Stacks Image 199788

Please like my Facebook Page
to ensure you receive all current events.

Stacks Image 200595

———————————
Potato chip exhibit to open Saturday

BALLSTON SPA“In the Saratoga Style: Potato Chips and Their Regional Folklore” opens Saturday at Brookside Museum, Saratoga County History Center, 6 Charlton St. The exhibit, which will be on display through Dec. 31, explores the many stories that have claimed to explain the story behind the snack, from disgruntled customers to kitchen mishaps.

The use of the “Saratoga” name to nationally market potato chips is seen through the expansive collection of famed local expert Alan Richer, known as “The Toga Chip Guy.”

The exhibit is open to the public 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For more information,
go to
https://brooksidemuseum.org.


I have recently been featured in twi Times Union Articles
Please read the articles by clicking the links below!

Article 1 - Vanderbilt helped invent the chip in Saratoga?
Likely a salty myth


Article 2 - Toga Chip Guy makes a second showing on History Channel

Stacks Image 200604

Please read the article in Saratoga Today that features, your's truly, The Toga Chip Guy!

Click Here

Stacks Image 200609

Current Events!


Please watch the latest episode of The History Channel's The Food That Built America, "When The Chips Are Down", season 2, episode 3, where I am prominently featured.

Click Here!

Stacks Image 200617

Read my feature article in "Shorelines" The Saratoga Lake Association News Letter.

Click Here

Stacks Image 200622

Listen to my recent interview on Heart Radio.

Click Here

Stacks Image 200627

Stacks Image 200630

Listen To The New History Channel Podcast

After appearing in several episodes of The History Channel's Series "The Food That Built America", I have now been prominently featured in an associated podcast.

Please visit The ACast Site to listen!


Please read my recent interview with Julia Dunn on CBS 6.

Click Here

Stacks Image 200638

Read The Article About Me In Saratoga Today Entitled "Who: Alan Richer, The Toga Chip Guy"

This article was just published today, April 2nd, It starts on Page 3.

Click here to read!


Stacks Image 200646

Stacks Image 200649

Watch the latest episode of the History Channel's "The FoodThat Built America "that aired on Natational Potato Chip Day, March 14. Featuring the history of Herman Lay and then rival Fritos!

Click here to watch








Stacks Image 200674


John Karolefski, author of the blog Grocery Stories at:
 
https://www.grocerystories.com/ 

has written a book about grocery shopping. He had requested a quote from me about about chips -- their place in snack history, their popularity, etc.

I had provided him with a quote that I will disclose once his book is published.

Here is that quote!

"Potato chips are more American than apple pie. Compare the shelf space allotted to potato chips and apple pie in your local grocery store"


Stacks Image 200685


Recent Events

On Novemeber 19th 2019, I spoke to the New York Capital Region Elfuns Club at the Hilton Garden Inn in Clifton Park NY, on the History of the Potato Chip.
The club consists of mostly retired General Electric employees.


Stacks Image 200691

The Toga Chip Guy Is On The Air!

I have been interviewed about the history of the potato chip by a California based radio station, Yesterday USA  Radio Networks,  at 10:30pm New York time on Saturday, September 14th.  
Listen here!

ARTICLES

Welcome to The Chip Nostalgia Article page, chock full of interesting ephemera surrounding The Saratoga Chip and it’s many snack food cousins!

Stacks Image 200027

What popular snack began as repurposed Disneyland trash?


Cheetos

Doritos

Funyuns

Pringles

Answer:

Doritos

A delicious beginning: Not long after Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955, Frito-Lay installed a Mexican restaurant in Frontierland called Casa de Fritos. The menu included tamales, enchiladas, as well as, of course, plentiful Fritos. (There was even an animatronic vending machine featuring the “Frito Kid” to dispense the corn chips.)

One day, a sales representative for Alex Foods—which supplied Casa de Fritos with wholesale ingredients—noticed a pile of stale tortillas in the trash. The rep offered the restaurant a tip: cut up the tortillas and fry them, then sell them as crispy chips instead of throwing them away.

The chips were a big hit, and when the new VP of Frito-Lay, Archibald Clark West, dropped by a year later, he was pleased to see so many customers snacking on what had been a waste product. West contracted with Alex Foods to produce the chips as a snack, naming them Doritos (Spanish for “little golden things”). The chips debuted nationally in 1966.

A munchies mystery? It’s worth noting that some remember the origin story a bit differently. When West died in 2011, some obituaries recounted him first buying tortilla chips at a roadside shack, not Disneyland. Regardless, he was a lifelong fan of the crunchy, spicy snack—so much so that he had Doritos sprinkled into his grave after he died.

Stacks Image 199888
History Of Things: The Origin And Evolution Of Potato Chips Reveals It Was The O.G. Snack Food
Stacks Image 199892
Potato chips are the classic snack, so classic that most other snacks owe something to the potato chip. Everyone loves their Doritos, but Doritos wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for the noble potato chip. Potato chips were the first real snack food as we know it today. Picture the snack aisle at the grocery store. That aisle was built on the potato chip. But that snack aisle didn’t always exist. I know, I know, the world was a dark and terrible place. But the potato chip came around and, dare I say it, saved the world.

Read The Whole Article
Stacks Image 199878
Did You Know: National Potato Chip Day (March 14)
Stacks Image 199882
• In 1853, Chef George Crum sent paper-thin potatoes cooked until they were crisp to a customer in his Saratoga Springs, New York, restaurant who complained his fries were too thin. “Saratoga Chips” quickly became a menu favorite.
• First named “Saratoga chips” in 1835, it later became well-known as “potato chips.”
• When the United States entered World War II, potato chips were declared a “nonessential food” that had to halt production immediately. But manufacturers protested and convinced the War Production Board to back down.

Read The Whole Article

Chip Cartoon - 1956

Stacks Image 199864

Chip Ode - 1956

Stacks Image 199858
Stacks Image 199846
Stacks Image 199848
Stacks Image 199850
Stacks Image 199764
Only People Truly Obsessed With Potato Chips Can Get 9/9 Right On This Quiz
Stacks Image 199768
Stacks Image 199774


“All That and a Bag of Chips”

Stacks Image 199780
The true story behind the extremely ’90s phrase that inspired pickup lines and punch lines.

The year is 1993. A fresh-faced Fresh Prince saunters into an iconic Bel-Air living room holding the hand of an episodic love interest (who just happens to be Kim Fields). He leads her to the couch, takes a seat on the arm, and smoothly declares, “I’ve never said this to a girl before, but oh baby, you all that and a bag of chips.” In the background, cousins Hilary and Carlton watch from the stairs, Hilary mimicking the entire exchange. It’s clearly not the first time they’ve heard him say that phrase, but it’s the first time most of America has. (Myself included.)

Here are a bunch of articles and images from the 2006 German Television Production, Talents & Patents, that explored the history of the Saratoga Chip. You will first find the actual production from German Television.

Chip Nostalgia

Learn More: The root cause of Ireland's Great Famine was the potato crop failure. The devastating hunger that swept the nation between 1845-49 was also known as the Irish Potato Famine, and was caused by late blight, a plant disease that contaminated the roots of the crops. This blight wouldn't have been so disastrous if over half the rural poor hadn’t farmed potatoes; however, the British demand for grain stripped the Irish of corn, wheat, and other cereal crops, and potatoes provided a cheap, calorie-heavy sustenance. Furthermore, the strain of the disease is believed to have been brought from North America and was catalyzed by Ireland's cool, moist summer of 1845. The famine had a tragic effect on Ireland's population, and by 1851, the number of citizens in the country had dropped by nearly 2 million.

Fortunately, this occurred prior to the purported invention of the potato chip in 1853.
00:00
00:00
Stacks Image 199706
Stacks Image 199708
Stacks Image 199714
Stacks Image 199716
Stacks Image 199710
Stacks Image 199682
Stacks Image 199704

Crossword Chips:

The February 25, 2018 New York Times Crossword Puzzle (51 years from the date of my Bar Mitzvah) included two particular clues:
36 Down. Snack Items (11 characters)
36 Across: Snack Items Spelled Using Only the Letters of 36 Down (10 Characters)
E-mail me at TogaChipGuy.com if you know the answers.
The Toga Chip Guy
Stacks Image 199729

Crossword Chips:

Stacks Image 199743

Yes, chips are one of the greatest inventions of the 19th century!

Stacks Image 199724

SAMPLE COLOR PLATE FROM “CRUNCH! The Story of The Great American Potato Chip”

Stacks Image 199628

ANOTHER BOOK SAYING GEORGE CRUM IS THE INVENTOR OF THE CHIP!

Here is the cover and page page from a book entitled “Were Potato Chips Really Invented By An Angry Chef?” by Deborah Kops. Seems pretty convincing!

Stacks Image 172732
Stacks Image 172734

TOGA CHIPS ANNIVERSARY!
FEATURING
SARATOGA SPECIALTIES CHIPS
Chipper Snacker Oct., 1977

Stacks Image 142215

CHIPS FOR DETENTE!
Potato Chipper Feb., 1965

Stacks Image 142235

CHIPS COULD HAVE CHANGED HISTORY!
Potato Chipper Feb., 1965

Stacks Image 142253

ANTIQUE CHIPPER MACHINE
Potato Chipper Nov., 1965

Stacks Image 142291

POTATO CHIP CRUMBS
ALTERNATIVE TO BREAD CRUMBS!
Potato Chipper May, 1959

Stacks Image 142309

MISS POTATO CHIP 1953
WITH THE LARGEST POTATO CHIP
Potato Chipper Feb, 1954

Stacks Image 142345

POTATO CHIP ORIGIN CONFIRMED!
THE SNACK FOOD ASSOCIATION WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN SOLIDIFYING THIS STORY!
Potato Chipper June, 1960

Stacks Image 142363

ENJOY THIS VIDEO FROM THE SNACK FOOD ASSOCIATION ON A CENTURY OF SNACKS!

00:00
00:00

CHIP QUEEN!
SEE & READ ABOUT HER!
Potato Chipper Oct. 1960

Stacks Image 142406
Stacks Image 142408

MRS. KLEIN’S $100,000 PROMOTION
Potato Chipper July 1964

Stacks Image 142430
Stacks Image 142432


"True" Origin of Potato Chip.

From the January 1966 edition of the Potato Chipper. The Potato Chip Institute International which became the Snack Food Association was instrumental in spreading the legend that the potato chip was invented by George Crum in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Potato Chipper May 1964

Stacks Image 142468

GREAT ARTICLE ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CHIP
Potato Chipper May 1963

Stacks Image 142486

Menu From Fred Harvey’s Restaurant,
Hollywood CA

The restaurants interior was decorated with paintings from renowned artists. Also note that Saratoga Chips were on the menu!

Stacks Image 142512
Stacks Image 142514
Stacks Image 142516

Thank You Mrs. Chips
Please take a look at the booklet below that was produced by the National Potato Chip Institute as a companion piece to the movie “Thank You Mr. Chips” The first couple pages are shown below and the entire booklet is available via PDF through this link.

Stacks Image 142556
Stacks Image 142558

Local History Granite State Potato Chip Factory of Salem NH

Fit My Video Tag
Stacks Image 142625
Stacks Image 142643

GREAT ARTICLE ABOUT CHIPS!
Potato Chipper August1967
See the whole article here.

Stacks Image 143589