The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 10

Paragraph A-10 Slomlngton-Nrmal, III. Aug. M. Wl erf Ftftsr I WC Vffff THE I FRANK ERNEST iuiuwonsD DHIItw Chew, pop celebrate circumstances. This If the story, according to The (3 i.Vs'' i fry f- v.

1 if 4 Potato Chip Information Bureau (honest, It really exists): It teems that Commodore Cornelius Vanderbllt, the railroad magnate, wai vacationing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., In 1853. He was dining at Moon's Lake House, then a fashionable resort. The incorrigible Vanderbilt told the waiter to return an order of fried potatoes because they were sliced too thick. Revenge An American Indian, George Crum, was the chef and became miffed at the rich man's complaint. Seeking revenge on Vanderbilt, Crum sliced a potato paper thin and threw the pieces Into a pot of boiling oil.

Instead of becoming angry, Vanderbilt was astonished at the delicate taste of the chips. Eureka! The potato delicacy was named "Saratoga Chips" and became the toast of the resort circuit in upstate New York. Crum never received profits from the sale of the chips, but he eventually opened a resort that catered to the elite. Potato chips now represent 60 percent of the sales of the $2 billion snack food industry and are made by 200 manufacturers in the United States. The snack also is made in 38 other countries.

Seaweed-flavored chips are a favorite in Japan, while chips with a vinegar and salt flavor are top sellers in Great Britain. Potato chips have been the victim of bad press in recent years, however, as consumer crusaders labeled the snack a junk food. Not so, says the chip information bureau. According to a nutritionist who compiled a report on chips, the snack is simply a cooked slice of potato, one of the world's staple foods. Ronald M.

Deutsch, a nutrition author and lecturer, said most nutrients of potatoes are conserved in the quick chip-making process. So, there you have it. The potato chip and bubble gum are two of America's staples. One is good for nutritional satisfaction and the other can offer psychological therapy. One warning, however.

Don't eat chips for Diemer'i privacy, this reporter consulted It. According to the author, Bob Hen-drickson, Diemer was a 23-year-old cost accountant for Frank Henry Fleer, the creator of Chiclets chewing gum and the first person to market gum on a large scale. Diemer told Hendrickson that no one knows why Fleer was obsessed with producing a gum that could be blown Into bubbles. Fleer came up with something he called "Blibber Blabber" in 1906, but the stuff was ghastly. Diemer, who was not a chemist, worked at the formula and "one, balmy morning in August he (Diemer) put a generous chunk of the mix in his mouth and blew a bubble," according to Hendrickson i book.

"Diemer later said the bubble popped softly and peeled off his nose with no problem." In 50 years, bubble gum sales have skyrocketed, according to officials at the American Chide Division of the Warner-Lambert the corporation that Fleer built. The chewing gum market racked up $1.1 billion in retail sales in 1977. A fourth of that was attributed to bubble gum. Warner-Lambert officials said the 1977 total was 38 percent more than the previous year's. Much of the growth is due to soft bubble gum, an innovation that gum spokesmen said opened a new market in the adult world.

Entertainment Before soft bubble gum, the product had to be chewed prodigiously to soften it. A bubble can't be produced until the gum is soft. Many adults didn't like the idea of chewing endlessly and therefore left the bubble gum to the youngsters. "I think more and more adults are going back to it (bubble gum) for nostalgia," said Walter Weglein, manager of media relations for Warner at Morris Plains, N.J. "It's just fun to chew, a real tension releaser," he said.

"As you sit at your desk, you can blow bubbles. Everyone has their own reasons for chewing it. "It's a light entertainment that is catching on. As for me, I'm the worst bubble blower in the world." On the other hand, entertainment has nothing to do with the potato chip. But the potato chip means food to millions of Americans who pack lunches every day.

By Grrg Conroy In the midst of other historical world events, two Important anniversaries this month commemorate Inventions that border on genius Those two anniversaries also coincide with the opening of school, a place where the two Inventions are widely used. Not since the wheel and fire were discoverd has the world encountered such ingenuity. And not since children began munching and chewing have teachers discovered such a distraction, or janitors such messes under chairs. What great achievements could stand with Thomas Edison's light bulb and Henry Ford automobile? Walter Diemer's bubble gum and George Crum's potato chip. You may well snicker, but these are important inventions that have changed Americas-nay, the world's eating and chewing habits.

These two inventions, conceived In America, were born in August. The first potato chip was fried In 1853, and bubble gum was first blown into a bubble in 1928. Diemer, a self-proclaimed recluse, doesn't know how he stumbled onto the bubble gum formula. It just happened, according to history. A telephone call to the 73-year-old, Ocean City, N.J., man was futile.

"Look, my phone has been ringing off the hook since it was known that bubble gum is 50 years old this month," he told The Daily Pantagraph. Let him be "I live on an island in the Atlantic, and I really love it. I don't want to be bothered." he said. "Just read the book." The book is the "Great American Chewing Gum Book," and out of respect Baptist school opens Aug. 28 at San Jose SAN JOSE (PNS)-The Tri-County Baptist School will open its fourth year Aug.

28. That day will be a half-day session with student orientation beginning at 8:30 a.m. There will be an orientation for new parents at 7 p.m. Aug. 29.

Diagnostic testing of students will begin at 9 a.m. Monday. I I Hlmtiiariat tthfl KfV The first bubble-gum bubble was diowb SO years ago Ibis month. August also begin school-whicb njot of them will HUinr'ir fmP marks the 125th anniversary of the first later this week in both I nit and i I time potato chip was fried. Youngsters District 87.

Pantagraph photo by Bob who rhew gum and eat potato chips can Ringhaml QUALITY AND SERVICE and immediately chew bubble gum. It's virtually impossible to blow a bubble with tiny flecks of potato chips in the gum. It too was invented under accidental mm THE NEW WORD niTtmT nmt "NOW" AT LINCOLN SAVINGS IS Looks Like Works Like And Is Like CHECK THIS OUT 130 70.7239 JAMES R. VANCE DALE A. VANCE 17 OAK HILL DR.

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