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George Crum

Features
21 October, 2007

The potato chip (aka crisps) was invented in 1853 by George Crum. The son of an African-American father and a Native American mother, Crum was a  chef at the Moon Lake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs, New York, USA.

French fries were popular at the restaurant and one day a diner complained that the fries were too thick. Although Crum made a thinner batch, the customer was still unsatisfied. Crum finally made fries that were too thin to eat with a fork, hoping to annoy the extremely fussy customer. The customer, surprisingly enough, was happy – and potato chips were invented!

Years later, Crum opened his own restaurant that had a basket of potato chips on every table. Though Crum never attempted to patent his invention, the snack was eventually mass-produced and sold in bags.




George Crum died on 22 July 1914.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Tom Furness

    20 April, 2016 at 11:39 am

    this guy is a living legend

    Reply

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