Yes, one of the people who helped popularize it was Julia Child, I believe starting with her hefty book Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1961. We had that in hardcover in the late 1970s and 80s, heavily used in our kitchen. I used to make its crème caramel, although that didn’t involve parchment paper.

Later her TV show The French Chef apparently also popularized it further - it ran from 1963 to 1973.

But, searching the subject it seems that she helped popularize a technique in 1997 on her later TV show, Baking With Julia, in which you use an upside down pan as a guide to cut a perfect circle of parchment that fits the pan. Perhaps that helps explain more widespread awareness in the 2000s?

Well, I meant globally. Child's book was of course translated to various languages but hard to say what its influence on popularizing parchment paper was other countries. I've no idea if those TV shows were broadcasted outside the US, though DVD releases appear to exist.

Before the 00s, it was coated with a substance called Quilon. Then they switched to silicone.

A chromium solution?!

That got my attention too, but it is trivalent rather than hexavalent chromium. While the latter is both toxic and carcinogenic, the former is largely non-toxic and known to have roles in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S277241662...