The story of Orville Redenbacher and Tony Hulman, who in 1945 purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, goes back to 1900 when Anton Hulman, Tony’s father, married Grace Smith. The Smith family had a coal mining operation based in Terre Haute, Indiana. The mining operation expanded in 1924 south of Princeton, Indiana. Wanting to expand the Princeton operation, Smith and Hulman purchased 12,000 acres of Indiana farmland including the mineral rights. This farm, operated under the trade style of Princeton Farms, became the largest farm in Indiana. They also had farming operations outside of Homestead, Florida.

Orville Redenbacher grew up in Indiana and by age 12 he was bagging and selling popcorn on the cob in 50-pound bags. He went to Purdue University, the nation’s premier research university for popcorn. After college, Redenbacher became the county agent for Vigo County (Terre Haute’s county). There he had a five-minute radio program on farm news and crop reports.

Redenbacher was hired to run Princeton Farms in 1940 for $4,500 annually plus 10% of the farm’s profits. He was one of the first Indiana farmers to plant hybrid dent corn which is fed to livestock. In his second year at Princeton Farms, Redenbacher planted hybrid corn developed by Purdue University scientists. Initially this corn was sold to processors for seed corn throughout the United States. Most of the corn produced at Princeton Farms was sold to J. A. McCarty Seed Company of Evansville, Indiana, one of the largest seed processors in the United States.

In the 1930s, the best popcorn was sold to movie theaters. Lower grades of popcorn were sold for home consumption as the consumer was very price sensitive. Going against conventional wisdom, Princeton Farms packaged their best popcorn for home consumption and sold it through grocery stores beginning in 1944. Hulman & Co., a grocery wholesaler owned by Tony Hulman, was undoubtedly helpful in getting the popcorn into grocery stores.

In 1946, Redenbacher developed a hybrid popcorn. It was a superior product because it could be harvested and dried on the cob rather than the kernels being separated from the cob by the combine.

Redenbacher left Princeton Farms, which had expanded to 18,000 acres, at the end of 1951 when he and Charles Bowman purchased the George F. Chester & Son Seed Company in Valparaiso, Indiana. Under their management, the company became the largest hybrid seed corn and soybean producer in the United States. In 1959, they hired Carl Hartman to improve the seed corn. By 1965, Hartman had produced a superior popcorn which was fluffier and lighter than others on the market. It also had a higher pop rate.  Redenbacher and Bowman marketed this under the Redbow brand, a combination of their names. Unfortunately, it did not gain much market acceptance as it was higher priced than the competition.  By 1970, Bowman and Redenbacher decided to stop selling Redbow to popcorn processors. Instead, they decided to market their own brand directly to consumers, which became Orville Redenbacher premium popcorn.