When I was browsing for a good picture of potato chips, I came across this unlikely and ironic picture -- not good ole' Peck's Potato Chips but darn close. I just had to share it, since it is a hybrid of two of Dad's Athens businesses.Ah, yes, the potato chip company. The one enterprise that single-handedly turned me from a slightly overweight teen-ager into a blimp. Who could resist the warm, bubbled chips, shiny with lard and freshly salted? And I had the job of sacking and weighing the chips, but any that fell out of the bin were fair game. Clearly, there were plenty that ended up on my hips, thighs and belly. Funny thing is, I worked side-by-side with Paula, my girlfriend who is tiny, and she also ate the spilled chips and gained nothing. Metabolism. The answer must be metabolism.
I can clearly remember Evelyn, the toothless country woman who stirred the chips in the bubbling lard and cooked them to perfection. Once or twice I drove her home after a shift. She was one hard-working woman, though she didn't say much. And Don K. delivered the chips all over the county. I wonder if anyone ever tried to hijack the truck to get at those wonderful potato chips!
Who else worked at Peck's Potato Chips? Who else got fat from eating them?
13 comments:
You worked side-by-side with ME bagging those chips. We would switch off on bagging and sealing.
Why don't I remember? I know I also worked with Paula. Did you?
I only remember working with Paula at the Red Dot. I was thinking we were 14 and 15 when we did the potato chip thing but I must be wrong if you drove Evelyn home. Rita, help! Which years were potato chip years? They were before the Red Dot, I know that.
Paula worked at Peck's with me, unless I've totally lost my mind. And I think it was the summer before my junior or senior year. Maybe it was Gladys I drove home? She lived down a long road across from Hope's dairy.
I'm pretty sure it was Gladys. Maybe when I was promoted to selling melons on the corner, Paula filled my seat at the bagger??? ;)
No, because I had to sell melons too. Maybe Paula worked with me when you went to Girls State?
I think by then we were working at OU front desk jobs, weren't we?
The chips were cooked in peanut oil, not lard!!
I thought so, but was afraid to stick my neck out on that! I was Dad's taster, and I still know the taste of lard or old oil vs. Dad's clean peanut oil!
Ooops! I thought only lard could taste that good. And I know they were Kennebec potatoes, or am I wrong about that too? I was the unofficial "taster."
I had asked Mom and Dad years ago what type of potatoes they were and they really couldn't remember...then John said once that there were Russets but that didn't sound right. So I'll bet you're right, Nannygoat!! Yea! Now I can start a Peck's Potato Chip factory and try to duplicate them!! :)
Who could forget Peck's Potato Chips? Don and I could polish off a "big" bag in one evening, fresh off the truck after he made his runs-Yum, Yum!!! I weighed more during that time than I ever have!
The timeline that Don and I can come up with is around spring of '62 when Dad purchased "The Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips" near the East Green campus and located in the basement of Jack Beveridge's Confectionary. At that time Don left his job with US Geological Survey because Dad wanted him to cook the chips! He carried, cooked and bagged Maine Kennebec Pototoes in peanut oil! Then Peck's moved to Lancaster St. where Don continued to do carrying and bagging in the evening and ran deliveries during the day, while I cared for Don, Jr and Debbie.
This is where Lois and Nan joined the team with Evelyn doing the cooking.
I knew we could count on you, Rita, to have "the rest of the story." Thanks!
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