Laura Scudder

Laura Clough Scudder (1881 – 1959) was an entrepreneur in Monterey Park, California who made and sold potato chips. She pioneered the packaging of potato chips in sealed bags. Image File history File links LauraScudder. ... Image File history File links LauraScudder. ... 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Monterey Park is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... Chips from Russet baking potatoes, a variety high in sugar. ...

Born in Philadelphia, Laura Scudder worked as a nurse before moving to California. While there she became the first female attorney in Ukiah, California before moving south to Monterey Park, California, where she started her food company in 1926. Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... Ukiah is the county seat of Mendocino County, California. ... Monterey Park is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

At first, potato chips were packaged in barrels or tins, which left chips at the bottom stale and crumbled. Laura Scudder started having her workers take home sheets of wax paper to iron into bags, which were filled with chips at her factory the next day. This innovation kept the chips fresh and crisp longer and, along with the invention of cellophane, allowed potato chips to become a mass market product. Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of processed cellulose. ...

Scudder also began putting dates on the bags, becoming the first company to freshness date their food products.

Laura Scudder faced many obstacles running her own company during the Depression. For instance, when she tried to get insurance for the company's delivery truck, she was denied by all the local male insurance agents, who claimed that a woman would be unreliable at paying the premiums. The female insurance agent who eventually insured the truck went on to insure the entire company fleet. The Great Depression was a massive global economic recession (or depression) that ran from 1929 to approximately 1941. ...

At one point, Laura Scudder turned down a $9 million offer for the company because the buyer wouldn't guarantee her employees' jobs. In 1957 she finally accepted a $6 million offer with the promise of security for her workforce. At the time of the sale the company had expanded into peanut butter and mayonnaise, and the Laura Scudder Potato Chips accounted for half of the market in California. 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Peanut Butter in jar Peanut butter is a food product usually consisting of roasted and ground peanuts, usually salted and sometimes sweetened. ... In cooking, mayonnaise is a thick, creamy sauce, usually of a white or light yellow color, which is made and eaten cold. ...

References

• Ethlie Ann Varie and Greg Ptacek (2002). Patently Female: From AZT to TV Dinners, Stories of Women Inventors and Their Breakthrough Ideas, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0471023345.

External links

• A history of potato chips
• A biography