The Birth of a Chip

National Potato Chip Day, March 14
  (my birthday)

With all the concerns in our country and the world right now, I thought I'd post an article I wrote back in 1990 to bring a chuckle and a smile. 

I was 41, still young enough to have a little fun. The article was 850 words, so I left out half of it so it wouldn't be too long, but I hope you'll have fun reading what's here. Smile!

"When my husband, Jerry, told me we were going to tour a potato chip factory, a flashback of all the reasons I married him ran through my mind as I clobbered him with a giant hug! Potato chips is my middle name. Jerry never knew what hit him.

"I don't recall when my love affair with potato chips began. I remember coming home after church services each Sunday, heading straight to the kitchen to fill a plate high with chips. They were my favorite snack. Plus, they took care of my growling stomach.

"My Sunday morning feast got me in trouble when I was young. Mom would have dinner on the table an hour later, and my stomach rebelled. I knew the score: "No more chips before dinner." if I complained of being full. There was only one thing to do: obediently eat dinner and suffer silently.

"All through my life, potato chips have been my friends. Diets didn't distract me--everything was off limits but the chips.

"I could scarcely keep still in my seat as Jerry and I made the hour drive to the UTZ factory in Hanover, MD. UTZ delivers chips and other related edibles to my home town in MD, as well as other locations from New Jersey to North Carolina.

 Here's two of my UTZ T-shirts that I enjoyed wearing. And yes, I'm licking the beater filled with chocolate on it!

"When we arrived at the plant, we glanced through some brochures provided by the company. We read about the operation and received a peak at what we'd see on the tour. One of the brochures begin with the history of the first potato chip.

"'The year was 1853. The place was 'Moon's Place,' a popular resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. There, an Indian cook named Aunt Kate accidentally dropped a very thin potato into hot fat. As Aunt Kate fished the crispy morsel from the fat, restaurant owner, George Crum happened by and tasted America's first potato chip . . .' (I checked out the story online and there are similar reports of the history, which say Crum deliberately dropped the thin potato in hot fat because a customer had complained about thick, soggy fried potatoes, but this is what was on the UTZ information we received.)


"The production plant is huge, 500,000 square feet. In an elevated, glass enclosed observation gallery, we listened to recorded messages about the chip production process . . . The most amazing thing I learned was the quickness of going from raw potato to packaged and ready-for-delivery chips. From start to finish is barely 30 minutes.

"There are four steps in making potato chips: potato selection, preparation, frying, and inspection and seasoning. Each process is carefully supervised by trained attendants. It was all Jerry could do to hold me back from taking my place on the production line. Several workers observe all the chips and pick out the dark ones. My hands would be going straight to the perfect ones!

"In one hour, 12,000 lbs. of potato chips are produced. Potato chip heaven!

I had this magnet for my refrigerator door!

"When the tour ended, Jerry and I drove to the outlet store a few blocks away, which is well stocked with all of UTZ's products. I had the pleasure of picking out two potato chip shirts.

"Well satisfied, we drove home thinking about potato chips. 'You know, I've made potato chips before,' Jerry said. 'You have?' I responded surprised. 'I bet we could make ourselves a few chips,' Jerry teased. I filed that adventure away for another day.

"Well, gotta go now. Dinner's about an hour away and old habits never die. It's Chip time!"


 
I sent the article to UTZ to see if they wanted to publish it. They didn't. But they did send me a 3 1/2 gallon can of my favorite chips!!!

I took some pictures but haven't found them. Although I sent the article to several other places, I never did get it published, but I sure had fun writing it!

I still hunger for those potato chips, but they just don't taste as good as they did way back then. Actually, I think it's my taste buds that aren't cooperating anymore. Aging seems to change a lot of things.

I'll always remember those potato chips and my visit to their factory! One of those "best" days!