Cornelius Vanderbilt, a wealthy steamship owner, sat in the dining room of Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., waiting for his meal. It was the summer of 1853. In the kitchen was George Crum (1824–1914), the establishment’s cook.
The meal being prepared was likely woodcock or partridge from the restaurant’s grounds, served with French fries. But when the dish was served, Vanderbilt refused it. “The French fries are too thick,” he lamented.
This angered Crum, so much so that he would prepare the potatoes again, but this time cut into slices as thin as he could make them. He then dipped them in the hot oil, frying them to a crisp. To add insult to Vanderbilt’s meal, Crum places the browned and brittle rounds on the plate before sending it to the table. To Crum’s surprise, Vanderbilt was “thrilled with the novel snack.” Harriet Moon, who owned the restaurant, soon declared Crum’s dish a regular part of the menu.
In 1860, Crum opened his own restaurant, Crum’s Place. There, millionaires like Vanderbilt would stand in line for hours for what Crum dubbed “Saratoga Chips.”
Born George Speck in Saratoga Lake, N.Y., Crum was the son of an African American father and Native American mother (the Huron tribe). “Crum” was the name his father used in his career as a jockey.
During his youth, Crum worked as a guide in the Adirondack Mountains and as an Indian trader. Over time, he began to realize his passion for cooking and focused on working as a chef. Unfortunately, Crum never patented Saratoga Chips, and never distributed them outside of New England. This opened the door for others to claim to have been the snack’s original inventor, fueling the debate regarding that person’s true identity.
In 1895, William Tappendon began to make the first attempt to place potato chips on local grocery store shelves. In 1921 The Hanover Home Potato Chip Company was established.
Soon grocers in numerous areas around the United States were selling chips in bulk. In 1926, Laura Scudder began putting potato chips into wax paper bags, giving birth to the bag-of-chips concept. In 1932, Herman Lay founded Lay’s in Nashville, Tenn., which led to phenomenal success not only for him, but also other potato-chip makers.
Historian Dave Mitchell researched those credited with the creation of the potato chip, including Eliza, Vanderbilt, both of the Moons, Crum’s sister Kate Wicks, restaurant manager Hiram Thomas, and various Lake House cooks. His investigation included the possibility that the potato chip was not invented in Saratoga at all (though it certainly earned its popularity there). The potato chip’s true origin, Mitchell concluded, “will probably never be known.”
Nevertheless, potato chips were on their way to becoming an international phenomenon and the perfect item for a number of aspiring snack food entrepreneurs around the country. Crum closed his restaurant in 1890. He died on July 22, 1914 at the age of 92.
Tamara Shiloh
Tamara Shiloh has published the first two books in her historical fiction chapter book series,
Just Imagine…What If There Were No Black People in the World is about African American inventors, scientists and other notable Black people in history. The two books are
Jaxon’s Magical Adventure with Black Inventors and Scientists and
Jaxon and Kevin’s Black History Trip Downtown. Tamara Shiloh has also written a book a picture book for Scholastic,
Cameron Teaches Black History, that will be available in June, 2022.
Tamara Shiloh’s other writing experiences include: writing the Black History column for the Post Newspaper in the Bay area, Creator and Instruction of the black History Class for Educators a professional development class for teachers and her non-profit offers a free Black History literacy/STEM/Podcast class for kids 3d – 8th grade which also includes the Let’s Go Learn Reading and Essence and tutorial program. She is also the owner of the Multicultural Bookstore and Gifts, in Richmond, California,
Previously in her early life she was the /Editor-in-Chief of
Desert Diamonds Magazine, highlighting the accomplishments of minority women in Nevada; assisting with the creation, design and writing of a Los Angeles-based, herbal magazine entitled
Herbal Essence; editorial contribution to
Homes of Color; Editor-in-Chief of
Black Insight Magazine, the first digital, interactive magazine for African Americans; profile creations for sports figures on the now defunct PublicFigure.com; newsletters for various businesses and organizations; and her own Las Vegas community newsletter,
Tween Time News, a monthly publication highlighting music entertainment in the various venues of Las Vegas.
She is a member of:
- Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
- Richmond Chamber of Commerce
- Point Richmond Business Association
- National Association of Professional Women (NAPW)
- Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA)
- California Writers Club-Berkeley & Marin
- Richmond CA Kiwanis
- Richmond CA Rotary
- Bay Area Girls Club
Tamara Shiloh, a native of Northern California, has two adult children, one grandson and four great-grand sons. She resides in Point Richmond, CA with her husband, Ernest.
www.multiculturalbookstore.com
