George Speck, later known as George Crum, was a prominent figure in the culinary history of the United States. Born on July 15, 1824, in Saratoga Country, New York, to parents Abraham Speck and Diana Tull, he was of African American and Native American descent. Growing up with his sister, Catherine “Kate” Speck, George and Kate identified as members of the St. Regis band of the Huron tribe.
During his youth, George Speck worked as a guide in New York’s Adirondack Mountains from 1834 to 1850, where he honed his skills as an animal trapper, specializing in capturing wild ducks and deer. In 1853, at the age of 29, Speck was hired by Moon’s Lake House, an Adirondack resort on Saratoga Lake near Saratoga Springs, which catered to wealthy vacationers from New York City.
It was at Moon’s Lake House that George Speck’s name transformed. One of the regular patrons, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, often forgot Speck’s last name and instead referred to him as “Crum.” This nickname stuck, and Speck eventually embraced it, stating that “a crum is larger than a speck.”
The popular narrative surrounding George Crum is that he invented the potato chip. However, this myth was later debunked by his sister Kate Speck, who claimed to be the true inventor of what would soon be known as the famous Saratoga chips. According to her account, she accidentally sliced off a sliver of potato that fell into a hot frying pan. George Crum tasted the resulting chip and enthusiastically approved of it. Even though her claim is contested by the existence of earlier versions of fried potato shavings in cookbooks from the United States and Great Britain, there is no doubt that Crum’s promotion of the chip helped popularize it.
Wealthy visitors to Moon’s restaurant soon spread the word about the Saratoga chips, often traveling from Boston and New York specifically for the delicacy. After an unsuccessful attempt to take credit for inventing the Saratoga chip, Cary Moon, the owner of Moon’s Lake House, began selling them in boxes, marking the first attempt to merchandise the product beyond his restaurant.
In 1860, George Crum opened his restaurant, Crum’s Place, in Malta, New York. There, he provided every table with a basket of chips, which remained a delicacy for the elite until the 1920s. It was during this time that entrepreneur Herman Lay brought the chips to the South to introduce them to a wider audience. Lay’s mass production and worldwide distribution of potato chips soon overshadowed Crum’s legacy.
Despite this overshadowing, Crum’s Place remained open until 1890 when George Crum retired from the restaurant business. Throughout his life, he was married twice. His first marriage to Elizabeth Jarrett in 1853 resulted in three sons, John, Gilbert, and William, and a daughter, Anne. The couple divorced in 1857. He later met his second wife, Hester Esther Bennett, who was a regular customer at Crum’s Place. They married in 1860 and remained together until she died in 1906.
George (Speck) Crum passed away in Malta, New York on July 22, 1914, at the age of 90. His contributions to culinary history and the popularization of the potato chip have left a lasting impact on American cuisine. While his name may not be as widely recognized as some others in the food industry, his influence is undeniable. George Crum’s legacy lives on through the enduring popularity of the beloved potato chip.