From Marilee Foster, of Foster Farms, Sagaponack, NY:

So who designed the Tiger Spud bag? That’s kind of a great story.

My Mom

Back when potatoes ruled Long Island, bag salesmen would come around to all the farms with a new lineup of designs each year. Farmers could pick a bag, slap their name on the top, and the rest of the design stayed the same. Most of them chose pictures of potatoes.

Our mom, Lee, picked the tiger.

This was sometime in the 1960s. She was creative, and she saw something in it. She took the salesman’s design and started drawing on it herself – gave the tiger personality, added the potato, even freehanded the “Tiger Spud” lettering.

From there, we started getting the bags custom-made. And that bag – along with the Tiger Spud name – became our toehold in the potato industry for the next 40 years.

We didn’t think much about packaging back then. We were farmers. But it turns out, that bag traveled far beyond Sagaponack. People still recognize it.

From Icon to Iconic

People stop and ask about it. We’ve had friends call it “Andy Warhol-worthy.” Designers want to repurpose it. It’s one of those things that started out practical and became unexpectedly iconic.

We even had a little brush with the big leagues – trademark tangles with the likes of Exxon and Kellogg’s because, well, our tiger looked a little like Tony. Those were the days.

Inside Tip 📌

If you buy a bottle of our spirits at our tasting room, you'll get a bag with the bottle.

Contact

🌐 Sagaponack Farm Distillery

About

This card was written by Marilee Foster, a sixth-generation farmer, artist, and author, deeply connected to the soil and the environs of Sagaponack, New York. She runs Marilee’s Farmstand and co-owns Foster Farm and the Sagaponack Farm Distillery with her brother Dean.

Images

* Lead-in Image - Tiger Spud Logo / Sagaponack Farm Distillery

* Back of Card Image 1 - Wonder Shuffle

* Back of Card Image 2 - Marilee's Farmstand / Instagram