04 Oct The Unique Burial of the Pringles Can Inventor

In 1966, Fredric Baur revolutionized potato chip storage. Baur invented the iconic Pringles can and the chip itself. When Baur brought up the idea of his burial including is invention, his family first thought he was joking, but they buried him in a Pringles can in 2008.

Once you pop, you can’t stop

Baur received the patent for his design in 1970, after applying for it in 1966.  The design changed the world of snack food forever. Baur was an organic chemist and food storage technician for Procter & Gamble. His other notable creations include frying oils and freeze-dried ice cream. Procter & Gamble introduced Pringles to the American market in 1967 and the British market in 1991.

Power to the Pringles can

When it first came out, not everyone liked the new Pringles can. The uniformity of the chips clashed with the individualism of the 1960’s. Baur said of his invention, “The Pringles can was a revolution within the realm of snack food.” Despite its rocky start, the can has now become ubiquitously tied to potato chips in the eyes of consumers, and it helped inspire other packaging revolutions. Baur retired from Procter & Gamble in the early 1980’s.

A burial fit for an icon

Fredric Baur died on May 4, 2008, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 89. To honor his wishes, his children got an original flavor can of Pringles from a nearby Walgreens. They placed a portion of his cremated remains in the can after emptying it and buried it alongside an urn with the remainder of his remains. Some of the remains, however, went to one of his grandsons in another urn. Although many jokes circulated the family about Baur’s wishes, no one questioned whether or not to carry out his wishes. Baur’s legacy lives on in the shape of the tall, cylindrical icon of potato chips.