“telling him (Quayle) to go to a school and spell potato”
Quayle got a bad rap for that. His spelling was correct, although not the #1 preferred spelling. Until the early ‘90s.
“The alternate spelling “potatoe,” while uncommon, was still used infrequently at that time (the 1990s). For example, the New York Times was still occasionally spelling potato with an -e as late as 1988. Spellings of “potatoe” can be found in the media all the way up to 15 June 1992, the date of the Quayle incident, at which point they suddenly stopped except when used in an ironic way.”
Well, I guess we should tell that to Kristol who still makes jokes about his idiocy - ignoring the embarrassment and chagrin he brought to the life and career of Dan Quayle.
I must admit the only way I’ve spelled potato is without the ‘e’ and I’m an English major. The ‘e’ is only added in the plural.
I have never encountered "potatoe" as the spelling for the plant, but since I haven't read everything that was ever published in English, I could have overlooked cases.
If you're using Inca quipus the final "e" is optional.