Cotton candy (also known as candy floss) was invented in 1897 and made popular at the St Louis World Fair in Missouri, USA in 1904. It's now a popular treat the world over.
YOU probably do not talk to anyone about your teeth as much as you do with your dentist. Floss more, brush often, consume less sugar - we have heard it all.
But is it true that cotton candy - which is a spun sugar confection, often with some flavouring and colouring for added appeal - was invented by a dentist?
Verdict:
TRUE
William Morrison, a dentist from Nashville, Tennessee in the US, teamed up with a candy maker John C. Wharton in 1897 to create cotton candy.
They designed an electric machine to make this and at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, in Missouri USA.
Morrison and Wharton sold over 68,000 portions of cotton candy (then marketed as "fairy floss") at the fair.
The term "cotton candy" was only adopted in the 1920s by Josef Lascaux, another dentist...who happily sold cotton candy to his patients.
As a side note, cotton candy is an American term for the treat. In the UK, India, South Africa and Pakistan, it's called candy floss.
The Australians and New Zealanders, however, have kept its original name, fairy floss.
References:
1. https://www.spunparadise.com/blog/the-history-of-cotton-candy
2. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/the-sticky-sweet-history-of-cotton-candy
3. https://grammarist.com/words/cotton-candy-or-cotton-floss-or-fairy-floss/
