Image by Werner Weisser from Pixabay
Have you ever wondered how some of our favorite foods came to be? Like, for instance the potato chip. It's one of America's favorite snacks, but how did we get potato chips?
Apparently, it started with a problem. Or rather, a complaint.
George Crum was a chef at MoonLake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs, New York in 1853. According to legend, French fries were a popular item on the menu. Except one customer complained that the fries were too thick. Crum, who was a little cantankerous about such things, responded by cutting the potatoes extremely thin and frying them.
The reaction was unexpected. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lemelson website, "The guest loved the crisps. In fact, other guests began asking for them as well, and soon Crum's 'Saratoga Chips' became one of lodge's most popular treats."
But how did they get from being served in restaurants to the "snack in a bag" so many of us enjoy?
While most would have guessed the credit goes to Herman Lay (of Lay's potato chip fame) the credit actually goes to a lady named Laura Scudder. Back in the 1920s, potato chips were often sold in barrels or glass cases. That meant the shelf life of the chips wasn't that long. Scudder was an entrepreneur living in California at the time and asked her employees at the potato chip business to iron wax paper into the shape of a bag, add the chips and seal the bags with the warm iron. It helped keep the chips crisper and revolutionized the industry.