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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
Please read the article in Saratoga Today that features, your's truly, The Toga Chip Guy!
Click Here
Current Events!
Listen to my recent interview on Heart Radio.
Click Here
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
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!
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
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"
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.
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!
LAURA SCUDDER’S POTATO CHIPS
Established 1926
Born in Philadelphia, Laura Scudder worked as a nurse before moving to California. While there she became the first female attorney in Ukiah, California before moving south to Monterey Park, California, where she started her food company in 1926.
At first, potato chips were packaged in barrels or tins, which left chips at the bottom stale and crumbled. Laura Scudder started having her workers take home sheets of wax paper to iron into the form of bags, which were filled with chips at her factory the next day. This innovation kept the chips fresh and crisp longer and, along with the invention of cellophane, allowed potato chips to become a mass market product.
Scudder also began putting dates on the bags, becoming the first company to freshness date their food products. This new standard of freshness was reflected in the marketing slogan: "Laura Scudder's Potato Chips, the Noisiest Chips in the World."
Laura Scudder faced many obstacles running her own company during the Great Depression. For instance, when she tried to get insurance for the company's delivery truck, she was denied by all the local male insurance agents, who claimed that a woman would be unreliable at paying the premiums. The female insurance agent who eventually insured the truck went on to insure the entire company fleet.
At one point, Laura Scudder turned down a $9 million offer for the company because the buyer wouldn't guarantee her employees' jobs. In 1957 she finally accepted a $6 million offer from a buyer who guaranteed job security for her workforce. The new company was called Laura Scudder Inc. At the time of the sale the company had expanded into peanut butter and mayonnaise, and Laura Scudder brand potato chips held a greater than 50% share of the California market.
In 1987, Laura Scudder Inc. was sold to Borden, Inc. for $100 million. Annual sales for the chipmaker were $126 million in 1986. However, union difficulties motivated Borden to close all California plants of Laura Scudder only a year later. Borden's overall culture of mismanagement, incurrence of excessive debt to finance numerous acquisitions, and several restructurings led in 1993, led Borden to sell what remained of Laura Scudder for less than $16.7 million. However, the buyer, G.F. Industries, Inc.'s Granny Goose subsidiary was already in trouble, and was put up for sale in January 1995. In 2009, Snack Alliance, Inc. licensed from The Laura Scudder's Company, LLC the rights to produce and market potato chips under the Laura Scudder's brand. According to the J.M. Smucker Company website, the Laura Scudder's Natural Peanut Butter business was acquired by Smucker's from BAMA Foods Inc. in December 1994. As of 2009, Smucker's marketed the Laura Scudder's brand of natural peanut butter on the west coast. According to a March 31, 2010 announcement,[8] Snack Alliance, Inc. was acquired by Shearers Foods Inc., a manufacturer of competing salty snacks in different regions of North America. At the same time (2010) it appears the original Laura Scudder's brand is being actively marketed by a California-based company.[9] These two companies have different packaging for their different Laura Scudder's products, and the California company appears to be marketing its products nationwide.