ANECDOTAL NEWS (Pre Sept 2020)
Current Events!
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Read My Interview From
The Daily Gazette
from November 9th, 2022.
Click here!
Read My November From
518 Profiles Magazine
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Please watch all of my videos from
The Saratoga County History Center
Click Here Or The Photo To Visit The Page!
Saratoga County man
considered top
potato chip historian
Mark Mulholland WNYT
Updated: August 1, 2022 - 6:40 PM
Published: July 29, 2022 - 4:44 PM
Please click below to watch my latest interview!
Listen to my interview with
WGY Mornings with Doug Goudie
regarding the Saratoga County History Center exhibit.
My latest exhibit at
The Saratoga County History Center
Potato chip exhibit to open Saturday
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 two
Times Union Articles
Please read them 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
Article from Saratoga Today
Featuring, your's truly, The Toga Chip Guy!
Click Here
Watch 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!
Read my feature article in
"Shorelines"
The Saratoga Lake Association News Letter.
Click Here
Listen to my recent interview on iHeart Radio.
Click Here
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!
My recent interview with Julia Dunn on CBS 6.
Click Here
Article About Me In Saratoga Today Entitled
"Who: Alan Richer, The Toga Chip Guy"
April 2nd, It starts on Page 3.
Click here to read!
The History Channel's
"The FoodThat Built America"
that aired on
National Potato Chip Day, March 14.
Featuring the history of Herman Lay
and then rival Fritos!
Click here to watch
British man keeps massive potato chip in display case
Getting Lay'd: Lessons in potato chip diplomacy
In the spirit of all things Chips, do you know what the word "CHIPple" means? The following is from While You Were Working SmartBrief
Tina Fey
CONAN O’BRIEN NEEDS A FRIEND #41 OCTOBER 13, 2019
Vintage Wise Sign Goes for $1,680
On October 26, 2018, this vintage 34"x72" Wise Potato Chip sign went for $1,680 (including the 20% auction house premium) at an auction held at Chupp ASuctions & Reasl Estate LLC in Shipshewawa, IN.
15 Knockoff Foods That Are Doing Hilarious Impressions Of Popular Products
As Dave Navarro once said on a reality TV show about tattoo artists, Taco Bell is a brand that believes in living mas. That’s plainly evident to anyone who’s seen their menu of Doritos tacos, cheesy gordita crunches, and the like over the years. That Live Mas Mentality also applies to the line of branded snacks that bear the company’s name.
That’s even more true now that Taco Bell seems set on launching a line of Cheddar Crisps that put queso front and center. And by that, I mean these things appear to be made entirely out of cheddar cheese. Spotted by @Candyhunting, Instagram’s busiest snack sleuth, this new ‘Bell offering will be made with 100 percent real cheese and feature “bold seasonings,” according to the packaging. They’ll be available in a spicy “Fire! Sauce” flavor and “(Mild)”, which is for cowards.
The story of the invention of the potato chip can be summed up by this famous quote from the movie "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" staring the legendary actor and American hero, James Stewart:
Salt
Thyme
Sage
Garlic
A number of herbs and spices are mentioned in the Bible, but none as iconic as salt. It’s mentioned in relation to the sea, food, as a metaphor, and perhaps most prominently in the story of Lot. When fleeing the city of Sodom, Lot’s wife glanced back at the city and was turned into a pillar of salt.
The Best Thin Potato Chip Brand You Can Buy at the Store
A Snack-Holding Pool Float Now Exists, and It's the Best Way to Prevent Soggy Chips and Dip
5 Things to Eat When You’re Craving Potato Chips
Man offered up to $1K for chip shaped like Texas
Doritos lure runaway pig 'the size of a mini horse' home
IDF: Would-be Arab attacker hid knife in Pringles can
Johanna Jones: Battles Katy Perry in Potato Chip Contest! | American Idol 2019
Hungry, lost trucker left cargo full of potato chips
Potato chip robbery by man with machete triggers chase, deputies say
There is a massive Frito-Lay shortage in NYC bodegas
Man who used potato chip bag to skip work for years has been fired
H.W. Lay was a traveling salesman during the Great Depression when he started peddling chips out of the back of his Model A in 1931. It was how he made a living across the Southeast, said Chris Quinn, senior vice president of sales at Frito-Lay. |
Photo: APD
Man asked to leave H-E-B for riding electric carts, assaults officer with potato chips: Police
Affton parent angry after he says 5th grader ate chips with marijuana in them at school
You may have heard the story of how the first potato chip was made, by accident, in Saratoga Springs. Alan Richer knows the other story. In the more widely-told tale dating back to the 1850s, an overdressed and dissatisfied diner at Moon’s Lake House sends back his potatoes — “not once, but twice,” Richer said — for being too thick and soft. Out of spite, the chef, George Speck Crum, takes out his razor to make the potatoes extra thin and deep fries them, thinking they would be inedible, but the customer eats them right up. Richer, a chip historian who lives on Saratoga Lake, said that’s one of a few origin stories, and he knows them all. In another, Crum’s sister, “Aunt Kate” Weeks, accidentally drops a potato into a doughnut fryer. “And when they cut it open, that’s how it got invented,” he said. Richer will share stories like these, along with his entire collection of chip history memorabilia, at the second annual Chip Festival set for Saturday at the Saratoga Springs City Center. The all-day event serves as a fundraiser for the Saratoga Springs Lions Club and will feature a variety of chip samples; a national chip contest judged by Culinary Institute of America dean Brendan Walsh, with winners in 12 categories; and an appearance by the Big Idaho Potato Truck, a traveling six-ton imitation spud. |
Born | 1775 England |
Died | 1827 (aged 51–52) London, England |
Resting place | St Clement Danes |
Nationality | British |
Known for | Cook's Oracle, |
Trump's White House Snack Of Choice Is Hilariously American
Hot off the press: From the February 2017 edition of Bon Appetit magazine interview by David Walters of Comedian Samantha Bee.
Taunton Cheetos arsonist gets jail time for trying to torch ex-girlfriend's house
Woman Turns Potato Chip Theft Into Felony Robbery
What began as a potato chip theft turned into a case of 1st degree robbery Sunday morning.
According to Everett Police probable cause papers, at about 11:30 AM a 40-year-old woman from Snohomish went into the Subway store in the 3700 block of Broadway and grabbed 10 bags of potato chips. The owner of the store chased her outside the door and across the street…..
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Detroit Friends chips makes Oprah’s ‘Favorite Things’
(WXYZ) - Whenever Oprah Winfrey endorses a product, you better believe business will be booming for that company.
It's golden, crunchy and was a best kept secret until now. We are talking about Detroit Friends Potato Chips.
Daytime TV legend Oprah Winfrey announced this year's list of her favorite things and these chips were one of the 104 products she picked.
Michael Wimberley is the founder of Detroit Friends Potato Chip.
"We are so delighted," he said. "It's an honor to be named by such a well known person.”….
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Detroit Friends chips makes Oprah’s Favorite Things
Detroit potato chip maker Michael Wimberley is still in disbelief that Oprah found his Detroit Friends Potato Chips and featured them on her annual “Favorite Things” holiday gift list.
“It’s a miracle,” he says.
The 53-year-old native Detroiter started the chip company at Van Dyke and East Forest seven years ago to help revitalize the Hope District and provide employment opportunities……..
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Co-founder of Tim's Cascade Style Potato Chips retires in Ellensburg
A good potato chip potato is about three-and-a-quarter inches big and has a low sugar content so it doesn’t turn brown when fried, said Jeff Leichleiter, co-founder of Tim’s Cascade Style Potato Chips.
Leichleiter retired from Tim’s July 15, after 30 years working for the company. He and his wife, Ann, live on a sustainable farm in Ellensburg…….
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Potato Chip Scrambled Eggs
Similar to migas, which are made with corn chips and eggs, potato chip scrambled eggs are an easy, last minute way to sneak some potatoes into breakfast. There was a brief, glorious period in my life during which I thought I had invented a delicious breakfast dish that, it turns out, has long existed.
Migas translates from Spanish into "crumbs." In Portuguese the word is migalhas. In both countries, "crumbs" are typically made with day-old bread, and a varying mix of meat, veggies, and seasonings. There's also a Jewish version that combines old matzo with eggs……
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Young NC State entrepreneur a chip off the old block
Josh Monahan, 20, started 1 in 6 Snacks in part to help combat hunger in North Carolina. For each bag sold, he gives five cents to a local food bank.
CARY ——
Becoming an entrepreneur was not a stretch for Josh Monahan, who grew up watching his parents build their own business.
More impressive is the decision to start his company at the age of 20, while still a full-time college student. His company, called 1 in 6 Snacks, has been up and running for three months….
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Richard Bootman Finds Whole Potato In Potato Chip Bag
What came out of Richard Bootman’s potato chip bag is strange, no matter how you slice it.
Actually, it’s weirder because of what wasn’t sliced: a whole uncut and unpeeled potato — no chips.
Bootman, 25, of Mildenhall, UK, found the whole spud Monday morning in a package of Snackrite steak and onion crisps he purchased at an Aldi’s grocery store……
Read the whole article by clicking here!
Life-saving potato chip alerts woman to cancer
by: Cox Media Group National Content Desk Updated: Apr 13, 2016 - 11:33 PM
MARYSVILLE, Wash. - A Marysville, Washington, woman says her love of potato chips led to a discovery that may have saved her life.
Kristine Moore has eaten Ruffles potato chips every day for the past 20 years.
In February, a sharp fragment of a chip poked her tonsil. The next day, she felt like she was coming down with something and went to the doctor.
Read the whole article!
Keeping an invasive potato pest in check
The state's long campaign against a potato-destroying pest is getting a boost from $1.2 million in state aid for a new research center at Cornell University.
The grant will rebuild an aging, World War II-era center that focuses on the battle against the golden nematode, a microscopic, subterranean worm native to South America that has been in parts of Long Island since the 1940s. It is also found in several upstate counties west of the Finger Lakes region.
Visit the full article
Police: 61-year-old man throws potato chips
A Gainesville man ended up in jail after his snack craving turned into a criminal charge.
Gainesville Police arrested James Donald Robertson Jr., 61, on Wednesday morning after they said he attacked someone with a bag of potato chips.
Please read the entire article by clicking here or the photo below
Autopsy: Woman found buried with chips, perfume and a note
FAIRFIELD, Maine (AP) — The autopsy of a Maine woman found dead behind her in-laws’ home shows she was buried along with a bag of potato chips, a bottle of perfume and a note that took “an apologetic tone.”
Please read the entire article by clicking here or the photo below
Swedish brewery makes the world's most expensive potato chip
Looking for a salty snack that will really knock your socks off?
This potato chip may do just that—and leave a gaping hole in your wallet.
Please read the entire article by clicking here or the photo below
World’s spiciest tortilla chip is a world of hurt
Are the type of eater who can consume a whole jalapeno without wincing? Can you chug a bottle of Tabasco? Do you like the idea of a food so spicy you may start to hallucinate?
Please read the entire article by clicking here or the photo below
From the October 26, 2015 NY TIMES, TIMES INSIDER
Read the entire article
The surprising history of potato chips
Today potato chips are the most popular snack food in America and are devoured at a rate of 1.2 billion pounds annually, so it’s hard to believe that the snack food was created completely by accident…….
Please read the entire article by clicking here or the photo below
From September 26, 2016 story by Doug Mehan
My interview by Capital News 9 from The Chip Festival 2016 in Saratoga Springs.
From The New York Times Cooking section, more great exposure for the Saratoga Chip!
Article by Kim Sererson
From the Boston Globe article in which the Toga Chip Guy, Alan Richer, was noted as a source!
Here are some great testimonials from The Chip Festival regarding my exhibit!
Exhibit Shots From The Chiefest 2016
July 23, 2016 |
More shots from The Chip Festival
A great time was had by large crowds at the Chip Festival
From the Saratogian article in which the Toga Chip Guy, Alan Richer, was interviewed prior to the 2016
Chip Festival.
Saratoga Chip Festival Interview 7/5/16
Join Look TV as we sit down with the Toga Chip Guy himself, Alan Richer and Greg Dixon of the Saratoga Springs Lions Club and the chair the of Chip Festival Committee. They’re here to talk about Saratoga’s upcoming first annual Chip Festival.
Click the image below to watch the interview on our site.
CHIP FUN FACTS
You say potato, Hammel says potato chip
Cubs righty follows doctor's orders, strikes out seven to snap skid
Chiefest is a wrap!
Please click any of the links below to read about The Chip Fest 2016!
THE 2016 CHIP FESTIVAL
Save The Date!
The Toga Chip Guy will be at The Chip Festival this July as a Judge as well as with his collection of chip memorabilia!
Also enjoy contests, chip sampling and several vendors from across the country!
Come Visit Saturday, July 16, 2016 at the Saratoga Springs City Center!
Click For More details!
THE 2016 CHIP FESTIVAL
Alan in front of the Idaho Potato Country Truck on its spring visit to Saratoga!
Learn more about Chip Festival 2016!
From the Saratogian article in which the Toga Chip Guy, Alan Richer, was interviewed prior to the 2016
Chip Festival.
Idaho Potato Facts & Tour!
Save The Date!
Come See The Big Idaho Potato Truck at the 2016 Saratoga Chip Festival July 16th!
See A larger photo!
Learn More about the Chip Festival!
NEW YORK CHIPS
New York Potatoes & Storage Keep the Chip Industry Strong!
Growing and storing potatoes in High Tech Facilities, right here in NY, helps keep the Chip industry going!
Click For More details!
NEW YORK CHIPS HIT WEGMANS!
As a follow up to the previous story, NEW YORK CHIPS just launched their fantastic tasting chips in Wegman’s Stores throughout the northeast!
Click For More details!
Marquart Bros. bites into line of New York Chips
“There are just three ingredients in a new crunchy treat made by a Wyoming County farmer.
Potatoes, sea salt and avocado oil.”
Click For More details!
WYOMING COUNTY FREE PRESS
By Julia Farini
It’s a New York kind of chip
“After years of planning and development, and having the foresight to construct an entire building just for the idea, the final product hit local stores Thursday.
New York Chips.”
Click For More details!
CHIP FUN FACTS
CHIP FUN FACTS
EARLY PRAISE FOR THE TOGA CHIP! FROM 1853 IN THE SARATOGA DAILY FORUM.
Potato Chip Facts
TOP 5 Food Accidental Food Inventions! (See # 3 The Potato Chip)
CHIP FUN FACT
Submitted by Gloria
Celebrities Like Their Saratoga Chips!
Potato Chips
Most stories say chef George Crum prepared the first potato chips in 1853 at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. A dissatisfied diner supposedly returned plates of traditionally prepared potatoes ~ thick, fried slices eaten with a knife and fork ~ requesting thinner pieces. Frustrated, Crum sliced potatoes paper-thin, fried them to a crisp, and over-salted the brittle chips. The diner loved the “crunch potato slices” and “Saratoga Chips” became a popular house specialty.
Crum sold packaged Saratoga Chips locally and throughout New England. He opened his own restaurant in 1860 where wealthy businessmen such as William and Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould and Henry Hilton often dined. The restaurant closed in 1890 and Crum died in 1914, but his Saratoga Chips were produced until the 1920s. Saratoga Chips were largely a side dish served in restaurants and at special occasions.
In 1895, homemade potato chips were sold to grocery stores. Independent entrepreneurs across the United States were soon making and selling potato chips. In 1926, Laura Scudder created a moisture-resistant bag for her chips by ironing together pieces of waxed paper. Her “Scuds” stayed fresher longer and became a self-serve item. Brand names and logos were soon printed on the bags.
Potato chips were cooked by hand in small batches until 1929 when the continuous fryer was introduced. The fryer and sealed bag increased production and improved sales. Today there are more than 100 potato chip brands in the United States with some popular New York State companies. Annual supermarket sales for chips reach nearly $3 billion in the United States.
Chipping Potatoes
Not all potatoes make good chips!
Potatoes were mostly considered animal food until large numbers of German and northern European immigrants arrived in North America during the mid-nineteenth century. Central New York and Long Island became important potato growing areas. Today, about half of the potatoes grown in the United States are consumed as “table stock” but more and more potatoes are being processed into French fries and potato chips.
The best potatoes for crisp chips have a high starch content and absorb less oil during cooking. Varieties that yield standard shapes and sizes are also better for commercial production. They fit the automatic peelers and slicers, and are less likely to roll off conveyor belts.
Potatoes are easy to store, but fresh potatoes make the best potato chips. Large manufacturers have potato chip production and distribution facilities all over the country. New York grown potatoes can be found in national and local brands such as Herr, Wise and Terrell’s.
Potato-chip fire doused
April 01, 2013 4:00 pm • By ERIC BETZ Sun Staff Reporter(1) Comments
Firefighters used bolt cutters to get inside a semi-trailer early this morning in an attempt to extinguish a truckload of burning potato chips near Munds Park. No injuries were reported in the incident.
According to officials with the Pinewood Fire Department, a truck driver spotted another truck driver’s rear axle was glowing bright red at about 2:30 a.m. and reached him via CB radio.
The driver pulled off at the nearest exit and tried to put the fire out. Then he disconnected his truck from the trailer. Pinewood firefighters accessed the interior of the trailer and sprayed down the cargo of Trader Joe’s chips before the trailer and load of chips became a complete loss.
MARCH 14
National Potato Chip Day
DIY Microwave Potato Chips
Photo by Andi of Longmeadow Farm
This is How Pringles Potato Chips Are Made!!
Happy National Potato Chip Day!
March 14th, 2015 / by Pee-wee Herman
View how Pringles are made!
March 14, 2016 is
National Potato Chip Day
Today is National Potato Chip Day! Did you know that Americans consume 1.2 billion pounds of potato chips each year? It’s the nation’s favorite snack food!
An Irish chef named George Crum invented potato chips in Saratoga Springs in 1853. One day, a picky customer kept sending his fried potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining that they were too thick and soggy. Crum responded by slicing the potatoes so thin that they couldn’t be eaten with a fork. The customer was so pleased with Crum's crispy creation that they became a regular item on the restaurant's menu!
To celebrate National Potato Chip Day, enjoy some of your favorite potato chips with your lunch or dinner!
Back Story: Potato Chips Were Invented By A Black Man By Accident
According to Enchanted Learning, a site that charts inventions, the potato chip was invented in 1853 by George Crum. Crum was a Native American/African American chef at the Moon Lake Lodge resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. French fries were popular at the restaurant during that time, and one day a diner complained that the fries were too thick. Although Crum made a thinner batch, the customer was still unsatisfied. The chef kept slicing them thinner, then fried them to a crisp, and seasoned them heavily with salt. By then, they were too thin to eat with a fork. Crum expected the fussy customer to dislike them, but the man praised them highly. So the potato chips were invented by accident. The chips became popular and subsequently became known as “Saratoga chips” or “potato crunches.”
Read entire Article
Celebrities Like Their Saratoga Chips!
Picture of Clint Eastwwod when he visited Palisades Park in 1961. Even Clint was found of the famous fries, and I hope he doused them with the malt vinegar.
Potato Chip Fun Facts….. Yep, Even Poems About Chips!
Potato Chip Fun Facts….. A Fun Potato Chip Anecdote!
As seen on NBC.
As heard on one of the Empire Broadcasting Network stations
Origins of Potato Chips and its appeal!
August 25, 2007 by Desh Kapoor
It is amazing how small changes to make things easier creates immensely popular stuff. Potato Chips are one such thing! It might just look like a small thing.. but the world-wide sales of potato chips in 2002 was around USD 30 billion! And you would have thought that a potato chip was that useless snack? Well, it does account for around a THIRD of all Global Snack Food Market share!!
Read the whole article!
Ohio chipper about chips
Ohio is loaded with plants big and small frying up potato chips of many styles, flavors
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
They're salty.
Crunchy.
Fried and kettle-cooked.
They come in various flavors and shapes.
And Americans love them.
Since invented in 1853 by accident, potato chips have become a snack food staple — one with deep and growing roots in Ohio.
Read the whole article by clicking here.
We dig our potatoes: A whole lot of slicing and frying going on
The next time you open a bag of potato chips, before you start crunching and munching, consider that you are holding a piece of Ohio's culinary and economic history in the palm of your hand.
Read the whole article by clicking here.
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