St. Paul couple uncovers birthplace of Old Dutch Potato Chips
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - St Paul's Macalester Groveland neighborhood is filled with historic houses. But one home in particular has a link to a quintessential Minnesota food that has been relegated to the dustbin of history until now.
"We love it. Everybody loves Old Dutch, right? They are everyone's favorite chips and to live in the home that's part of that local history is just kind of fun," said Tom Mueller.
Mueller and Art Punyko bought their house at Grand Avenue and Pascal Street 28 years ago. That summer, a car pulled up out front and the driver struck up a conversation with Mueller, telling him his uncle started Old Dutch Potato Chips in the kitchen.
"My first reaction was you've got to be kidding me. This can't be true. You're pulling my leg," said Mueller.
Uncovering history
It wasn't until the two retired a couple of years ago, that they were able to dig into the home's history.
Property records showed the house was owned by Charles Marx during the depression.
According to census records, Marx's son, Carl J. Marx, lived with him at the home and Carl's occupation was listed as the proprietor of a business that manufactures potato chips.
"We were pretty excited. Just because it brought this 28-year-old story. There's a little evidence to this and it was really fun," said Punyko.
Honoring the legacy
To commemorate their detective work, Mueller and Punyko ordered a bronze plaque for the front of the house proclaiming it the birthplace of Old Dutch.
"So the story that I was told was he wrote for some pamphlets from the federal government who were trying to help people come up with ideas to make a buck. One of them was making potato chips for yourself. So he just started experimenting with different recipes in the kitchen. And what he would do is he would put them in little wax paper bags, and then he would deliver them to the little corner markets. That's how the whole thing started," said Mueller.
When the couple contacted the company's headquarters in Roseville, officials told them they knew Old Dutch started in St Paul, but they didn't know where.
"It was really cool for us to know the actual location of where it started and that it was so close to even where we are right now. So it was very exciting," said Stephanie Aanenson, Director of Special Projects for Old Dutch Foods.
Company history
Marx sold the company to the Aanenson family in the mid-50s and they still own it to this day.
From those humble beginnings in Marx's kitchen, Old Dutch has grown into a Minnesota favorite, with its tins and boxes lining store shelves across the upper Midwest and Canada, where it is that country's second best-selling brand.
The company's signature windmill was designed by legendary Minnesota wildlife artist Les Kouba.
How Old Dutch chips got their name
As for the name?
"The Dutch were specifically known for cleanliness and quality. And then they put old in front of the name to make it sound like the company had been around for a long time, even though at the time it was brand new," said Aanenson.
The company's production facility in Roseville cranks out up to half a million pounds of potato chips a week.
This year Old Dutch is celebrating 90 years of crunch time.
"I think it means a lot for everybody to celebrate this milestone. 90 years is a long time, especially for a family business. We're kind of a dying breed," said Aanenson.
As for Mueller and Punyko, Old Dutch isn't their home's only claim to fame.
St Paul native Paul Molitor's family lived there for three years in the 1960s, long before he became a baseball Hall of Famer.
But they hope preserving their piece of Old Dutch history will be in the bag for years to come.
"We kind of view ourselves as stewards of this home. We kind of fixed it up. But we hopefully are not the last owners and someone else can carry on the story. Maybe somebody else famous is going to live here too, someday," said Punyko.