Re: Here is an interesting question.
Where Was the Potato Chip Invented? - It is important to keep in mind that frying potatoes was a normal part of American cooking by the middle 1850s when the potato chip first appears. The "History of the French Fry" [
http://www.select-ware.com/fries/docs/history.html ] credits Thomas Jefferson with bringing the idea from France in the "late 1700s." From the descriptions of what George Crum did with the sliced potatoes, they must have been sliced across the narrow axis of the potato and fried. They were also eaten with a fork at that time. So it is certain that restaurants all over the country were serving fried potatoes but only at the Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, NY, did a chef slice them thin enough that they became something different.<br /><br />When you consider how simple the idea of a potato chip is, the a possibility of independent invention arises. There is good evidence that something very much like a potato chip was common enough in England to be included in a cookbook. In 1854 in Soyer's Shilling Cookery, was a recipe for fried potatoes that required them to be cut very thin, fried in about two inches of fat and manipulated with a skimmer to keep them from sticking together (in Walton 1992, 24)<br /><br />While it appears that Saratoga Springs is the place of origin, a history of the community (Brandon 1901) made no mention of the invention. Neither did another light history of famous watering places (Barrett 1941). This is not uncommon with items of popular culture like the potato chip and does not mean that it did not happen in 1853 in Saratoga Springs.<br /><br />
When Was It Invented? - The summer of 1853 is clearly the approximate time period. One completely undocumented source I found on the web boldly states it was Aug. 24, 1853 (D.T. 1997) but no one else seems to be so certain. 1853 is the year, however, but you will occasionally see a mixed up date of 1835.<br /><br />
Who Invented Potato Chips- Most writers agree that the inventor was a cook named George Crum. A local Saratoga Springs historian, however, says that it may have been his sister, Kate Wicks (Fitzgerald , quoted in Crowe 2006) For many brief tellings that is all you find out about the man. But other sources mention his racial background, e.g. "Crum was part Indian, part black, a former guide in the Adirondacks, and in his own way a rather colorful figure in this area" (Gribb 1975). Other times only his Indian heritage is mentioned (Snack Food Association 1987; Barrett 1941). He is occasionally mentioned in histories of significant African-American figures but not as often in collections dealing with native Americans. There appears little doubt that he actually existed, was a cook at Moon's Lake House on Saratoga Lake and later purchased his own restaurant on the lake.
