Architect of an industry

There are few men who have contributed more to an industry than Harvey F. Noss, Sr. did to ours.

For nearly 40 years, he devoted virtually every breathing moment to potato chips and the people who produce them.

His Singular devotion to potato chips, his flair for promotion and salesmanship and his ability to get the job done surely helped the potato chip industry reach the lofty billion-dollar plus plateau it occupies now.

But Harvey F. Noss, Sr., was much more than a man consumed with selling a product. He was a friend --a friend to the big and little people of our industry. He was a man who took the time to lend a helping hand and a word of encouragement when the going got rough. Many of our members prosper today because they were touched by his hand.

He had a slogan which served him well: "Never fear when Harvey is near."

Harvey is gone now. But his spirit and dedication live on. And as we move ahead with the work of PCII in the future, the memory of Harvey F. Noss will ever be near.

Lawrence E. Burch
Executive Vice President

Taken From Article In "Chipper Magazine", May 1974

Louis Noss & Family - His wife, 3 sons, grandchildren. All 3 sons (men in back row) were WWII fighter pilots.

Harvey Noss developed a document entitled the "32 Reasons Why Potato Chips Are An Essential Food" in response to war rationing of ingredients essential to making potato chips. The creation compiling of this document is pictured above. It was instrumental in the government not making potato chips a rationale food and helped keep the snack food industry going strong during the war.

The same Building as it appears today in Cleveland Ohio, photos taken July 2015 by Alan Richer

Personal letter from Herman Lay (Lay’s Potato Chips) to Donald Noss.
- Courtesy of the Noss Family

Letter from James McCarthy, President & CEO of The Snack Food Association, announcing the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the potato chip at their annual Spring Summit.

Top: Don Noss (right) posing with Mike Rice (left) and portrait of Harvey Noss at the Snack Food Association HQ circa 1975
Bottom: Don Noss posing with a cut out of President George Bush

Various group shots of the Noss family members along with important industry celebrities, i.e. Herman Lay and family.

Assorted photos from The National Potato Chip Association Semin - Annual Conference. All from The Sherman Hotel In Chicago Ill. Images cover multiple years and show the association that Harvey Noss was instrumental in building.

JAN. 1952 German Hotel, Chicago

1961 Annual Meeting, Americana Hotel

Club Photos, Greenbrier Hotel September, 1956

Article from January 1997 Snack World Magazine, celebrating 60 years of the association & Harvey Noss’s tole in creating it.

3 Industry Leaders, Fred Slick, Milo Wilson (Red Seal Potato Chips), & Harvey Noss

Article from 2004 Snack Food Association Conference featuring Don Noss, Son of founder Harvey Noss

Here is a great list of interesting facts about Harvey F. Noss as compiled by his son Don Noss

Click here or the photo below to view the whole list.

NUM*NUM Bag, awarded for packaging, 1958

Below is a photo of Louis Noss, Harvey Noss’s father and founder of Num Num Potato Chips, along with a brief bio on him.

Please read the following article on Harvey Noss that explains how well regarded he was in the industry!

Click here or the photo below to view the article.

the image below is a great representation of who the major players in the Potato Chip Industry were. These men were all past presidents of the P.C.I.I. Note that Harvey Noss was the first and that other notables who’s companies we still recognize today came after him like William Snyder (Snyder’s of Hanover), Earl Wise (Wise Potato Chips), G.C. Morton (Morton Foods) & Herman Lay (Lay’s Potato Chips) Unquestionably, Harvey Noss was a man that was ahead of his time!

Here is another great article that talks about how Harvey was a great marketing force for the Snack Food Industry!

CHIPPER CONFERENCE 1970 PARADISE ISLAND RESORT