Founder Herman Lay was born on March 6, 1909, in the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Herman dropped out of Furman University, where he studied on an athletic scholarship. Around this time, he was also laid off at his job with Sunshine Biscuits. His first foray into the potato chip business began when he started working with Bartlett Food Company as a traveling salesman. It was during his car trips to deliver chips to customers that he recognized how portable chips could be sealed in wax paper bags. This innovation was the beginning of Lay’s Chips.

In 1932, he launched a snack food company in Nashville, Tennessee. Six years later, Herman Lay bought Barrett Food Company and renamed it H.W. Lay Lingo & Company. His chips were popular because they were affordable (only 10 cents), compact, and delicious. They were also flavored with ingredients like salt and vinegar, which put them ahead of the competition. In 1944, Herman shortened the company's name to Lay's Lay Lingo Company. In the same year, they became the first snack food business to run television commercials. Herman took another giant leap in 1961 after proposing a merger with Lay’s biggest competitor, Frito. The merger was accepted and Frito-Lay was born, which proved to be a massive win for both companies. The combined power of both brands led to some of the highest sales numbers recorded by snack food manufacturers at the time.

1965 saw yet another merger. This time, the manufacturer of Pepsi soda drinks, PepsiCo, came calling. Frito-Lay accepted their offer, and today, it remains a subsidiary of the multi-billion-dollar brand. Lay’s Chips grows more popular each year, thanks to Frito-Lay’s use of region-specific flavors