Fritos corn chips launched a snack empire by transforming a typical Mexican street food, fritas (little fried things), into a mass-produced, mass-marketed snack staple. C. E. Doolin of San Antonio, Texas, purchased a recipe and equipment for making the chips by hand from Gustavo Olguin in 1932. By 1950, having applied Henry Ford’s assembly line methods to their production, Doolin was selling bags of Fritos nationwide. Like many other 1950s snack manufacturers, Doolin adopted a mascot. The Frito Kid’s cowboy attire evoked the snack’s ties to Texas. This figure stood on Doolin’s desk. (Courtesy National Museum of American History, lent by Kaleta Doolin)
Fritos corn chips launched a snack empire by transforming a typical Mexican street food, fritas (little fried things), into a mass-produced, mass-marketed snack staple. C. E. Doolin of San Antonio, Texas, purchased a recipe and equipment for making the chips by hand from Gustavo Olguin in 1932. By 1950, having applied Henry Ford’s assembly line methods to their production, Doolin was selling bags of Fritos nationwide. Like many other 1950s snack manufacturers, Doolin adopted a mascot. The Frito Kid’s cowboy attire evoked the snack’s ties to Texas. This figure stood on Doolin’s desk. (Courtesy National Museum of American History, lent by Kaleta Doolin)
