Who doesn’t love freshly popped popcorn or a warm chewy pretzel? How about the creamy goodness of an ice cream sundae? Americans sure do love their snack foods, yet how many people know the history and origins of these delightful morsels? At Pastime Pinball, we’re all about educating people about classic pastimes! Our pinball machines have their own bios -- so it’s only fair that our snacks get their own write-ups too!

Soft Pretzel: According to legend, an Italian monk created soft pretzels in 610 AD. He baked strips of dough folded into the shape of a child crossing its arms in prayer. Then he handed them out to children as rewards for good behavior. The doughy knots were such a hit that they spread across Europe during the Middle Ages. German immigrants brought them to America in the early 1800s, selling them from pushcarts in New York City and Philadelphia. In keeping with tradition, our soft baked pretzels are hand-crafted in Brooklyn, New York.

Popcorn: Popcorn is one of the oldest snack foods dating back thousands of years! It become a snack time staple in the late 1800s when the first commercial popcorn machine was invented in Chicago. Microwaveable popcorn joined the family one hundred years later. Not surprisingly the US is the world’s biggest producer of popcorn with Americans consuming a whopping 13 billion quarts annually! Our popcorn is grown in the midwest and is non-GMO and certified kosher.

Hotdog: German immigrants brought wieners to New York in the 1860s, but it was a Polish immigrant who made them popular. Nathan Handwerker opened a hotdog stand in 1915 and brought affordable wieners to the masses with his Nathan’s Famous. Ever since then hotdogs have been considered a fun summertime food, with Americans consuming over 20 billion dogs every year! We serve Hebrew National Franks made with premium cuts of 100% kosher beef.

Dixie Cup: Originally Dixie cups were nothing more than paper drinking vessels. They were invented in 1907 to replace communal cups in an effort to stop the spread of disease. In 1923 the company began filling the cups with two flavors of ice cream. The individual servings were an instantaneous success! While not actual Dixie cups, our premium cups come from Vermont’s own Wilcox Ice Cream. In fact, back in the 1920s the Wilcox family made their ice cream right here in Manchester Village!

Ice Cream Sundae: This simple and customizable treat has its origins in upstate New York. On Sunday, April 3, 1892 at Platt & Colt's Fountain in Ithaca, a dish of vanilla ice cream was served with sauce and a cherry on top. It was named "Cherry Sunday" in honor of its creation day. Students at Cornell University who heard about this new invention started ordering it. It wasn't long before word spread beyond the campus and "sundae" joined the American dessert vernacular!

Potato Knish: Created in NYC in the early 1900s, a knish (pronounced kuh-nish) is lightly seasoned mashed potato wrapped in dough, then baked or fried. We serve Gabila's, which has been making "Brooklyn's Original Coney Island Square Knish" since 1921!

Nachos & Cheese: Nachos Especiales, the forerunner of the ooey-gooey nachos we know today, were created in Mexico in 1943. Americans got their first taste of them in 1976 at a Texas Rangers baseball game concession stand in Arlington, Texas. While that “pump-able” cheese sauce is not technically cheese, ours is! We make our all-natural cheese sauce using Vermont cheddar cheese from New England’s own Cabot Creamery. And we serve only organic tortilla chips!

Root Beer Float: Frank J. Wisner, owner of Cripple Creek Brewing in Colorado, supposedly created this refreshing treat in 1893. He was inspired by snowy peaks on Cow Mountain that looked to him like ice cream floating in soda. So he went home, combined root beer and vanilla ice cream and called his concoction a Black Cow. Our root beer floats are made with Boylan's Root Beer from New York and Vermont’s own premium Wilcox ice cream.