Indiana's potato chip lady.

• Author: Sklar, Debbie L.
• Position: Myrtle Young of Seyfert Foods Inc.

Mention potato chips, and Indiana native Myrtle Young will tell you her prized possessions have seen more than the insides of foil bags.

Young is a former potato chip inspector for Seyfert Foods Inc. in Fort Wayne. She says hers is the only potato chip collection in the world. Her chips feature likenesses of animals, cartoon characters and even profiles of famous celebrities.

"My most famous chip," Young says with excitement, "is my Bob Hope chip. He sits on cotton in a special velvet jewelry box with a lid that protects him. It's my favorite chip and it could never be replaced."

Other chips in Young's collection include the countenances of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, Yogi Bear, Mr. Magoo, Mickey Mouse, Tweety Bird, Ziggy and Moby Dick, to name only a few. "I used to have a chip that looked just like Alfred Hitchcock," says Young, "but it had an accident. It broke into a hundred pieces."

Young began taking the chips home to show her granddaughter, who suggested starting a collection. "I really began to get serious about it in 1987," Young says. "That's when I started traveling with my chips and showing them on various television shows around the world."

Have chips, will travel? Says Young: "My chips have been all over the world; from the West to the East to Europe and Great Britain. Even Lady Di, Prince Charles and their sons have seen my chips." Young has been on "Late Night with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show," "CBS This Morning," "To Tell the Truth" and many other programs.

When she was on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" in 1987, Carson grabbed a...