So another hometown memory dies. The country’s oldest continuously operated potato chip company, Mikesells of Dayton, Ohio, is to be liquidated.
They say they hope to sell the brands to someone else to keep them on the shelves, but the Dayton factory is definitely shutting down and come on the new owner isn’t going to bother maintaining the recipe etc. Look at how terrible post-liquidation Hostess products are now.
Another day closer to death …
Damn, I grew up on Mikesells chips. This makes me sad. So much better than Lays, I believe it was the peanut oil that set them apart.
I’m not from Ohio so I’ve never had them. It seems as though they were similar to Tim’s Cascade Chips which are a local favorite in the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, due to corporate buy-outs, Tim’s original recipe with peanut oil has been replaced by cheaper substitutes. It’s also now a subsidiary of Utz.
Yes, some time ago they stopped using peanut oil as the sole frying oil. As a result the chips just tasted like every other chip out there. Still disappointing though.
I’ve lived in the Dayton are my whole life. This is indeed sad news.
Back in the day they used 100% peanut oil. Those were incredibly good. Not sure if you can even buy any potato chips today that are made in 100% peanut oil.
I think perhaps because of peanut allergies, companies may not use peanut oil to make potato chips.
