Potato Chronology
by Richard E. Tucker
Last revised 5 April 2008

Copyright © 2008 by Richard E. Tucker

Introduction

The Potato Chronology is an attempt at a history of potatoes in what is perhaps a new way to do history. It is a simple listing of facts and factoids about potatoes arranged in the manner of an historical timeline limited to one line per entry. Information is constantly being gleaned from primary and secondary sources, including web-based sources. Citations are included for all entries so that those interested can conduct further research on their own.

In the beginning this work started with a narrow focus on the potato industry in New York State and, even more specifically, the northern Adirondack Mountain region. But it quickly became apparent that such a parochial view was limiting and that to truly understand the potato industry and its history, a much broader perspective was needed. So, the focus was widened, and herein one will find facts, statistics, incidents, discoveries, and developments from far-flung places affecting the world of the potato. Each entry represents some small incremental change or fact pertinent to the potato industry. Hopefully, the summation of these entries will give one a cursory understanding of the interconnectedness of world, national, and local influences that have reverberated throughout the potato world.

A truly complete chronology may not be possible due to time constraints and lack of sources of information. Still, one can make an attempt. This concept was prompted by the author's work on the Adirondack Chronology and a work-in-progress on the history of skiing in the Adirondacks. While not related to potatoes, those projects made clear the value of a chronology or timeline for keeping track of events over time. The former made it clear that if one could add enough entries, even those which at first seem to have only tenuous connections to the subject, cause and effect will eventually appear. For that reason an attempt has been made to include not only the history of potatoes and of farming in general, but also of agricultural chemicals, plant pathology, potato breeding, crop science, potato equipment, ecology, and governmental regulation, as well as the changes in society and living that influenced changes in the potato business.

For example, in 1976, a severe drought struck Europe. The potato crop failed and many countries shipped potatoes to Europe to help stave off hunger and starvation. No one realized then that these acts, done for both humanitarian and business reasons, had precipitated a side-effect that would not become clear until years later when a virulent late blight took hold in Europe and quickly spread throughout the world. Another example, perhaps more clearly exemplifying the concept, is the development of agricultural chemicals during mid-nineteenth century to combat insects, fungi and other pests. From the time of the initial discovery of the efficacy of certain chemicals to control insect and fungal pathogens, several years, even decades, passed before specialized production facilities were built and specialized tools and machinery were invented so that these chemicals could be produced and applied to crops economically. Even then, and perhaps more importantly, farmers had to recognize the benefits and make adjustments in their cash flow situations to afford these new technologies. Only after justifying these added costs and buying the required equipment and chemicals did farmers take advantage of the new technology and reap the benefits of increased production (actually reduced losses). As time went on it became clear that despite the benefits, there were drawbacks. Noticeable changes in the local ecology and even human health appeared. These represented liabilities to farmers and consumers alike, prompting demands for improved chemicals, more efficient application methods, and ultimately, to non-chemical means to combat insects and fungus. Cause and effect are a never-ending force driving better farming methods.

Sometimes it is difficult to connect cause and effect. We delude ourselves in thinking that progress is planned, and perhaps it is on some incremental level, but more often it is a series of unrelated events. The contemporaneous invention of the cast iron kitchen stove and the advent of inexpensive cooking oil in the mid-to-late nineteenth century led to widening popularity of potato chips and french fries. Before that time, deep-frying had been out of the question except in a few of the wealthiest households. Certainly, at that time no one ever set out purposefully to create a market for potato chips. Similarly, "fast-food" French fries appeared after WWII. But how many know it took the sequential combination of the development of large-scale land irrigation systems in the American West, Ray Dunlap's discovery of a process for freezing potatoes, the McDonald brothers' fast-food restaurant scheme, and the independent entrepreneurship of J.R. Simplot and Ray Kroc for French fries to spread around the world. Suburban sprawl is blamed for replacing the once-famous potato farms on Long Island, but one might wonder how long it could have been delayed if the Golden nematode had not found its way to Nassau County in the early 1930s. More recently, American potato growers are still reacting to the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994, the amendment to the Plant Variety Protection Act in 1995, and to the Central American Free Trade Agreement (signed in the summer of 2005). Consumers may not fully realize it, but the market is still responding to the sudden decline of the recent low-carbohydrate diet fad (potato growers had little sympathy when Atkins Nutritionals filed bankruptcy in 2005), the on-going move to eliminate trans-fats (partially-hydrogenated fats) and saturated fats from the American diet, and the national campaign to promote the benefits of potato nutrition. Additionally, there is the rising cost of fuel and transportation, and the incipient grass-roots efforts to promote 'buy local' programs. No one can predict how these will come together to change the potato world. Nature holds most of the strong cards, but the people and the marketplace ultimately drive the process.

Users of this chronology may find it useful to use the 'find' mode to locate items of interest or to locate entries pertaining to a common thread. An attempt has been made to use consistent terms and phrases to facilitate this. This work is not a detailed history of the potato industry, but only a starting point. The author's intent is to provoke thought, to stimulate further research on the part of the reader, and to have a little fun. Additional information may be found in the source documents.

While the author has attempted to make this chronology as accurate and complete as possible, he is sure that errors and conflicts have crept in. Please email the author at rtuckerr@aol.com with all corrections and new entries. Of particular interest is information on the invention and development of potato equipment since the 1920s. It seems, at least to this author, that this is poorly documented. Any information on this will be gratefully received.

see Entire Chronology - updated 5 April 2008