsylvania with my sample and let him try my idea.

When we met, he was blown away by the POPPING POPSICLE I let him try, and he immediately told me I would have to meet the owners of the company so they could check it out, and see what they might want to do. Thinking I could do this all in the same trip, I was ready to go. But, the owners I needed to meet were located in Barcelona, Spain. Hmmmmmmmmm. It turned out to be quite a long business trip!

Guess this is a good place to end this chapter–but you can see the fledgling idea that formed the basis of the Whole Pop’rs Story. More to come later!

PS: Isn’t Veggie Mom doing a great job over here at Eat Your Veggies? Make sure you enter her latest Great Pop’rs Giveaway, so that you can try some of these fun and good-for-you seasonings yourself!

Thanks for Sharing!

“Mr. Pops;" aka, Uncle Lynn

Let's Get Poppin'!

Mom's running late, Dad's stuck in traffic, and the kids are Home Alone--snuggled up to the Boob Tube and munchin' away. The chips & salsa are the first to evaporate down the gullets of the Wee Ones. Then the ice cream bites the dust. And so on, and so forth. By the time a Parental hits the front hallway, nobody's interested in Family Dinner Time.

We've started this blog because we've had this experience--we've lived this experience over & over, like the re-runs of a bad movie--too many times. And with childhood obesity off the charts & nutrition losing out, too, we thought we'd start a forum for those of you who care if your kid swallows Too Many Donuts in one sitting. Not that donuts are a bad thing, but still...

That age-old admonition, doled out by Moms, Uncles, Grandmas & sometimes even Dear Old Dad on occasion still holds true. If you Eat Your Veggies (and Don't Forget the Fruits!), chances are you'll live longer. Hotshots at places like Harvard report that a modest consumption of 4 1/2 cups of Fruits & Veggies per day will produce a lot of positive outcomes: lower blood pressure; reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, and probably some cancers; lower risk of eye and digestive problems, and a mellowing effect on blood sugar that can help keep appetite in check.

Trouble is, a lot of us don't like to hear about the Crunchy Side of Life. We have deep-seated suspicions about spinach, carrots, rutabagas (rutabagas?), broccoli & tomatoes (they're fruits, ya know). That's where Pop'rs come in.

OK, we have an ulterior motive in this message, but it's a good one that people should know about. Sprinkle some Pop'rs on that salad, & suddenly you're Cookin' With Gas. Pop'rs add great flavor, and fun, to just about any kind of food, from applesauce to broccoli--all the way thru the alphabet, to yogurt and beyond. Just like that exploding candy that you remember from when you were a kid, Pop'rs have an added kick--as the name implies, they go POP! These delightful seasonings come in 1-ounce shaker jars, easy for even very young kids to handle. AND--all Pop'rs contain kid-healthy vitamins.

Who can argue with that? Flavors include cinnamon, chocolate, strawberry (made with real strawberry powder), raspberry (made with real raspberry powder), butter, taco, buffalo & a really cool color change called Color Burst (that one is really good with yogurt).

Over time, we want to tell our Friends in the Blogosphere more about our company, where the idea for Pop'rs started, what people are saying about the product, and more. You can look forward to contests, recipes & even crazy Mr. Wizard-type experiments on video. But mostly, we are hosting this blog as a forum for you, Dear Reader. Do you think Great Auntie Edna gives Junior too much to eat when he visits? Are you tired of Sister feeding her spinach to the dog? We're here to listen to your comments & ideas about life, nutrition, kids and, of course, about our products, including new uses and flavor ideas. Maybe we can become the Ben & Jerry's of the popping seasoning world!

So sit back, relax, and join the fun. Don't be afraid to Eat Your Veggies--Pop'rs are here!