front row (l) to (r): Rachel, Will, Becky, Susan, Henry, Walt the dog, Erik. back row: Mike, Ken, Madeline, Jolly, Roberta, Philip

Madly Pop'n was opened in 1984 by Jolly & Madeline Brown. Madly Pop'n is located in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, IL, home of Ernest Hemingway and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

A local restaurateur and entrepreneur named Frank Pope developed all of our popcorn recipes (Frank's parents started the world famous Antoinette Pope Cooking School in Chicago in the 1940's.) Frank taught Jolly & Madeline everything they needed to know about selling quality popcorn.

The Browns' three daughters Rebecca, Rachel & Roberta (and their husbands) -- have all worked at Madly Pop'n on and off since the beginning. In April 2000, Jolly and Madeline retired and Erik and Susan Claesson joined the Madly Pop'n family. Erik is Jolly and Madeline’s nephew, so Madly Pop'n continues to be a family-owned and operated business.

Erik handles the day-to-day operations of Madly Pop'n and Susan helps out when she can. But she keeps pretty busy herself managing their household. Talk about Madly Pop'n….Susan's juggling the schedules of their four children - Henry, Hayden and twins Emily and Sarah! When Erik isn't at the store, he's usually taking care of projects in his fixer-upper house which they bought in 2003.

Rachel handled the marketing and web site for Madly Pop'n for several years, but after the birth of Ben in 2003 and Nick in 2005, she decided to take some time off and spend it playing with the boys. She's having a blast, but we miss her!