2. The Accidental Invention of Potato
Chips
In 1853 a New York Chef
named George Crum invented
the potato chip.
He did it accidentally.
Here’s how.....
George Crum
3. In The Restaurant
• A customer complained that his French fries were
too thick and rejected his order.
• George cut a thinner batch, but these were rejected
as well.
• Feeling angry, George chopped another batch so thin
and fried them so crispy that they were too thin to
pick up with a fork.
• The plan backfired and the customer loved them!
• Then all the other customers wanted to try them
too!
4. Early Production Of Potato Chips
• In no time at all potato
chips became really
popular and people
began making them in
their kitchens and selling
them in local stores.
• At that time the potatoes
had to be peeled and
sliced by hand and were
sold in paper bags.
5. The Potato Chip Industry
Three important things
happened in the 1920’s
1. Herman Lay started
packaging potato chips
and selling them out of the
boot of his car.
2. A machine was invented to
cut and peel potatoes, so
no-one had to do it by
hand.
3. In 1926, Laura Scudder
invented a bag using wax
paper so that chips would
be fresher for longer.
6. Herman Lay
• In 1932 Herman Lay
built a potato chip
factory. Lays potato
chips were the first
brand to be sold all
around America.
7. Interesting Facts
• Americans today eat
more potato chips than
any other people in the
world.
• Americans spend over 6
billion dollars on potato
chips a year.
• The American potato
chip industry employs
over 65,000 people.
