January 13, 2005

The origin of potato chips

Johnnie Moore

I’m Johnnie Moore, and I help people work better together

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The origin of potato chips

I’ve just received a delightful gift from my friends at On Your Feet.

A tiny box is wrapped in a strip of paper bearing four stories. Here’s one

One day in 1853, a diner at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York, refused to eat an order of french fries because they were too thick. The chef, George Crum, fried a thinner batch. But the customer also rejected these. Crum decided to teach the diner a lesson. He sliced a potato paper-thin and fried it so heavily that it could not be cut with a fork. But the customer loved them. Soon other customers were asking for potato chips.

(That’s crisps for us limeys, of course) The other tales give the origins of band aid, velcro and tea, in simlar tone and fashion.

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