Our History

The path to the present began by our Grandfather Joe Kitchen. Joe purchased his first wagon, a 1913 C. Cretors and Company Popcorn Wagon, from a vendor selling popcorn at the 1933 St. Louis County Fair, in Hibbing, Minnesota. As a result of the Great Depression Joe found himself among the ranks of the unemployed. In order to make some money he had taken work as a ticket taker for the Fair and watched the man in the popcorn wagon with a steady stream of customers.

Joe Kitchen

Joe put his Popcorn Wagon on the corner of Howard and 3rd Avenue in Hibbing, Minnesota, where he conducted business until his passing in 1976. He named his new enterprise "Doc Kitchen's Kitchenette" which was later shortened to include the entire Kitchen Family as "Kitchen's Kitchenette."

Joe quickly involved his entire family in the operation of his new enterprise, his daughters Marjorie and Mildred (known as Millie) were given the responsibility of running the wagon after school, on weekends and during the summer months. Eventually Marjorie moved into other areas of responsibility and Millie took over as the person in charge of working the wagon when Joe wasn't available to. As Marjorie and Millie grew older, Joe's other children Shirley, Robert and John were all given specific jobs and responsibilities for running the wagon.

Millie & Willy McWhirter

In 1980, Millie and her husband Willy brought one of Joe's wagons to Northern Virginia where they carefully restored it to an almost like new condition. Millie and Willy spent many happy, productive years operating the popcorn wagon at several local craft shows and other special events.

Meanwhile, Marjorie and her husband Andy continued to operate the other remaining wagon at parades and special events in and around Hibbing. Eventually the Iron World Discovery Center in Chisholm, Minnesota (a large community fairground), contracted with them to operate Joe's wagon exclusively at Iron World.

Today, Joe's grandchildren and great-grandchildren are carrying on the family business. Using Joe's time honored and finely crafted recipes for caramel corn and caramel apples, we are proud to bring you the best and the freshest caramel corn and caramel available.


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