One of the many businesses that emerged in the early years of crisp commercialisation was Blue Star. Blue Star’s story is in many ways typical of the many crisp producers of the time. The family business was founded in 1939, in Madison, Wisconsin. As demand for its crisps grew, the company moved to Rockford, Illinois,Continue reading “Blue Star Potato Chips”
Category Archives: Early history
Some vintage potato crisp tins
For many years, crisp manufacturers packaged their potato crisps in tins. Here are some examples.
Mikesell’s: the original crisp producer
Mikesell’s claims to be the oldest potato chip company in the United States. In 2010, Mikesell’s celebrated 100 years of selling crisps. Original Himalayan Sea Salt & Vinegar No Salt Green Onion Honey Barbecue Barbecue Zesty Barbecue Mesquite Smoked Bacon Cheddar & Sour Cream Good’n Hot Sweet Chili
20 Varieties of Tayto’s… and Tayto’s
The information on this post has been updated. In 1954, Joe ‘Spud’ Murphy founded Tayto Crisps. He created the first flavoured crisp: Cheese & Onion, produced in a factory on Moore Street, Dublin. His technique became widely sought after by crisp manufacturers. Cheese & Onion flavour crisps have been popular ever since, and are consistentlyContinue reading “20 Varieties of Tayto’s… and Tayto’s”
US first: Barbecue flavour crisps
The first flavoured crisps in the United States, barbecue flavour, were being manufactured and sold by 1954. Herr’s and Ley’s both produced crisps with that flavour in the 1950s. It was the only flavour available in the United States other than the conventional salted chip until the introduction of Sour Cream & Onion in theContinue reading “US first: Barbecue flavour crisps”
Salt & Vinegar
By 1934, 200 million packets of crisps were sold in Britain each year, 95 percent of which were manufactured by Smith’s. Smiths was initially slow to join the flavour revolution, but eventually brought out a salt ‘n’ vinegar flavoured crisp, tested first by its Geordie subsidiary Tudor, and launched nationally in 1967. Though they didContinue reading “Salt & Vinegar”
First flavour: Cheese & Onion
The first flavoured crisp was Cheese & Onion. Ireland’s Tayto Company has probably the best claim to being first to launch cheese & onion into the crisp market. Joe “Spud” Murphy, founder of Tayto, set out to add flavour to crisps in 1954, launching cheese & onion soon afterwards. The flavoured crisps were an immediateContinue reading “First flavour: Cheese & Onion”
First commercial crisp: Salt ’n’ Shake
The first company to sell crisps commercially was The Smiths Potato Crisps Company Ltd, founded in Cricklewood, London in 1920 by Frank Smith and Jim Viney. They provided a twist of salt with their crisps, which were sold in London in greaseproof paper bags. Originally branded as Salt ’n’ Shake crisps, plain crisps with optionalContinue reading “First commercial crisp: Salt ’n’ Shake”
The original crisp: homemade ready salted
The first known reference to a food similar to the modern potato chip was in a recipe book, The Cook’s Oracle, by William Kitchiner, published in 1817. The recipe (number 104) is called “Potatoes fried in Slices or Shavings”. Sprinkled with “a very little salt”, they are the first known ready-salted crisps. Kitchiner’s book wasContinue reading “The original crisp: homemade ready salted”
Museum of Crisps 