Candy Floss: History, Culture, and Modern Appeal

Karen Scheepers
May 5
6 min read

When it comes to sweet treats, few things spark as much joy and nostalgia as candy floss. Also known as cotton candy (in the United States) or fairy floss (in Australia), this airy confection has been delighting children and adults around the world for over a century. In this report, we explore the global history of candy floss, its cultural evolution with a focus on South Africa, the sensory and psychological appeal that draws people to it, its enduring role as a beloved treat at events, and some modern-day uses in marketing and experiential contexts.

Global History and Origin of Candy Floss

Early Spun Sugar:

The concept of candy floss has roots in early confectionery. Long before modern machines, skilled confectioners in 18th-century Europe were making spun sugar treats by hand candyflossevents.com. They would melt sugar into a syrup and use forks or tools to pull it into fine threads, creating web-like sugar sculptures. Because this process was labor-intensive and sugar was expensive, these delicate confections were a luxury enjoyed only by the elite. (In Renaissance Italy, for example, chefs would drape spun sugar over broom handles to cool, but only the wealthy could afford such treats gmpopcorn.com.) These early efforts set the stage for what would become candy floss.

Invention of the Cotton Candy Machine:

The candy floss we know today took shape in the late 19th century. In 1897, William Morrison, a dentist with a sweet vision, teamed up with John C. Wharton, a confectioner, to revolutionize how spun sugar was made gmpopcorn.com. They didn’t invent spun sugar itself, cooks had made sugar strands for centuries, but they invented the first electric candy floss machine, which automated the process crazyandco.uk. Their device heated sugar and used centrifugal force to spin it through tiny holes, forming thin, floss-like strands. By mechanizing what was once a tedious hand craft, Morrison and Wharton made it possible to produce candy floss quickly and in large quantities.

World’s Fair Debut (1904):

It took a few years to bring this invention to the public, but in 1904 the duo introduced their “fairy floss” at the St. Louis World’s Fair (also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) gmpopcorn.com. The reception was phenomenal. Visitors were captivated by the novelty of eating sweet “cotton” from a box, and during the fair’s seven-month run Morrison and Wharton sold over 68,000 boxes of the treat at 25 cents each.

This was quite expensive for the time (equivalent to around $6–$7 today), yet people happily paid for the experience. the pair grossed over $17,000, which is about $410,000 in today’s dollars. The success of fairy floss at the World’s Fair introduced the treat to a wide audience and cemented its popularity. Soon after, the inventors commercialized their product by selling machines to other vendors and even advertising “electric candy” in newspapers spunparadise.com.

Names Around the World:

As the sugary invention spread internationally, different countries coined their own names. In the United States, the name “cotton candy” was adopted in the 1920s, reportedly popularized by another dentist, Josef Lascaux, who thought the fluffy confection resembled Louisiana cotton and wanted to differentiate it from “fairy floss” spunparadise.com. In the United Kingdom (and many Commonwealth countries like South Africa), it retained the name “candy floss,” emphasizing the flossy texture of the sugar threads crazyandco.uk. Australians (and some others) charmingly call it “fairy floss,” harking back to the original moniker.

Many languages use playful imagery: the French call it barbe à papa (“daddy’s beard”), the Dutch suikerspin (“sugar spider”), and in Persian it’s pashmak (likening it to soft wool). Notably, in South Africa the Afrikaans language gave it the poetic name “spookasem,” which literally means “ghost’s breath”, a nod to its wispy, ethereal quality cottoncandyvending.com. These whimsical names illustrate how universally enchanting this treat became in different cultures.

Evolution of the Treat:

After its debut, cotton candy quickly became a fixture at fairs and carnivals across America and beyond. To meet demand, the technology also evolved. By 1949, the Gold Medal company introduced the first commercially produced cotton candy machine, improving reliability and ease of use gmpopcorn.com. This mid-century innovation meant vendors everywhere could obtain machines and spin out treats on the spot. Further refinements came in the following decades, for instance, an automatic cotton candy machine was patented in 1972, streamlining production even more.

The basics of the machine have remained similar to Morrison and Wharton’s design, but modern machines are more efficient and even portable. Today, cotton candy makers come in all sizes, from industrial models to countertop home units. One of the more recent innovations is the advent of automatic cotton candy vending machines: these let customers watch a machine spin sugar into floss at the push of a button, even allowing choices of color or flavor for an interactive treat experience cottoncandyvending.com. Through all these changes, the essence of candy floss, spun sugar and air, remains the same, a testament to the simple magic of the original idea spunparadise.com.

Cultural Evolution of Candy Floss in South Africa

After its rise in the early 20th century, candy floss became a beloved treat in many countries, and South Africa was no exception. Owing to British influence (and shared trends with Europe), South Africans became familiar with “candy floss” as the English term. Meanwhile, the Afrikaans term “spookasem” gained popular usage, vividly describing the candy as “ghost’s breath” for its light, disappearing wisps cottoncandyvending.com. This local name indicates how firmly the treat embedded itself in South African culture: it wasn’t just an imported novelty, but something people named in their own imaginative way.

By the mid-20th century, candy floss had become a staple of South African fairs, festivals, and family outings, much as it was elsewhere. It was commonly found at traveling carnivals, school fêtes, church bazaars, and holiday markets across the country. For instance, older generations fondly recall how no outing to the zoo or a day at the seaside was complete without a bag of pink candy floss in hand.

Even company-sponsored community events featured it, one anecdote from a mining town in the 1950s recounts that at the annual Christmas party for miners’ children, “there were lucky packets and there was spookasem [candy floss] and it was all there, you just went”. In other words, candy floss was an expected part of the fun, as natural as cake or balloons at a celebration. Such memories show that South Africans embraced candy floss as a symbol of festivity and childhood delight, just as people did in the U.S. or Europe.

In terms of how it’s consumed or sold in South Africa, the tradition has long mirrored global practices. At funfairs and amusement parks, vendors spin fresh candy floss in open-air stalls, twirling the sugary webs onto sticks or into plastic bags. The sight of a big spinning drum and the sweet smell of caramelized sugar often draws a queue of excited children (and adults). Street vendors might sell pre-packaged candy floss in clear bags at local sports matches or beachfront promenades, bright pink puffs visible through the plastic, calling out to passersby.

Over time, entrepreneurial twists have appeared too. For example, some vendors offer candy floss in different colors or even multiple hues layered in a bag, appealing to the eye as much as the tongue. The treat’s popularity also extended to private events: it’s not uncommon to hire a candy floss machine (with an operator) for a kids’ birthday party or a school fundraiser, bringing that carnival excitement right to one’s backyard. In South Africa’s diverse society, candy floss crosses cultural and language lines , whether you grew up calling it candy floss, spookasem, or simply cotton candy, the experience of enjoying it remains universally joyous.

This enduring presence of candy floss in South Africa’s markets and merriments reflects a larger cultural evolution. What started as a once-a-year novelty at big exhibitions became an everyday treat at local gatherings. Much like milk tart or koeksisters, candy floss earned its small place in the tapestry of South African treats. It is tied to childhood memories at the Johannesburg Zoo, summer nights at the Durban beachfront funfair, and energetic afternoons at the Rand Easter Show. Over generations, the treat has been woven into the fabric of celebratory occasions, a sugary thread connecting people across ages.

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