A perfectly engineered snack… and an even more perfectly strange legacy
The Fact
Fredric Baur, the chemist behind the iconic Pringles can, was partially buried in one after his death in 2008.
Who Was Fredric Baur?
Fredric Baur was not just a snack inventor. He was an organic chemist and packaging innovator working for Procter and Gamble in the 1950s and 60s.
His assignment sounded simple but wasn’t:
Fix potato chips.
At the time, chips were:
- crushed at the bottom of the bag
- inconsistent in size
- exposed to air and grease
- honestly kind of a mess
So Baur approached it like a scientist, not a chef. Instead of improving chips, he redesigned the entire system.
That meant:
- uniform chips
- controlled stacking
- a completely new container
That container became the Pringles can.
He filed the patent in 1966, introducing one of the most recognizable food packages ever created.
The Invention Was Actually Kind of Genius
The Pringles chip isn’t random. It’s engineered.
Each chip is shaped like a hyperbolic paraboloid. That’s a real mathematical surface.
Why that shape?
Because it:
- distributes pressure evenly
- prevents breakage
- stacks perfectly without wasted space
The can itself solved multiple problems at once:
- protects chips from crushing
- reduces exposure to air
- allows efficient shipping and storage
One description of the product called it:
“The inherent beauty of uniformity.”
Which is a very polite way of saying they made chips into a system.
Fun fact: early consumers didn’t love it. People were used to irregular, natural looking chips. The idea of identical ones felt artificial at first.
The “Pringles Plan”
Sometime before his death, Baur made a very specific request to his family:
He wanted to be buried in a Pringles can.
Not a replica. Not something symbolic.
An actual, store bought can.
After he passed away at age 89, his children honored that request. On the way to the funeral, they stopped at a Walgreens to pick one up.
There was even a discussion about flavor.
His son reportedly said:
“Look, we need to use the original.”
And just like that, one of the most recognizable snack containers in the world became a burial vessel.
Things That Make This Even Stranger
- The Pringles can was inspired by tennis ball containers
- Pringles are not legally classified as traditional potato chips
- The product struggled early before becoming global
- Baur also worked on other food preservation innovations
The burial itself was not symbolic or custom made.
The Part People Don’t Think About
It’s not just weird. It’s oddly meaningful.
He didn’t choose a trophy or title.
He chose the thing he built.
Something simple. Something useful. Something millions of people interact with every day without thinking twice.
And in a way, that might be the most lasting kind of legacy.
Because even if people don’t remember his name
they’ll always recognize the can.
Shoutout
Story inspiration from Reddit user u/SupportiveMan
References
- Snopes. “Was the inventor of the Pringles can buried in one?”
- The Guardian. “Inventor of Pringles can buried in one”
- Time Magazine archive. “The Man Buried in a Pringles Can”
- Wikipedia. “Fredric Baur” and “Pringles”
- Reddit thread: “What is the weirdest fact you know?” (u/SupportiveMan)
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