Toga Chip Blog

Your Toga Chip Guy gets calls from all over the world with all kinds of questions regarding the potato chip.   A previous blog post was about a man named Alan from Washington State, a Boeing retiree, who bought an old Dickey's Potato Chip truck to restore.  He requested my assistance to find the authentic logos to redecorate the refurbished truck.  Several years later I was contacted by Russ, the subject of today's blog post.  

Russ spent his career as a driver for a beer and wine distributor in Connecticut.  After retiring about seven years ago, he relocated from the Springfield, MA suburb of Ludlow, MA to his childhood area of Andover, Maine, not far from Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Russ' hobby is decorating blank model trucks.   He started out focusing on home delivery milk brands he remembers from his childhood .  Hen then moved on to bread delivery trucks and more recently has honed in on snack delivery trucks, most notably potato chip brands.  Many of these companies are now defunct and since I have researched many of these companies and posted about them on my TogaChipGuy.comwebsite under the section entitled "Building an Industry" Russ reached out to me for help in obtaining the proper logos, and company script including font and colors.  I had already obtained photos of many of these and knew where to reach out for help for those which I had not already secured.  

The first thing Russ does is find and acquire blank trucks of all styles such as delivery vans, step vans, tankers etc.  They are plastic and normally all white.  These blank models are hard to find and normally are sold as part of a collector's liquidation.  Recently Russ found seven for sale of which he purchased five.  . Many of the models are of Detroit Industrial Vehicle Company ("DIVCO") produced trucks.  Others are GMC models from the 1950's., Bulldog, Atlas and Athearn trucks  The hot wheels, matchbox, and other diecast metal models are generally not suitable since they are already decorated with various brands.  When he has to use the metal diecast model, Russ uses rubbing alcohol and Qtips to strip the painted logos and lettering.  He avoids using any more powerful materials so as not to  remove the underlying paint on the metal models  Russ uses HO models that are similar sized and correspond the HO model trains.   They are smaller than the larger O models.  For the milk trucks, Russ includes the refrigerator box that was affixed to the top of the truck.

Securing the authentic logos and lettering is the most time consuming challenge.  Business cards, invoices, letterheads and company postcards on clear backgrounds normally have clear backgrounds and are the best sources.  Old tins are more difficult as they are rounded and vintage bags are usually wrinkled.  

One he gets good images, Russ uses his computer (often with the assistance of his wife), to produce decal images of the logo and lettering.   Sometimes his wife enhances the colors with colored pencils.  He prints the logos and lettering on decals with sticky paper.  Since the models are small, the decals must be sized and  can also be very small, depending upon where they are placed on the models, such as doors or windows.   Tweezers are often needed to place the decals on the proper spots.  He likes to add the address and phone numbers on the doors and strives for all of this to be authentic.  

Russ makes models of brands that are not already marketed.  "I make models of the brands you can't buy."  You don't really make any money so I end up giving many of them away to places such as museums.  For example, a blank model will cost about $20, and after all of his effort to decorate it, he would be lucky to get about $40 for it.  

Among the potato chip brands Russ has made are Bachman's, Frito-Lay, Granite State, Humpty Dumpty, Stateline,  Utz, and Wise.  The companies  that he is currently researching are Castonguay's of Lewiston, Maine, Circus Time, and King Cole.  Russ displays his work with photos on his Russ Towle Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/russtowle.  The models are shown in front of a model train warehouse.  See his of potato chip brands below.  

Enjoy the Grateful Dead singing Truckin

In order to increase the popularity of potato chips, the Publicity Committee of the Potato Chip Institute utilized television to promote chips.  Two chining examples of all-time great legendary comedians are included in the December 1956 edition of the Potato Chipper.   Two bags of potato chips are on the table in the Surprise Party episode of Jackie Gleason's (The Great One) iconic Honeymooners series.  In the other, The Potato Chip Institute-International awarded its "Chip Off the Old Block" award to Melinda Marx, the daughter of Groucho Marx on her Dad's "You Bet Your Life" television series.  Grouch spent more time chatting with the contestants than the contestants spent playing the game. 

Until recently, I never knew they performed together.  Gleason plays one of his characters other than Ralph Kramden, Reginald Van Gleason, while Groucho plays himself. Enjoy!  https://www.facebook.com/warren.moulton/videos/10155714988333923/

Other than family, my three favorite passions are Frank Sinatra, Potato Chips and all things Saratoga Lake.  I collect Al Hirshfeld art and always said that my ultimate drawing would be Frank Sinatra eating potato chips while sailing on Saratoga Lake.  

During the formative years of the snack association trade association, the goal was to get publicity for potato chips wherever possible.   An article in the May 1956 Potato Chipper explains how Franchot Tone, an actor who had a radio show on ABC devoted ten minutes to the chip origin story.  This was the result of the efforts of the Publicity Committee of the Potato Institute-International, as the trade association was then named. 

The question is "Who the hell is Franchot Tone?"   You can read all about him at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0867144/bio.  

A few highlights.  He was married to Hollywood Legend Joan Crawford and apparently was the cause of a longstanding feud between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.  He starred with Clark Gable in the 1935 movie, Mutiny on the Bounty.  He later married an actress turned prostitute and suffered a severe beating by one of her jealous suitors.  For somebody that is not well known, he certainly had a fascinating life.  

See highlights of his films:

I first became aware of the name Franchot Tone when searching for all Hirschfeld drawings of Sinatra.  See the attached image of Sinatra and Tone.  

If you are not familiar with Al Hirschfeld, you can learn all about him at http://alhirschfeldfoundation.org/.

This post may the closest I come to linking Hirschfeld, Sinatra and Potato Chips.

Did you know that Chip Manufacturers were among the earliest companies to advertise via billboards? Here is an example from the April 1958 edition of the Potato Chipper. Clover Club Foods, Inc., of Kaysville, Utah won the Second Award in the 1957 Local Outdoor Advertising Contest sponsored by Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Inc. Examples are "Best way to say 'Welcome'" poster and "See, Smell, Taste! How Good!" painted bulletin. To the latter, I would add "Feel and Hear" since potato chips are finger food and they make a unique "Crunch" sound, making them attractive to all five of our senses.

Enjoy the Who's See Me, Feel Me / Listening to You from the Tommy Album.

Toga Chip Gal and I vacationed in Delray Beach, FL.  While at the pool, I met a couple from Flint, Michigan.  After we exchanged greetings and I explained that I was a Potato Chip Historian, they asked me what I knew about Paramount Potato Chips, the jingle and and its mascot, Slim Chiply.  To be honest, I was not very familiar with either the brand, jingle, or mascot, but after returning home, I have been able to research all three.  

Paramount was started by Ed Dewan, a Flint man in the years after World War II.  The company was purchased in 1958 and widely expanded by Robert N. Johnson during the 1960s  From 1962 until 1995, the company's production and distribution activities were based out of 2727 Lippincott Blvd.  The brand was eventually squeezed off store shelves by bigger chip makers, which paid slotting fees for the best spots on grocery store shelves. It closed in 1992. its rights were later acquired by Better Made from Detroit, MI.

A brief story about the company, its mascot and the jingle appeared in the January 3, 2019 edition of My City Magazine.  http://www.mycitymag.com/slim-chiply-and-paramount-potato-chips/

Slim Chiply, who sported a cowboy hat and holster, became a local icon and the company's jingle promised the "flavor deputy" was protecting freshness in every package of chips.A small regional brand that began in 1959,   

While the article states that the character was created by Dallas Oliver, who had also worked for the Walt Disney Company, an obituary in the Saginaw News states that Jean Rockwell Beach created the Slim Chiply character. https://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/saginaw/obituary.aspx?n=jean-rockwell-beach&pid=191517175&fhid=9278

The unforgettable jingle:   "I'm Slim Chiply, the guy you see on the Paramount Potato Chips bright red pack. I'm the flavor deputy, protecting crispness in every pack. They're delicious, and so nutritious, yes sir'ee, they're pips, Paramount Potato Chips."  The jingle begins the classic commercial medley. 

Enjoy!  

On a recent Sunday, Toga Chip Gal and I took a trip to the nearby Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts. Among our activities was browsing for potato chip memorabilia in some area antique shops. We came across two items: 1) a potato chip tin from Hussman Potato Chip Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. It includes a quality seal from the Potato Chip Institute, the former name of the trade association; 2) a potato chip rack from Wise Potato Chip Company from Berwick, PA. The combination of the leaders of these three organizations were responsible for the largest legislative victory in the history of the Potato Chip Industry.

During World War II, the vulnerable chip industry faced possible annihilation due to the war-time economy when the federal government threatened to exclude potato chips as a "necessary food."

In 1942, the National Potato Chip Institute's ("NCPI") Executive Director, Harvey Noss, President Harry Hussman and Vice President Earl Wise ventured to Washington, D.C. to convey to Congress the importance of potato chips during World War II. 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 ready-to-eat aspect of potato chips, Noss argued, made the potato chip essential to feeding factory workers and others crucial to our war effort at home and their shelf stability made potato chips a food that could be relied on during a blackout or other situations where cooking was impossible. NCPI's efforts were successful in establishing potato chips as an "essential food" during the war and secured the association's role as an advocate for the industry in Washington, D.C. As a result of their combined efforts, chippers received their ration of fats and oils, gasoline and tires. Potato chips had already inched their way into the American diet during the industry's infancy in the twenties and trying thirties, but now that they were stamped "essential" growth of the industry snowballed.

Harvey Noss was one of the most influential people in the history of the potato chip, but unlike the founders of potato chip companies named after their founders, his enormous contributions are not well known outside of the industry. Read more about Harvey Noss on my website at: https://togachipguy.com/page-16/

Some people are hesitant to buy chips because they perceive them as not being healthy. Among their fears are:

1) They contain too many calories. Many people are calorie-conscious and fear becoming fat.

2) Digestibility concerns. Some regard them as "eat in one sitting food" and thus a cause of indigestion. My Mother always told me "Everything in moderation."

3) Staleness or shelf-life concerns. New and better packaging have lengthened shelf life.

4) They contain too much oil and can be greasy.

What factors give you pause for concern?

Should they be fortified with vitamins? Would this lessen any hesitation regarding your desire to purchase them?

Send me an email at [email protected] or comment on my Toga Chip Guy Facebook page.

Enjoy Diana Ross and the Supremes with their breakout hit "Stop in the Name of Love."

One of the items in my collection of "Saratoga Chip" (the original generic name of the potato chip) memorabilia is a Saratoga Chipper tool that was made by M. Brown & Co. of New York City for the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY in 1901.   See the photos.  

Four US Presidents have been assassinated:

Lincoln Garfield McKinley Kennedy

Imagine my surprise when, at one of my presentations, an attendee told me that Garfield is actually a cat.

President McKinley lead the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War and raised protective tariffs to promote American industry. As a matter of trivia, President McKinley's photo is on the discontinued $500 bill. https://avocadoughtoast.com/500-dollar-bill/. You can read about President McKinley on the website for his Library and Museum. https://mckinleymuseum.org/william-mckinley/.

President William McKinley was assassinated in September 1901 at the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition. He was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist and former steelworker. According to History.com, Czolgosz traveled to Buffalo, New York, days before the President's planned speech and purchased a .32 caliber Iver Johnson revolver, the same model used in the assassination of Italian King Umberto I the summer before. As Czolgosz walked up to President McKinley on September 6, 1901, just after 4 p.m., the President extended his hand. Czolgosz took out his pistol and shot McKinley twice.

Toga Chip Gal and I made a trip to Canton, Ohio to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While there, we learned that the President McKinley Museum and Library, as well as the late President's burial plot, was located a short drive away. We decided to make a side trip to visit them.

See the photos of the front of the statue of President McKinley from the top of the burial vault, the back of the statue from the top of the burial vault, the entrance to the burial vault, the name on the burial vault, the entrance to the burial vault and the front of the statute of President McKinley.  The final photo is the Pan-American Exposition.

The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied 350 acres of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood Avenue and northward to Great Arrow Avenue. Buffalo was chosen as the location because of its size (at the time it was the eighth largest city in the U.S. with a population of approximately 350,000) and also because of its well suited railway connections.

Here is a video tour of the Exposition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgAlYxM8200. View a film of President McKinley reviewing troops at Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901. https://www.loc.gov/item/00694343. The latter film was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company. The company, founded by inventor Thomas Alva Edison, operated from 1893 to 1917.

Enjoy the William McKinley song:

I grew up accompanying my parents to antique shows.  I was always intrigued and fascinated by the ingenuity of early devices and when trying to convince my wife that the latest discovery was something that we definitely needed, I often would proclaim "But, its a conversation piece!"  

When I moved to Upstate New York 30 years ago, there was a proliferation of antique shops and local auctions.  Prior to the birth of my daughter, it was not unusual for me to go to multiple antique auctions over a weekend.  Today the antique shops have dwindled to a precious few.  The millenials are more interested in IKEA than antique furniture even though the quality of workmanship is not comparable.  There are certain exception such as mid 20th century furniture.     

As I morphed from a corporate tax lawyer into a potato chip historian, my antique focus narrowed from all things to all things chips.   One of my favorite antique stores was Biggar's located in Chamblee, Georgia, the very same town where Herman Lay had his first potato chip factory.  See Biggar's website.  https://www.biggarantiques.com/  Biggar's also has a store in Florida.  I was introduced to the store by my sister-in-law, Andra, who lives near Atlanta.  Over the years, I made many purchases of potato chip memorabilia from Biggar's.

As the antique business declines, the owners of Biggar's have reinvented themselves to survive.   Located outside of Atlanta, a city in which many movies are filmed, Biggar's has become a major movie prop house.  They are no longer open to the general public, but because of my long history with them, they invited Toga Chip Gal and I to visit their new very large warehouse in Chamblee.

The warehouse contains anything and everything you can imagine, including the kitchen sink.  The inventory is separated into sections and one of the sections contains a very large collection of potato chip tins.    Enjoy the gallery of photos.   Included are photos of a vintage Lay's potato chip can.  Like Biggar's, Lay's started in Chamblee.  

Enjoy "You're Bigger" by Jekalyn Carr: 

Major fires are once again in the news.  It seems that this is an annual occurrence, especially in the Western portion of the United States.   Historically, many potato chip factories have had fires from the hot oil.  

October is fire safety month and a billboard in Schenectady, NY displayed the following fire prevention safety tips:    “Install Smoke Detectors. Test Monthly,” “Get your Furnace Checked” and “Have a Fire Escape Plan. Get Out & Stay Out.”Billboards spread fire safety message.

Most US residents grew up with the iconic mascot for fire protection, Smokey the Bear.  Remember the trivia question  "What is Smokey the Bear's middle name?"  Answer: "the."  See the photo of me with Smokey.

Our neighbors North of the Border have their own history regarding fire protection mascots and one of them had a link to the potato chip industry.  An article in the September 1964 edition of Potato Chipper explains how Canada held a contest to come up with its own mascot for fire protection and that one of the entries, "Bucky the Beaver,  was submitted by Omer Longo, an Old Dutch Potato Chip Company plant superintendent.  

Reading the article about the Bucky the Beaver submission for the Canadian fire protection mascot got me to wondering whether it was the successful submission.  What I found is that there is no universal Canadian fire protection mascot.  While a number of the provinces and territories in Canada use Smokey the Bear as their mascot, and many use Sparky the Dog, there were others that had their own mascot. Alberta’s wildfire and forest management mascot is Bertie Beaver, a mascot drawn and provided to what was then the Alberta Forest Service, by Walt Disney in 1958. Most of the messages have been focussed on wildfire prevention.  Read about the history of Bertie:  https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/pdfplus/10.5558/tfc2014-028.  Alberta also owns the rights to Nero and Ashcan:  http://www.firecomm.gov.mb.ca/safety_nero.html 

Happy Birthdays  2019 was a milestone birthday for both Smokey (75) and Bertie (60).   Read about Bertie in the Forest History Association of Alberta newsletter – Bertie Beaver turns 60, at Page 18 http://albertaforesthistory.ca/docs/Newsletters/FHAA-Newsletter-Issue18-Mar2019.pdf Read about Smokey's birthday.  https://www.smokeybear75th.org/

Do you know what Smokey the Bear's original name was?

Answer: Hotfoot Teddy was the name given to a small bear cub that was found burned and clinging to the top of a tree at a forest fire in New Mexico's Capitan Mountains in 1950. The bear cub was rescued by firefighters, and his survival story had touched people’s hearts. He was donated to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. with an important job to do. Hotfoot Teddy became the mascot and messenger for the Department of Natural Resources Fire Prevention Program. He was later renamed to Smokey Bear. Today, Smokey Bear is widely recognized as the symbol for forest fire prevention and is credited with significantly reducing the number of forest fires each year. Thanks to Bruce Mayer at the Forest History Association of Alberta, Canada, and Jeff Ervin, Fire Prevention Officer for the Province of Manitoba, Canada for their assistance in research for this blog post.   

Enjoy Sammy Davis, Jr. sing "That Old Black Magic," in which he adlibs at 2:15 "You Gotta Put Out the Fire!"

My wife and I recently vacationed in Sedona, AZ, a town known worldwide for its magnificent red rock formations.   See the photos.  Check out the Visit Sedona website: https://visitsedona.com/.  

Per the AAA Arizona and New Mexico Tour Book Guide:

Sedona is nestled in the massive, fire-hued rocks of Red Rock State Park.  Thedusty, semi-arid topography is the base for giant, striped monoliths that take on shades from bright red to pale sand and seem to change with each passing cloud or ray of sunshine.  So prominent are the buttes and pinnacles that locals have named them.  Some of the more popular rock stars are Bell Rock, cathedral Rock, Chimney Rock, Courthouse Butte and Snoopy Rock.  Formations in the shape of a castle or merry-go=round can also be spotted.  Conveniently, two nuns overlook a chapel.  And close by, a submarine surfaces near a mushroom cap.  

While shopping in a local grocery store, I explored the chip aisle, as I frequently go when traveling, and found a bag of chips with a brand I had not previously seen,  Red Rock Deli.  https://www.redrockdeli.com/.  Curious as to whether, based on tr brand name, these were manufactured locally as well as whether there might be an interesting backstory to share with you, I carefully read the bag to discover that the chips were manufactured in Purchase, NY.  I know that Purchase is the Corporate Headquarters of Pepsi, owner of mega chip brand Frito-Lay.  A quick Google search confirmed my theory that these chips are part of the Pepsi family. 

https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/46009-pepsico-brings-australian-snack-brand-stateside.  What is unusual is that most Frito Lay brands normally use Plano, Texas as their location since Plano is the Corporate Headquarters if Frito Lay.  The brand originated in Australia in 2010.   Frito-Lay bought the company in March of 2018 and later that year brought the brand to the United States.

The moral of the story is that sometimes what you think may be a local brand, may actually be a major brand.  This can happen for at least three of the following reasons.  Sometimes small companies have an exit strategy of selling to large chip companies.  Secondly, large chip companies sometimes create their own small brands to create the impression that the chips are not part of a large conglomerate, but are locally produced.  Third, as is the case here, a global company can bring regional brands to other parts of the world.  Finally, private label manufacturers may in fact produce the chips, as frequently occurs for grocery store brands.   Red Rock Deli Chips are an example of a combination of the first and third factors.  

Growing up, a discount men’s clothing brand in the Northeast, Sy Sims, used the tagline “An educated consumer is our best customer.”  See the retro commercial.

The Washington Post published an article ranking various well known brands of potato chips.   

See the results here!

Lay's Kettle Cooked was the #1 overall winner.  

Thanks to Ted Rich for bringing the article to my attention.  

Email me at TogaChipGuy.com or leave a comment on my Facebook page with your favorite brand and type of potato chips with an explanation why.

I often give presentations on the history of the potato chips.  It is important to look the part, so when clothes shopping, I look for potato chip themed socks.  Below are some photos of me and my favorite pairs.  

Speaking of socks, did you know that Einstein hated socks.   That's right—the man behind one of the most important scientific discoveries in recent history had a big beef with socks. He once bragged to a colleague about rarely wearing them at Oxford and was said to be annoyed by the constant holes that popped up. Whether it was while out sailing or to a formal dinner at the White House, Einstein went without socks everywhere. To Einstein, socks were a pain because they often would get holes in them. During the 1960's one of the major comedy variety shows was Laugh-In.  The show coined many phrases, but perhaps the most famous of them was "Sock it to me!"  The expression is from the late 1960s until the early 1970s. It literally means "give it to me,"but generally had an underlying sexual connotation.  It could also mean just give me your best.    Enjoy some of the highlights of this Laugh In "Sock it to me!" feature including President Richard Nixon's appearance. 

Enjoy the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, with her signature hit, "Respect."   Towards the end, the chorus repeatedly sings "Sock it to me."  

The Toga Chip Guy

There are a lot of theories regarding the invention of the potato chip.  The most popular theory is that it was invented by a man named George Crum Speck who was part African American and part Native American at a restaurant named Moon's Lake House on Saratoga lake in saratoga Springs, NY in 1853.   During my presentation, I discuss Alternative Origins of the Saratoga Chip including the players, facts, mysteries and myths.  Toga Chip Daughter likes to tell people that it doesn't take me long to state that the origin of the potato chip is similar to the assassination of President Kennedy or thr death of Marilyn Monroe in that there are a lot of different theories and nobody knows for sure.   Below is an obituary of Hiram S. Thomas that claims the he was the inventor of the potato chip.  In fact, he worked at Moon's Lake House after George Crum Speck left to start his own restaurant, and, therefore, Hiram had nothing to do with the invention of the potato chip.  

Below is a photo of Dorothy Thompson, a retired Florida teacher, telling students in 1984 during a Black History Month celebration, that Hiram was the inventor of the potato chip in 1865. 

Most attribute the year of birth to 1853, twelve years earlier than Dorothy Thompson claims.   This may have been the original fake news.   As the old adage says: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."  

Read the article regarding whether the old adage "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story" is an old Irish proverb or a quote by Mark Twain.

View Here

Enjoy the song by "Don't Let the Truth Get in the way of a good story" by Gaelic Storm. 

In my previous career as a tax lawyer for a few very large multinational companies, I traveled extensively throughout the world. Two of my activities during the off hours (mostly weekends) were looking for non-US releases of music (before the day of the smartphone) and going to local grocery stores in search of unusual products (often spices). With respect to the latter, I learned from a former boss Jack Pepper, (his actual name; no pun intended) that the prices at the local grocery store was much cheaper than at tourist shops, and often the selection much more varied, and the local spices make great gifts to bring home.

After I morphed into the Toga Chip Guy, during my foreign travels, I still continue to visit local food markets, but focus my attention on chips.

I recently came across an article entitled "Why You Should Always Visit a Grocery Store When Traveling Abroad." The beginning of the article states:

Are you the type of person who arrives in a new destination, gets settled and heads straight to the grocery store? You're not alone. The grocery store is a great place to start any trip overseas vacation. Why? Read on to find out why you should always visit a grocery store when traveling abroad.

Try Local Specialties

Grocery stores are the go-to spot for foods you’ve probably never seen before back home. Do you want to try odd potato chip flavors?

You can read the entire article here: https://blog.seeqr.com/why-you-should-always-visit-a-grocery-store-when-traveling-abroad/.

See the photos of me looking at the chips on a trip to Italy.

ou never know what these trips to foreign stores may lead to. A good example, involved my browsing for music.

I had the great fortune to get to know Mel Torme, the Velvet Fog, most famous for writing the Christmas Song ("Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.")

I used to go to Marty's and other clubs in NYC to hear Mel perform. One time I was seated at the small table in Marty's at which he was standing while performing. His show was being recorded for an album. I got so carried away listening to Mel sing that I began to sing along with him. Mel knocked on the table and said "Kid, I work alone!"

When I traveled the globe for my former jobs, one of my hobbies was to visit record shops (they actually used to exist). While in Paris, I saw this Compact Disc ("CD") of the recording that night, "Mel Torme, Encore at Marty's." I was going to buy it, but balked when I found out it was $70, a lot of money back in the day. I figured I would wait to return home to the USA and find and buy it for much less.

When I returned home, I searched for the CD and couldn't find it. I called my friend, Stan, who was CEO of Tower Records and he told me it was not in Tower's Catalog. He suggested I call Concord Records for whom Mel was currently recording. Concord referred me to Dale Sheets, Mel's agent. Dale told me that Mel had never been paid for the album and that per the contract, all rights reverted back to Mel. Mel had never authorized its issuance in CD form. In short, Dale told me that if I could find the CD, it would be worth a lot to Mel. I told him I was going back to Paris for another business trip and would try to find it.

I found it in the same shop and bought two copies (one for me) and sent one to Mel via Dale. Shortly after, I received a call from Dale saying that Mel was most appreciative and wanted to do something to thank me. Dale told me Mel's schedule and one of the dates was at a convention in Orlando, FL that my wife Jessica was planning to attend. Dale arranged for us to watch Mel rehearse, set aside reserved seats in the very first row and invited us and Jessica's colleagues backstage after the performance to once again meet Mel. He autographed his autobiography "It Wasn't all Velvet" and gave me a copy.

A photo was taken of Mel and I. Upon returning home, I had it developed (we actually used to have to do this) and mailed two copies of it to Mel inside a thank you note. I wrote " I'm sure that a man of your stature receives many requests for your autograph, but since giving is more fun than receiving, I thought you would appreciate my autograph."

A week or so later, an envelope arrived back home from Mel. he had autographed the second copy, "To Alan, a great fan! Best Wishes Mel Torme." Sometime later my parents came for a visit and my Dad loved the photo and asked if we would make him a copy. We went to Kinkos to have it copied and my Dad took the copy home to Florida.

Years later, my Dad saw that Mel was going to do a concern at the Kravitz Center in West Palm Beach, FL and bought tickets to take my Mom. After the concert, my Dad tried to go backstage to meet Mel, but was stopped by a security detail. My Dad, who at times was prone to hyperbole, explained. "Mel and my son are best friends" and he took out the framed picture of Mel and me. One of the guards said, "Wait here!" and he took the photo backstage. The guard son returned and told my Dad and Mom to follow him where they took them backstage to meet Mel. Upon arrival, Mel asked "How is my dear friend Alan?" He obviously did not remember me but had read the inscription on the photo. Mel then took out the photo and wrote "To Alan's Dad." Mel Torme was a mensc,h which is a Yiddish word for a gentleman.

Enjoy Mel scat and sing Autumn Leaves from the very same album that I heard him record.

Growing up in the 1960, most women were stay at home housewives who were expected to cook all the family meals. Think about June Cleaver from Leave It To Beaver or Donna Reed. There may have been guilt from not holding up their end of the perceived bargain at that time by serving an already prepared snack.

A lot of people feel that chips are best for picnics in warm weather because they are a good short-cut in saving work. Per a study from 1955:

"They should not be eaten with dinner itself or with any regular meal." Some feel they are neglectful of their normal responsibilities and neglected when they include chips in the home as part of a meal.

They see potato chips as "getting away" with regular cooking responsibilities.

The first breakthrough in informing housewifes that it might be alright, at least occasionally, not to cook may have come in the 1960's. I remember visiting my Aunt Laura and Uncle Ralph in Newark, NJ and seeing a Volkswagen Beetle with a lighted chicken atop with the writing "Chicken Delight." The had a catchy jingle that ran on both television and radio with the slogan "Don't cook tonight! Call Chicken Delight." These cars home delivered cooked chicken. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0pHEZArDa4s

With all of the modern home delivery services such Uber Eats and Doordash and the fully prepared meals for take out at today's grocery stores, have things changed? Do you feel that anything "store-bought" represents nothing else to eat? Is your attitude that having to eat potato chips at home at meal time is a last resort, rather than because you wanted to - because you weren't properly taken care of by somebody you love?

With woman having careers, do you still expect your wife to prepare all of your meals? if you are a man, are you so lazy that you end up eating a whole bag of chips as a meal to avoid heating something up?

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Watch Bob Hope and Lucille Ball sing "Home Cooking" from the movie "Fancy Pants."  Lucy's voice is dubbed by Annette Warren. 

Enjoy Rodney Dangerfield's top ten jokes about his wife's lack of cooking skills.

Rodney had a great excuse for eating store bought chips for dinner.  

This blog post was inspired by a 1955 paper from the Institute for Motivational Research, Inc., authored by Ernest Dichter, Ph.D.   Thanks to Max Moeller of the Hagley Museum and Library that is located in Wilmington, Delaware. 

With immigration in the news, one of the subtopics is how those new to America assimilate. The following article explains how combining various flavored potato chips with rice helps newcomers ease the transformation from their traditional culinary cuisine as well as bond with those from other Asian subcultures.

Sprinkling the chips on rice created a perfect fusion of crunch and tender fluffiness, of bold taste couched in the blandness of white rice.

If music is the universal language, chips are the universal food.

Enjoy this snippet entitled "Chips and Rice."