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