The History of Potato Chips

On August 24, 1853 George Crum stumbled upon the invention of the potato chip. One of his customers kept sending the fried potatoes baack with the complaint they were too thick. George fixed that and sliced them so thin they couldn't be eaten with a fork. The potatoes were a hit so George put them on the menu.

At the beginning, potato chips were kept in barrels or tins. The chips kept at the bottom would get stale; so, in 1926, Laura Scudder ironed two pieces of wax paper together.Now, plastic bags are used and nitrogen gas fills the bag to lengthen the shelf life and to prevent breakage of the chips. It wasn't until the 1950's that anyone was able to bag seasoned potato chips. Before that, salt was kept in a packet inside the bag.

Some seasonings sold are; sour cream and onion, barbecue, ranch, cheese, salt and vinegar, dill pickle, ketchup, poutine, bacon, wasabi, curry, Marmarite yeast spread, prawn cocktail, Branston pickle, and paprika. Pringles and Lay's Stax brands are pressed potatoes before they are fried. This way, all chips have the same shape.

Grocery stores first carried potato chips in 1895; although many people planned to do this, William Tappendon gets our thanks for this.