The Rise of the Potato Chip: From George Crum to State Line

The story of the potato chip begins in the mid-1800s with George Crum, born George Speck, a chef of Native and African American heritage who worked at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1853, a diner complained that Crum’s fried potatoes were too thick. In response, he sliced a new batch of paper-thin slices, fried them until perfectly crisp, and seasoned them with salt. To everyone’s surprise, the customer loved them, and soon “Saratoga Chips” became the talk of the town.

Crum’s creation quickly gained fame. By 1860, he opened his own restaurant near Saratoga, where guests were greeted with baskets of his irresistible chips. Though versions of thin-fried potatoes had appeared in earlier cookbooks, it was George Crum who turned the snack into an American favorite and secured his place in culinary history.

That same spirit of innovation found its way to our own region decades later. In 1919, the Carville family began making their own potato chips in their Enfield, Connecticut, kitchen, just steps from the Massachusetts state line. Their homemade chips became so popular that the small family enterprise soon caught the attention of Abraham Katze, who took over the operation and officially founded the State Line Potato Chip Company, Inc. in 1925.

By 1927, the growing company moved across the border to Wilbraham, Massachusetts, building a modern plant at 2535 Boston Road. Over the next several decades, State Line became a household name throughout New England. By 1963, the company employed about 100 people and maintained a fleet of 40 delivery trucks that distributed potato chips and cheese-coated popcorn across Massachusetts and five neighboring states.

State Line Potato Chip Company in the 1960s Marc Friedland

Two of the region’s most important potato suppliers for the State Line factory were nestled in Worthington, MA: the longstanding Alberts Farm and the well-regarded Sena Farm, both playing a key role in serving the local community.

For generations, the aroma of freshly fried potato chips was part of everyday life in Wilbraham, a familiar scent carried on the breeze from the Boston Road plant. Growing up in North Wilbraham, that smell became a summertime memory all its own. On warm afternoons at Spec Pond, it wasn’t unusual for the inviting aroma to drift across the water, stirring up an irresistible craving for a bag of those golden, salty State Line chips. Though production came to an end in the late 1980s and the old plant has since vanished from the landscape, the memory of State Line Potato Chips still lingers fondly in the hearts of those who remember. It remains a flavorful chapter in Wilbraham’s story, a reminder of a time when a simple hometown snack brought joy to an entire community.

Demolition of the old State Line factory. Joe Roberts

On The Green Way in Boston, Massachusetts, vintage advertising signs from the surrounding region have been displayed as art. Among them is the original State Line Potato Chips sign, dating back to around 1950. www.miniworlds.de