
11/24/2024
BLUE POTATOES IN KENTUCKY: The fist blue potatoes were grown in Peru in the Andes Mountains where potatoes were domesticated 7-10 thousand years ago. It has been written that blue potatoes were introduced in North American in the 1970s. That is part of the story. As early as October of 1815, blue nose potatoes from Ireland were sold aboard the schooner “Benjamin” at Magwood’s Wharf in Charleston, SC. By January of 1839, Robert Buckner had “fine blue potatoes” for sale in Louisville, KY. For several decades in Kentucky, blue potatoes were treated as an imported specialty vegetable that was advertised for sale in Louisville. By 1914, the M. C. Russell Co. had Blue Victor seed potatoes available for sale in Maysville, KY. The following year, J. Polk Burlew grew 24 Blue Victor potatoes in Falmouth, KY, which weighed 30 pounds. In 1916, blue potatoes could be purchased by the bushel during Dollar Week at J. A. Hobbs in Butler, KY. By 1935, there were blue potatoes grown on Kentucky farms in Lewis County, Mercer County, Pendleton County, and Bell County. Then, in 1950, there was a major campaign against blue colored potatoes. Kentucky newspapers carried stories of how federal chemists used the dye F. D. and C. No.1 to color 50,000,000 bushels of surplus potatoes blue to keep humans from eating them. It was said that the U.S. Government was selling the chemically blued potatoes back to farmers to feed to their livestock. There were other reports that the potatoes were dyed blue to keep the potato surplus bought by the government from being resold on the open market. During the fall 1950 GOP Congressional Campaign, New Jersey Republicans began giving away blue-dyed potatoes to convince voters that the Democratic Administration’s surplus potato program was “wasteful and extravagant.” The State Journal newspaper in Frankfort, KY, ran an article to explain why humans did not want to eat blue mashed potatoes. In 1952, there were reports of a potato shortage that had caused the black market for potatoes to flourish. Potato detectives were dispatched to fight the potato black market. After that, not much was said about blue potatoes in Kentucky newspapers beyond the occasional article about odd colored vegetables raised by gardeners. Columnist Ann Landers nixed blue potatoes in 1975. Today, most blue potatoes are grown in California, they are referred to as a specialty potato. There is no available data on the number of blue potatoes grown in Kentucky.
Sources:
Atkinson, Greg. “There’s joy in the blues — potatoes, that is.” 15 March 2009. The Seattle Times webpage. Accessed 24 November 2024, https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/theres-joy-in-the-blues-8212-potatoes-that-is/ #:~:text=Of%20course%2C%20blue%20potatoes%20aren,America%20only%20in%20the%201970s.
“Blue potatoes.” The State Journal, 22 March 1950, p.2.
“Blue Victor seed potatoes.” Maysville Bulletin, 26 March 1914, p.3. (ad attached)
“Five days. $Dollar Week$.” The Falmouth Outlook, 1916, p.8.
Landers, Ann. “Your problems by Ann Landers.” The Mayfield Messenger, 05 May 1975, p.4. (selections attached)
Larsen, Douglas. “The case of the missing spuds.” The Owensboro Messenger, 06 June 1952, p.8.
McCarty, Grant. “Beyond 'Yukon Gold': Growing Purple/Blue Potatoes.” 19 March 2020. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Extension webpage. Accessed 24 November 2024, https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/raise-grow-harvest-eat-repeat/2020-03-19-beyond-yukon-gold-growing-purpleblue-potatoes.
“No. 13.” The Falmouth Outlook, 10 September 1915, p.8.
Othman, Fred. “On Capitol Hill.” The Paducah Sun-Democrat, 17 March 1950, p.4.
“Potatoes.” Ad in the Louisville Daily Journal, 1 January 1839, front page.
“Republicans in New Jersey giving away blue potatoes.” The Courier-Journal, 26 October 1950, front page.
“Variety of notions,” Charleston Courier (South Carolina), 11 October 1815, front page. (ad attached)
IMAGE: Blue Potatoes from Grow Stuff webpage @ https://www.growstuff.org/crops/blue-potato.
VIDEO: 1st PURPLE potato harvest of the year! Bucket grown PURPLE POTATOES!! by My Edible Garden UK @ YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoX8G7gvdxU.