Patato Chips

Baseball, hot dogs, potato chips, and pop. What can be more American than that? The potato chip is the king of salty, crunchy snacks. Potato chips originated in New England in 1853 at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York. The inventor, a chef named George Crum, was part Native American and part African American and a guide in the Adirondack area. The potato chip was invented when a dinner guest returned his fried potatoes to Chef George Crum because they were not crunchy enough.

After returning the unacceptable fried potatoes twice, the irritated Chef Crum decided to annoy the customer by making the fried potatoes too thin to eat with a fork. The customer was surprisingly satisfied and the potato chip was invented. The invention of potato chips has had a positive impact on our country’s economy, the mechanized technology of potato chip production, and the popularity of chips as a main ingredient of social gatherings. Potatoes are second in consumption only to rice. As thin, salted crisp chips, they are America’s favorite snack.

From the beginning, potato chips made a difference in the economic situation at Moon Lake Lodge in showing an increase of profits as the potato chips, the house specialty, began to appear In 1926 Laura Scudder developed the wax paper bag to preserve the chips, which permitted wider distribution. Sheets of waxed paper were ironed into bags. Chips were then hand packed and the bags were sealed on top with warm irons. This was the invention of the potato chip bag as we know it today and its manufacture has continued.

Both the developments of the mechanical peeler and the wax paper led to the popularity of the chips beyond the northern part of the U. S. , where chips were mainly a restaurant dinner dish for decades. The development of pre-print waxed glassine bags in 1933 further expanded the sale of potato chips. With the increase of different chip manufactures around the country by 1929, the glassine bag provided improved quality of freshness for shipping time and allowed for advertising with company brand identification printed on the bag.

In 1929, production of potato chips dramatically increased due to the invention of the continuous fryer. In the first part of the century, potato chip manufacturing was done in small batches in small kettles. The continuous fryer allowed for a greater scale of production and eliminated most of the kettle cooker companies. Potato chip manufacturing has provided employment in several areas such as factory production, production and printing of boxes and bags, advertising, and shipping. It has provided profits for stores and vendors who sell snacks at sport games, fairs, and recreational facilities.