Coolest Thing Made in Kansas

By Nancy Swain

When the Kansas Manufacturing Council awarded the Atom Pop Popcorn Popper the 2024 "Coolest Thing Made in Kansas" People's Choice Award, it took the Orth brothers by surprise!

They already knew the poppers are an all-natural way to make popcorn without all of the added ingredients you get in microwave popcorn. But they were blown away by all of the support as fellow popcorn enthusiasts voted for the popcorn poppers among many other cool items manufactured in Kansas. The award was recently received by Loren Orth, co-owner of Quin-Craft who manufactures the poppers in Bushton, Kansas.

Those of us who own and Atom Pop popper know how easy it is to make delicious popcorn in the popper. By just adding a little oil and popcorn to the lightweight aluminum conical-shaped pan, covering with the lid and placing it on a heat source, you get fresh, crispy popcorn with no preheating, no shaking and no stirring. The unique design moves the popped corn to the top as the un-popped kernels slide down the sides to the oil and heat.

When you hear the popping stop in just a few minutes, you lift the lid and the popcorn is ready for salt or any other topping you desire, with no burnt pieces and hardly ever any duds! I use a third of a cup of un-popped corn which makes the lid lift slightly during the final few pops, and makes the most satisfying sound! The only thing that beats the smell of freshly popped popcorn is getting your first taste!

The Orths have been manufacturing the poppers since they purchased the Quin-Craft company and moved it to Bushton, Kansas in 2005. However, the Atom Pop Popcorn Popper made its debut in 1952 when Edwin Lewis and his wife Martha, purchased the design from an electrical engineer named C.B. Curry and began spinning the aluminum pans in their hometown of Quincy, Kansas.

At its height, Quin-Craft employed 17 people and produced more than 20,000 Atom Pop poppers each year. In 1975, the Lewis' daughter, Jane Lewis Ferguson, and her husband Gilbert Ferguson purchased the company and moved it to their hometown of Fredonia, Kansas. Thirty years later, in 2005, the Fergusons were looking for someone who would give the same attention to the quality and continue the history of the product.

Loren and Nilus Orth from Bushton heard about the product and loved popcorn! They kept the name Quin-Craft Products, as well as the name "Atom Pop" popcorn popper. The Fergusons and their aluminum spinner, Jerry Cole, instructed the Orth brothers on the skills of hand spinning. Some of the original equipment came with the then 60-year-old business, while new equipment was purchased to aid in production. But the product is the same, and offers a new generation of popcorn lovers a healthy alternative to microwave popcorn.

*Photo:

The 2024 "Coolest Thing Made in Kansas" award was received by Loren and Nilus Orth, co-owners of Quin-Craft, for their Atom Pop Popcorn popper.

(Photo courtesy of Nancy Swain)