SARATOGA SPRINGS – The legend of the potato chip being inspired by 19th-century railroad and shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt was meant to sell more chips.
But in the city of its origin, it caused a public outcry - a battle between beloved socialite and philanthropist Marylou Whitney and Saratoga County historian Violet Dunn.
First the story. The oft-told tale is set in 1853. It portrays Vanderbilt, known as "The Commodore," as a finicky diner at Moon’s Lake House on Saratoga Lake who, when served french fried potatoes that he deemed too fat, ordered them back to the kitchen.
The irked chef, George Crum, sliced a tuber so thin that the pieces crisped when fried, sprinkled them generously with salt and sent them back to Vanderbilt’s table. "The Commodore" loved them.
And thus the Saratoga chip - and all other potato chips to follow - was allegedly born.
The spat between Whitney and Dunn started nearly 125 years later in 1976 when a friend of Whitney's sent her a printed version of the story. The following year, Whitney, wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, grabbed onto the legend and made it the centerpiece of her ball, the glittering gala she hosted annually to usher in the Whitney Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course.
The New York Times covered the party, writing the potato chip theme “was as legitimate as could be, because according to Mrs. Whitney, her husband’s great-great-grandfather was responsible for the potato chip.” The writer than went on to describe the fashion and decor and list the horse racing notables there. And yes, freshly fried potato chips were served on silver trays.
“Crunch!: A History of the Great American Potato Chip,” by Dirk Burhans, picks up the story.
“Dunn stated on local television that, after extensive research, she had found no evidence that Cornelius Vanderbilt was the fussy patron who sent the potatoes back,” the book notes.
Dunn then called Whitney “an opportunist who merely seized upon the potato chip story as a theme for one of her parties,” he wrote.
The book’s author continues that Whitney defended her choice, saying her assumptions were innocent as they were culled from a newspaper clipping. Then she threatened to take her fashionable balls elsewhere.
“Saratoga Springs officials met, some suggesting that historian Dunn had harmed the city of Saratoga, that Mrs. Whitney might sue the county, and that Dunn should apologize,” the author wrote. “A city official warned Dunn, ‘Saratoga Springs isn’t going to forget this,’ to which she replied ‘I hope they won’t.’”
Apparently, Burhans wrote,"the county Board of Supervisors apologized to Whitney saying the rich and famous were entitled to come to Saratoga free from harassment over trivia.'”
Newspaper editorials and published letters, he said, also weighed in on the subject. Eventually, the flare-up died down. It ended with Whitney inviting Dunn to a ball. Dunn accepted and a detente was reached.
The legend, the city’s potato chip historian Alan Richer said, is likely a Harvey Noss fabrication. Richer said Noss was promoting the potato chip as the founder of the Snack Food Association of the United States.
“Harvey promoted the story,” Richer said. “I think he did it because putting a famous name to it is more interesting and attractive. If it was Joe Schmoe, no one would care.”
Despite Dunn's effort to debunk the legend, the story persists. The History Channel’s “The Food that Built America” recently repeated the story while noting it is unfounded. It is also retold on websites like The Original Saratoga Chip and, Richer said, used to be printed on the back of Stewart’s Shops potato chips.
Richer also said evidence shows a potato chip recipe was listed in an 1817 cookbook by William Kitchiner. Moreover, The New York Herald in 1849 named “Eliza, the cook,” whose “potato frying reputation is one of the prominent matters of remark at Saratoga.” Then there is the story of Kate Wicks, Crum's sister, who supposedly invented the chip after a sliver of potato accidentally slipped into a cruller machine. It could be, Richer said, that more than one person created the chip.
“Nobody knows for sure who invented the potato chip," Richer said.
Though aware of its dubious origins, Whitney reprinted the tale in 2003 in her "Potato Chip Cookbook," originally published for the 1977 gala. She sold the reprinted cookbook as a fundraiser for Double H Hole in the Woods. It's unclear if Dunn resurfaced to object.
Regardless, that was more than 40 years ago and few remember the rift. Even Whitney widower John Hendrickson said "it was before his time." But he did admit that Whitney knew the story was suspicious.
“She just wanted to throw a party," he said.
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Vanderbilt helped invent potato chip in Saratoga? Likely a salty myth - Times Union
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