# Who invented tater tots and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843 "2006-04-30T16:45:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/1 "2006-04-30T16:45:00Z")
Don’t get me wrong, I like tater tots but they are different. People can make ‘homemade’ french fries, hash browns, onion rings. They dont’ have to buy them frozen and heat them. But tater tots… There is no such thing as a ‘homemade’ tater tot. Tater tots are only factory made. So, How did these things come about? What industrial accident led to tots? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/2 "2006-04-30T16:47:55Z")
I don’t know, but I think we should be celebrating his or her birthday. And give them a statue. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/3 "2006-04-30T16:49:56Z")
Looking at the Wikipedia article, they were invented by Ore-Ida in the 1950s as a way of using the shreds left over from making french fries. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/4 "2006-04-30T16:50:44Z")
I don’t know who, but I likely know why: because they are most delicious way to combine potatoes and grease. Mmmmmmmm, potatoes and grease… ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/5 "2006-04-30T16:51:49Z")
[yankee living in the south pet peeve] POTATO PUFFS. They are freakin’ called POTATO PUFFS. “TATER” IS NOT A WORD. AND DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. [/ylitspp] [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_Tots) has this to say. I would imagine one of the prime reasons for keeping them around is precisely because you have to buy them- it’s a great finger food for kids, they serve it in schools all the time, and they must rake in the bucks selling them. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/6 "2006-04-30T16:52:22Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] There is no such thing as a ‘homemade’ tater tot. Tater tots are only factory made. So, How did these things come about? What industrial accident led to tots? [/QUOTE] Not an industrial accident. See, long ago there were these things called “TV Dinners.” At first they all seemed to have mashed potatoes as the side dish, but that wasn’t satisfactory with entrees that didn’t have gravy. Such as as fried chicken, or fish sticks. They wanted to use french fries in those, instead, but natural french fries aren’t uniform enough AND you usually didn’t get them crisp enough in the time it took to ‘cook’ the TV dinner. What was needed was a new form of potatoes, something that came in small enough bits to cook quickly, was uniform in size, had the fried tasted people liked… So you shred the potatoes into small bits, mix in some extra starch, maybe, so the shreds stick together – so far you could be making hash browns. The stroke of genius is extruding this mix and chopping it into uniform chunks. Now, prefry the result until brownish but not totally cooked…and we have the miracle known as Tater Tots! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/7 "2006-04-30T16:55:59Z")
[QUOTE=brianjedi] Looking at the Wikipedia article, they were invented by Ore-Ida in the 1950s as a way of using the shreds left over from making french fries. [/QUOTE] That makes a little sense. I can see it now. [Mr. Ore] Looke at these tiny shreds of potato that are being WASTSED! [Mr. Ida] Jennings! Get over here and make a product from thise stuff! But how did Jennings get them into little cylinders? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/8 "2006-04-30T17:14:09Z")
[QUOTE=bobkitty] [yankee living in the south pet peeve] POTATO PUFFS. They are freakin’ called POTATO PUFFS. “TATER” IS NOT A WORD. AND DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. [/ylitspp] [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_Tots) has this to say. I would imagine one of the prime reasons for keeping them around is precisely because you have to buy them- it’s a great finger food for kids, they serve it in schools all the time, and they must rake in the bucks selling them. [/QUOTE] Potato puffs? There’s nothing puff-like about a Tater Tot. A “potato puff” sounds like a fancy appetizer involving mashed potatoes and a pastry bag. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/9 "2006-04-30T17:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=bobkitty] [yankee living in the south pet peeve] POTATO PUFFS. They are freakin’ called POTATO PUFFS. “TATER” IS NOT A WORD. AND DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. [/ylitspp] [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tater_Tots) has this to say. [/QUOTE] Is it just me, or does that close-up picture of tater tots on wiki look more like a med school pic of some body part gone bad? No matter WHAT Ore-Ida says about Tater Tots being some miracle invention as a way to use up slivers of potatoes > [@](#): > > One of the most famous Ore-Ida® products are Tater Tots® shredded potatoes, first created in 1953 when the Grigg brothers were looking for new ways to use potatoes in their french fry business. They created bite-sized treats from slivers of potatoes and branded them “Tater Tots®” shredded potatoes. The first star in the Ore-Ida® family was born! from [Frozen Potatoes | ORE-IDA | United States | Kraft Heinz](http://www.oreida.com/funzone/history.aspx), the truth is that they first used these slivers in a product called “potato patties.” This is all you could find in stores before approximately 1957-58. You don’t see Tater Tots in grocery ads until 1958. Ore-Ida even say in their trademark application that the name was first used in commerce in Dec 1956, filed their application in 1957, and trademark was granted in 1958. But their website would mislead you to believe that they had Tater Tots out in stores in 1953. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/10 "2006-04-30T18:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=bobkitty] [yankee living in the south pet peeve] POTATO PUFFS. They are freakin’ called POTATO PUFFS. “TATER” IS NOT A WORD. AND DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. [/ylitspp] I’m afraid them’s fightin’ words. Specifically, [googlefight](http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=%22potato+puffs%22&word2=%22tator+tots%22) words. Tator tots beats potato puffs (which I’ve never heard of) 2 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/11 "2006-04-30T18:42:41Z")
Taretots - huyh! Puff - Huh! A little Googling shows that they looks like potato croquettes to me. See? I can fight too. 🙂 (I don’t know if “Tatertots” per se are sold in Britain - I’ve never seen them but I’m not the most observant creature on the planet. As for invention, I might guess that someone once had a shitload of potato/mashed potato to use up and after day two of this inexplicable potato glut, hit on a way to make them a little bit different, so as to avoid whin y family saying" ooh no, not this for dinner AGAIN". ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/12 "2006-04-30T19:11:48Z")
**bobkitty** , the furthest south I’ve ever lived was Philadelphia, and in all of my years in Cleveland, Philly, and Montana, I’ve never heard those things called “potato puffs” (which I agree sounds like it should involve a pastry bag). I’ve occasionally seen them referred to as “potato gems”, when they weren’t the trademarked Ore-Ida brand, but even then, much like “Kleenex” or “Jell-o”, the common name is “tater tots”. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/13 "2006-04-30T19:46:27Z")
From the Wiki link > [@](#): > > Tater Tots never exceed the size of a typical C battery. Size of a C battery? That’s no tater tot, that’s a tater toddler, or a tater child. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/14 "2006-04-30T20:11:32Z")
::sticking fingers in ears:: I CAN’T HEAR YOU. LA LA LA LA. They were listed as potato puffs on every single one of my school lunch menus, from preschool to college, and I refuse, REFUSE I TELLS YA, to think of them otherwise.\* But yes, **samclem** , that picture does not show the true yummy goodness that is smushed together potato bits. I was a bit puzzled by it until I read the caption. [sub]\* there must be another bostonian out there who can back me up. please?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/15 "2006-04-30T20:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=bobkitty] [yankee living in the south pet peeve] POTATO PUFFS. They are freakin’ called POTATO PUFFS. “TATER” IS NOT A WORD. AND DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT. [/ylitspp] And, now, having demolished Ore-Ida’s personal version of the truth, I’ll SUPPORT **bobkitty’s** assertion. They WERE first called _POTATO PUFFS_. Libby and others produced them first. I can supply newspaper ads as proof. Not that you can access them, but I"ve seen ads/pictures that are what was later called “Tater Tots.” They were first “Potato Puffs.” ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/16 "2006-04-30T20:31:56Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] And, now, having demolished Ore-Ida’s personal version of the truth, I’ll SUPPORT **bobkitty’s** assertion. [/QUOTE] I love you. Gods, I love you. ::sniffle:: Thank you so much. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/17 "2006-04-30T20:33:15Z")
[completely irrelevent hijack to make this thread all about ME!] Tater Tots were the very first food that I realized I could buy myself as a grownup that my mother refused to buy when I was a kid. I loved them in the occasional school lunch, and vaguely knew they were for sale in the frozen section, but Mom never bought them. My first grocery shopping trip after I had my own place found me standing stock-still in the frozen food section, stunned with the realization that I could buy my own tater tots and cook them in my own kitchen WHENEVER I WANT THEM! …and that, Timmy, is how independence is formed. From small bits of potato and fat. [/cihtmttaaM] ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/18 "2006-04-30T20:37:17Z")
Off-topical hijack: There is a little pub that opened near my place which features the humble tater tot all over it’s menu. Fries or tater tots with your burger, fried fish, etc. They also feature a thing they call “Tot-chos”. Picture Nachos, but replace the chips with tots. Oddly yummy. Almost every plate served in this place has tater tots on them. Whatever they’re called, people can’t get enough of them. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/19 "2006-04-30T20:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=Seven] Off-topical hijack: There is a little pub that opened near my place which features the humble tater tot all over it’s menu. Fries or tater tots with your burger, fried fish, etc. [/QUOTE] There’s a place somewhere near Atlanta that does the same thing. The Highlander, I think? I’ve never been, but I hear the nacho-type puffs are good. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843/20 "2006-04-30T20:46:03Z")
[Hotdish? What the…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotdish) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-tater-tots-and-why/354843.md?page=2)