# Talk:Potato race

It is not made clear in the artcle where these races originated or take place. An info?Djflem (talk) 06:12, 22 May 2018 (UTC)

I don't think there are any sources that explicitly said it was an American thing, although that was the assumption I made. I never found anything about where they were invented specifically. I can have another look through tomorrow though. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 07:20, 22 May 2018 (UTC)
Djflem, having reviewed the sources and searching through them again, I didn't find any that said explicitly where or when these races were invented. Going by the sources on Newspapers.com, the earliest mention I can find that isn't talking about potatoes as a species is actually in Scotland in 1865, and then one from Australia in 1868. They're only lists of winners and don't go into detail, but from the context of the other events listed around them, I assume they are foot races, not the mounted version, so possibly the footrace version was a British export.
An article from Buffalo in 1871 is the first to explicitly describe what the potato race consists of; by the description it's clearly the on-foot version. Later in 1871 in Pennsylvania there's a mention of a potato race smack in the middle of a list of equestrian events, so I assume that's the horse version but can't say for sure. Most reports I've found of the horse version mention cowboys, rodeo, or some location in America, but there's none that explicitly identify it as an American invention.
They petered out by the 1930s, which I've now added to the article. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 00:45, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Potato race/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Courcelles (talk · contribs) 12:30, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

I’ll take this one.  Courcelles (talk) 12:30, 16 August 2018 (UTC)

"although the violent mounted version has largely died out."  Largely.  So the violent ones are still being held somewhere?
Not really seeing any other problems, which means a re-read later today when more awake might be in order. Courcelles (talk) 13:26, 16 August 2018 (UTC)
"Largely" was kind of a weasel way for me to admit I'm making an assumption/reading between the lines a bit. I don't have any sources that definitely describe one of these events happening post like, 1940ish, but I also don't have any sources that say they're dead for sure. I don't mind to take it out. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 21:29, 16 August 2018 (UTC)
Sqdly, likely for the best to just not make the (logical) assumption here. Courcelles (talk) 06:06, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
I pulled out "largely" but left the rest; I feel like if they were still happening anywhere in some kind of organized fashion, I'd have found a source past 1930. I was very, very thorough. ♠PMC♠ (talk) 06:38, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
Agreed, and promoted. Nice work on a subject few have heard of before Courcelles (talk) 09:28, 17 August 2018 (UTC)
Courcelles, a bit belated but thanks for the review! ♠PMC♠ (talk) 21:47, 19 August 2018 (UTC)