Popcorn and movie theaters are inseparable today. But a century ago, cinemas actually banned the beloved treat for being cheap and messy. As Mackenzie Martin reports, a Kansas City widow named Julia Braden became one of the first popcorn vendors to talk her way inside the lobby, and built a concession empire in the middle of the Great Depression.

This episode of A People's History of Kansas City was reported, produced, and mixed by Mackenzie Martin, with editing by Gabe Rosenberg and Suzanne Hogan. 

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