Sunday, May 17, 2015

French Fry Diary 668: Chipos


There are holes in the Internet through which sometimes things slip through and vanish, except in our memories. I speak of things that not even Google can find. One we have previously talked about here at French Fry Diary is Tasti-Fries. I think I've found another - Chipos.

My recent affection for Herr's Lattice Cut potato chips brought this memory of my 1970s youth to light, as their very design is similar. Known as Chipos New Fashioned Potato Chips, they were, as described on the box, "fashioned from dried potato granules" and "flash fried." They had a criss-cross waffle pattern and texture and were relatively the same circular size.

If memory serves, this early seventies snack predated both the similar Munchos and the later Pringles, at least in my area, and memory. They came in a red and yellow box with a foil bag inside, just like Bugles do today. The back of the box detailed how they were made I recall, and I'm pretty sure they were made by Betty Crocker. Or was it General Mills? Or are they the same company?

Check out the video below for a TV commercial for Chipos, definitely from Betty Crocker.



They made a big deal of them having less grease than regular potato chips. Hmmm... So why aren't they still making them? The other thing I remember about them is that Chipos were delicious.

3 comments:

Heironymous said...

In the 70's, the General Mills Corporation (under their Betty Crocker brand) lost a lawsuit that prohibited them (Chipos) from advertising as potato "chips". This was a result of the Weaver Potato chip company disputing the fact that the 'Chipos" production process listed on the box was misleading. Chipos was not from raw potato, sliced, and then fried in oil which was the legal definition of a potato chip. The resuling loss left Chipos with reduced sales which lead to eventual discontinuatiion altogether. So now you know.

Unknown said...

The same sort of litigation (or threat thereof) kept products like Pringles and Munchos from calling themselves 'potato chips' as well. Thanks, Dom!

Unknown said...

Chipos were my favorite.