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This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

Behold the humble potato chip, snack food of the ages. Claimed to have been invented in 1853 in the road house kitchen of Native American George Crum, the potato chip traveled through American snack history in a class of it's own. That is, until in the early 1960s, when it was discovered that you could grind potatoes into a slurry and then press them back into a consumable form.

I sat down one day with a bag of potato chips from Lay's and with a can of Pringles. Lay's are made by Frito-Lay, a property of PepsiCo Inc. ( NYSE: PEP). Pringles are made by Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG). I wanted to compare the two in order to assess their similarities and differences. What I found were two very different snacking sensations although both are derived from the same source. The Lay's ingredient list is simple. They're made with potatoes, oil, and salt, with no preservatives added. The Pringles ingredient list begins with the same potatoes, oil, and salt, but the product also contains at least traces of wheat starch and rice flour in addition to a couple common food chemicals.

Lay's potato chips come out of a bag, each one a thin, crisp, salty snack of individual size and shape. Pringles potato crisps come out of a can, each one a perfect replication of the crisp preceding it and the one following after. Both the snacks do an admirable job of satisfying the craving for a crunchy, salty treat. Nutritionally the two munchies are very similar in total calories and fat.

There was just one particular difference I found between the two that might sway a buying decision. While Pringles potato crisps might comfort us with their uniformity, each one exactly the same anywhere in the country, Lay's potato chips in their uniqueness, offer the possibility that you might find one shaped like Texas, which you could sell on eBay for $1,500.

Vote in our poll for Lay's or Pringles as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.