"l, not -l" > wrote in message
...
>
> On 14-Dec-2010, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
>
>> All spuds were peeled by machine except for dehys which were most.
>> Potato salad at sea was rare to never... in port the grubbermint
>> contracted delicatessen type viands with local civilian commissarys.
>> Any images of sailors paring spuds is very ancient history or pure
>> myth.
>
> The image of military personnel peeling potatoes is probably from WW2
> cartoons, and Sad Sack and Beetle Bailey comics. When I was in basic
> training, Nov. 1967 - Jan. 1968, peeling potatoes on KP duty meant loading
> them into the machines, draining the dirty water and removing them at the
> end of the cycle.

Oops! Sorry for the empty post!

Years ago I met a man who had worked for a big potato company. He said to
make the instant mashed, the potatoes were first put into a big vat of
chemicals to help remove the peels and workers scrubbed them with patio
brooms. This brushed any remaining peels off. I'm sure they have automated
it by now.