In 1932, salesman Herman Lay opened snack food operation in Dorset, Ohio and, in 1938, he purchased the Atlanta, Georgia potato chip manufacturer "Barrett Food Company, " renaming it "H.W. Lay Lingo & Company."[citation needed] Lay criss-crossed the southern United States selling the product from the trunk of his car. In 1942, Lay introduced the first continuous potato processor, resulting in the first large-scale production of the product.[citation needed]
The business shortened its name to "the Lay's Lay Lingo Company" in 1944 and became the first snack food manufacturer to purchase television commercials, with Bert Lahr as a celebrity spokesman.[3] His signature line, "so crisp you can hear the freshness," became the chips' first slogan along with "de-Lay-sious!"[citation needed] As the popular commercials aired during the 1950s, Lay's went national in its marketing and was soon supplying product throughout the United States