Potato chips - which are also called crisps in other countries, as chips are what the Americans call french fries, but the word crisp also covers a lot of snacks made in a similar manner - are, as the name suggests, made from potatoes. They are a type of snack food in which thin slices of potato are either baked or deep fried until they are crunchy.
It's not certain when and where potato chips originated, although it looks to have been in 19th century America. Originally, most potato chips were available primarily in restaurants, but in the 20th century they started being made for home consumption. Early potato chips in this manner where sold loose or in tins, rather than being bagged. With the creation of cellophane, it was possible to cheaply seal potato chips in bags for home consumption.
Early potato chips were not flavoured; the first flavoured ones appeared in the mid 20th century, with two companies coming up with their own flavourings at the same time. Prior to that, the closest to pre-packaged flavoured chips was from Smiths Potato Crisps Ltd which had a twist of salt enclosed with the snack - which is why "Ready Salted" is a name for a flavour, as originally you had to add your own salt.
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