The term Rust Belt was used to describe the American industrial heartland long before its machinery actually began to rust, with its first recorded usage dating back to 1869. Despite its initial rarity in usage, the term gained popularity following a speech by a presidential candidate in 1984 who remarked that “Reagan’s policies are turning our industrial Midwest into a rust bowl”. The media then adopted this toponym, slightly modifying it to align with the naming convention of the 1969 term Sun Belt (referring to the southern US). Subsequently, Frost Belt was coined as an antonym to Sun Belt, while Bible Belt and Wheat Belt were derived from similar existing terms. Additionally, the region in America with a significant Mormon population came to be known as the Jell-O Belt due to the popularity of the foodstuff in that area.
