BJ McClellan laughs while pointing at an old box of American Pop Corn Company's Biff Bang Pop Corn. McClellan and her sister Beth Boettcher created a coated gourmet popcorn called Jolly Time Koated Kernels.
Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal
BJ McClellan, left, and her mother, Robbie Rohlena, show off some of the products available at the Koated Kernels retail shop and Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum, 1717 Terminal Drive, in Sioux City.
Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal
A display of Jolly Time historic items and Koated Kernels gourmet popcorn fill the shelves at the new Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum.
Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal
A vintage Jolly Time Pop Corn box is shown at the Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum.
Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal
The Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum, opened in 2016 within Jolly Time's Koated Kernels Shoppe, celebrates the history of the company's popping success. The store, at 1717 Terminal Drive, is loaded with varieties of popcorn by the American Pop Corn Company, the manufacturer of Jolly Time.Â
SIOUX CITY | In June, the Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum opened within Jolly Time's Koated Kernels Shoppe, celebrating the history of the company's popping success.
The store, at 1717 Terminal Drive, is loaded with varieties of popcorn by the American Pop Corn Company, the manufacturer of Jolly Time. Jolly Time was founded by Robbie Rohlena's great-grandfather Cloid Smith in 1914. The museum serves as a way to remember the history of the company's local influence.
"When it comes to popcorn, nothing beats Jolly Time," Rohlena said.
Complete with big-screen TVs showing production videos, in addition to displays of vintage packaging, the popcorn museum will pay tribute to both Jolly Time as well as the city it calls home.
"Jolly Time isn't just a part of my family's history," Rohlena said. "It's also a part of Sioux City's history."
If Rohlena's daughter, BJ McClellan, has her way, Jolly Time will continue to be a part of the community's future.
About five years ago, McClellan and her sister, Beth Boettcher, created a coated gourmet popcorn called Jolly Time Koated Kernels.
"We started selling it at the (Sioux City) Farmers Market and other events," McClellan said. "It became so popular that we needed our own retail space."
The Koated Kernels Shoppe officially opened for business in August 2014.
Since then, McClellan has been experimenting with unique recipes such as key lime pie-, birthday cake-, and cinnamon roll-flavored popcorn.
"You can do a lot with popcorn," McClellan said. "We're still testing the boundaries."
Even though Rohlena enjoys sampling many of her daughters' experimental popcorn, she said the most popular Koated Kernels continues to be its classic caramel version.
"The Koated Kernels Caramel uses freshly popped popcorn and still contains my family's original recipe," she said. "It really withstands the test of time."
That's also true for Jolly Time, McClellan said.
"There's been so many innovations in the popcorn business over the past 100 years," she said. "I'm proud to be a part of the fifth generation of my family to be involved in Jolly Time."
On a summer day, the smell of flowers wafts from hanging baskets outside of a quaint coffee shop on the edge of town. Binki, a long-haired bla…
BJ McClellan laughs while pointing at an old box of American Pop Corn Company's Biff Bang Pop Corn. McClellan and her sister Beth Boettcher created a coated gourmet popcorn called Jolly Time Koated Kernels.
BJ McClellan, left, and her mother, Robbie Rohlena, show off some of the products available at the Koated Kernels retail shop and Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum, 1717 Terminal Drive, in Sioux City.
The Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum, opened in 2016 within Jolly Time's Koated Kernels Shoppe, celebrates the history of the company's popping success. The store, at 1717 Terminal Drive, is loaded with varieties of popcorn by the American Pop Corn Company, the manufacturer of Jolly Time.Â
