Pringles — factory-stamped potato "crisps" in a can — first hit the marketplace in the early seventies. I remember trying them and liking them and eating them and then deciding there were other snacks I preferred…so I stopped buying them. As of the other day, it had been a good forty years since I'd bitten into one. This was back when they had only a few flavors and now they seem to have thousands.
What changed the other day? I came across the video below, watched it and wondered if I'd still like them. So I got a little sampler pack of three flavors — original, cheddar cheese and their sour cream & onion — and guess what? I found them just this side of inedible. My taste buds could not possibly have changed that much even in 40+ years. I'm thinking they must have seriously changed the recipe, perhaps substituting corrugated cardboard for the potatoes…or something.
I'm guessing it'll be a good forty years before I try another Pringle. I'll be 113 years old by then and the remaining ones I have here should be just as edible then as they are now. But I am impressed by one thing. I have a new-found respect for the effort that goes into making one. It's lot harder than, say, making a real potato chip…