1. The original name was very different.
Pringles were first marketed as "Newfangled Potato Chips," but the name didn't stick. No one is certain where the name "Pringles" originated, but some think it could be an homage to the patent-holder for potato processing equipment ... or it could be the name of a street.
2. They were designed with the perfect chip in mind.
You may remember how old-school Pringles commercials bashed Lay's and other potato chip brands for being greasy and stale. Plus, there was the problem of all those sad chip crumbs at the bottom of the bag after being broken in transit. Pringles were meant to be a solution too all these ailments—crispy, non-greasy and in perfect form.
3. We have science to thank for their shape.
Before Pringles debuted on shelves in 1967, many scientists were hard at work designing a very specific structure, and for good reason! The saddle shape, created by chemist Fredric Baur, is technically known as a "hyperbolic paraboloid." Powerful computers were used to ensure that the chips' aerodynamics would keep them intact until they reached customers.
4. The container is extremely important.
The cylindrical cans, also invented by Fredric Baur, were created specifically to hold the stackable chips in place and keep them fresh. The original design even had a silver pop-top to keep them airtight, which may be where the slogan "Once you pop, the fun don't stop!" originated.
5. It took a long time to get the flavor right.
Though Baur conceptualized most of the product, another scientist named Alexander Liepa had to pick up where he left off in the 1960s to improve the flavor. Leipa's name is the one that can be found on the patent.
6. The creator was buried in a Pringles can.
When Fredric Baur requested that his children bury part of his cremated remains in a Pringles can, his kids initially laughed it off. But when it came time to head to the funeral home, they stopped at Walgreens to pick up a container to honor their father's accomplishments. Baur's son Larry toldTIME "My siblings and I briefly debated what flavor to use," Baur says, "but I said, 'Look, we need to use the original.'"
7. People eat Pringles all over the world.
The unique chips are sold in over 140 countries, and cultural preferences have lead to some bizarre Pringles flavors. Depending on where you look, you might find Pringles that taste like eggs benedict, crab, hot dogs or other out-there ingredients.
8. Production requires high-tech machinery.
Thanks to a mesmerizing video, we now know how the stackable chips are made. A combination of water, potato flakes, and corn starch is mixed together, then rolled into a flat potato sheet under 4 tons of pressure. Once they're fried in hot oil and coated with seasoning, they do a backflip off one conveyer belt and onto another, falling into perfect stacks.
9. They're not technically potato chips.
Because Pringles aren't actually made with real potato—the recipe calls for dehydrated processed potato—the FDA ruled in 1975 that Pringles could only be called "chips" if they provided a disclaimer, identifying them as "potato chips made from dried potatoes." Pringles scrapped that idea and renamed them potato "crisps."
10. There have been court cases surrounding Pringles.
The new, U.S. name caused further confusion in the U.K. where potato chips are always referred to as crisps. On top of that, Procter & Gamble (the snack's original developer) didn't want the snack identified as a potato product, since they're taxable across the pond. Britain's court decided that Pringles are legally potato chips, despite containing corn, rice and wheat, and Procter & Gamble U.K. had to cough up $160 million in taxes.
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