• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Odds / Where did potato chips come from and How did George Crumb invent the potato chip?

Where did potato chips come from and How did George Crumb invent the potato chip?

June 29, 2020 by Karen Hill

Potato chips were originally called Saratoga chips after the site of their discovery.

In the late 19th century a Native American named George Crumb worked as chef for Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York, where a fashionable crowd convened to take the waters of the spa.

A persnickety guest reportedly disliked the cut of his French fries one night, and kept sending the oversized potato strips back to the kitchen for a more refined look. Crumb, finally exasperated by the guest’s unreasonable persistence, decided to cut the potatoes just as skinny as he could.

He boiled the slices in fat and presented them to the complaining diner, who was delighted and didn’t think twice about the indecorous crunching and lip smacking and greasy fingers that accompanied their consumption.

From this elegant dining room, the new and scarcely wholesome potatoes traveled throughout the nation, becoming one of the largest-selling snack foods in America.

Related Facts

  • History of Potatoes
  • Will Raw Potato Absorb the Excess If you Put Too Much Salt When Making Soup?
  • Why Are Green Potatoes Poisonous and How Toxic Is Solanine Found In Potato Leaves, Roots, and Fruit?
  • Who Invented Potato Chips?
  • What Is the Real Story of the Invention of the Potato Chip?
  • How Come the Amounts of Fat on Food Labels Don’t Add Up?

Filed Under: Odds

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How and When did Dylan Thomas die?
Next Post: How did Mae West’s secret husband like married life? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy