The History of American Chip Flavors

Nothing beats a video talking about the obscure lore of mondane things we see everyday.

My grandma told me that when she was young in the 1930s and 1940s, there was a potato chip truck that came around every week. You bought a large tin canister from them the first time, and then every week they'd refill your canister with potato chips for a set price. This was definitely in the Potato Chip Belt, as she grew up in Syracuse, NY. She told me the name of the company, but I can't remember it.

I'm sure multiple people have already mentioned this, but I do think the whole "Flamin' Hot" flavor has become a recent phenomenon and I think its slowly but surely being introduced into the potato chip canon.

Mexico's chip cannon is a lovely reflection of its land: -Salt is the standard -Lemon (My favorites) -Adobadas (Mild-spicy) -And Habanero (Real spicy)

In the U.K. “Cheese and Onion” is one of the big flavours rather than “Sour Cream and Onion”. The first time I encountered “Sour Cream and Onion” as a flavour was with Pringles who seem to stick to the US model even here in the U.K.

Meanwhile in Germany most of your options are basically paprika and sweet paprika (although I have seen them getting a bit better about having more flavors in stores)

I was literally just wondering where sour cream and onion chips came from because my bf realized they were basically baked potato flavored so thank you for this well-timed video

It's nuts how much this guy actually sounds like the canadian accent parodied in South Park...I had no idea the South Park accent was so accurate 😂

In Poland “low-class” people are still called onions to this day, and it’s common to call the country “Onionland” as a cheeky remark about Poland’s place in geo- and socio- politics.

Oh! im from PA and it’s more common to have chips instead of frech fries on the side of your burger here! I never knew about the “potato chip belt” that’s so interesting lol

In Sweden the most traditional flavours are: Salted (yellow), Sourcream and Onion (blue), Dill (green) and "Grillchips" (orange). "Grillchips" are more or less onion flavour.

Pittsburgher here. Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York are considered the “Snack Belt” as this is where most of the dry, salted snack companies (Snyder’s etc.) are based. It’s less a potato chip domination, and more a preoccupation with dry, salty snacks. Pretzels are big here (the dry hard kind) as well.

I'm surprised JJ didn't mention the fascinating color association linked to the flavor cannon. His illustrated graphic even captures it. Yellow=plain, brown/orange=BBQ, green=sour cream and onion, light blue=salt and vinegar.

I always considered "cheese" to be a staple chip flavor. There's doritos where that's their main thing, but also cheddar ruffles and cheddar lays. I'm sure most american chip brands have some sort of "cheese" variety

in Australia, we have a few chip flavours I would consider the "canon", that actually include all the american ones. the extra ones we have are: honey soy chicken, cheese and onion, and plain chicken. I have no idea where any of these came from, but it's interesting to hear that other countries don't really have these! I would really recommend trying cheese and onion if you have the chance

Here in Brazil we have four basic flavors that you can rely on every brand of chips, crackers or just general salty snack foods to have: original (or plain), onions and parsley (green packaging), cheese (orange packaging) and barbecue (usually red). Then different brand will usually have different variations, like salami, green or red peppers, picanha (instead of just general barbecue), pizza, shrimp, sundried tomatoes, bacon, ribs with lemon (i've tried those, you can really taste the lemon), and a bunch of other ones. I'm pretty sure one time I saw one that was just flavored the abstract concept of spice.

Hey, I have an idea for a video. My wife is French and she finds the idea of American Prom and Homecoming so weird. Do you think you could do a deep dive into why these dances have such a cultural significance?

I’m from Ohio and currently live in Pennsylvania and can confirm that we are the chip belt. There are soooooo many regional chip brands in this area. At my local grocery store, the regional brands are actually given more shelf space than the national ones.

During my stay in Germany, Paprika flavored chips were incredibly popular. I've never seen them in the US, but I hope they eventually make the jump.

JJ's channel is like a non-stop wikipedia binge. I love it