A BOLOGNA SANDWICH (please)
Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
What is the strangest thing you have ever seen or ate between 2 slices of bread? My first good memory of eating a sandwich, I must have been about 3 years old. There used to be a drugstore with a soda fountain on a corner in Van Wert.
Mom and I walked in and sat down at a booth. Then mom ordered something that I never forgot. It was on grilled bread and in the middle of this was warm peanut butter. I bit down on it and it was simply delicious. It was a grilled peanut butter sandwich. I never ever forgot it.
According to my research, sandwiches have been eaten for centuries. According to one story, the Earl of Sandwich (John Montague) who was a billionaire, loved to gamble. In a 24 hour period he was gambling and did not want to stop and eat, asked his assistant to go get him a piece of beef and some bread.
The Earl took the beef, put it between the bread and ate it without stopping his streak of luck.
When the other customers saw Mr Sandwich make a sandwich, they too wanted to order the food that Sandwich had. So meat between bread became a “sandwich.”
Going back to when I was a kid, we ate bologna sandwiches. My little brother, Jim, couldn’t say bologna real plain so he called it “Lum Lum.”
In fact Jimmy would bow his head and pray, “Dear God, help papa on the train (where grandpa worked) so he can bring home Jimmy some Lum Lum.”
I have not had a bologna sandwich for years, but they sure sound good. My kids liked to take a slice of bologna and put it in the microwave. They would let it cook until the sides folded up and the bologna looked like a bowl.
There is a guy named Billy Lewis who had a show on and he had his fans send in different kinds of sandwiches he might want to try. One sandwich was a Mars candy bar on top of apples between two slices of bread. He seemed to like the taste. Another one was marshmallow cream and bacon, and apricot jam and bacon on toast. Some don’t sound too bad.
We know that Elvis had a favorite sandwich which was peanut butter, bananas, and crispy bacon and he loved them.
Here are some of the strangest sandwich combinations found in historical cookbooks and archives:
The Toast Sandwich (1861): Featured in Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, this consists of a single piece of dry toast seasoned with salt and pepper, placed snugly between two slices of buttered bread.
Peanut Butter, Olive, and Sardine Sandwich (1915): An early 20th-century combination that layered salty fish, briny olives, and thick peanut butter on bread.
Popcorn Sandwich (1909): A crunchy turn-of-the-century snack that used popped corn mixed with a binder or spread between buttered slices.
Banana and Liverwurst Sandwich (1931): A Great Depression-era pairing of sweet mashed banana and savory, iron-rich liverwurst.
Spaghetti Sandwich (1931): Cold, leftover spaghetti noodles tucked between slices of bread, sometimes accented with a basic sauce.
Pineapple and Anchovy Cheese Sandwich (1935): A sharp, sweet, and intensely fishy mid-century combination.
Prune Sandwich (1940): Often mashed into a paste or laid flat as whole dried fruits, sweet prunes were used during periods when fresh fruit or traditional spreads were scarce.
Pineapple Roquefort Sandwich (1965): A pungent mix of strong blue cheese and sweet, juicy canned pineapple rings.
Apple Sandwich (1910): Thinly sliced raw apples layered with basic seasonings or butter on early-century white bread.
Onion and Mayo Sandwich (1927): Thick rings of raw white onion slathered with simple mayonnaise.
Pineapple and Tuna Sandwich (1928): Highlighted in Florence A. Cowles’ Seven Hundred Sandwiches, this mixed flaked tuna, pickles, and crushed pineapple with French dressing.
Bacon, Peanut Butter, and Catsup Sandwich (1928): Crumbled crisp bacon moistened with ketchup and spread over peanut butter-coated white bread.
Cheese and Caviar Sandwich (1916): An upscale yet unusual pairing from early 20th-century tearoom recipe books.
Sardine and Mustard Sandwich: A Depression-era staple where pungent, cheap mustard cut through the fishy, oily taste of canned sardines to provide cheap calories.
Olive and Nut Sandwich: A delicate, chopped-nut and green-olive paste popular in mid-century tea parties before fading into obscurity.
Curried Egg and Oyster Sandwich (1916): A spicy, maritime combination featuring curry-spiced eggs and whole oysters.
Mosaic Sandwich (1916): A multi-colored concoction mixing cream cheese, chopped pimento, and peanut butter.
Scrapple Sandwich (1853): Fried slices of cornmeal and pork scrapple cooked in a skillet, popular across the Mid-Atlantic. (what is Scrapple? I think I know but not sure)
Egg and Sardine Sandwich (1920s): Mashed hard-boiled eggs blended directly with tinned sardines as a high-protein, budget-friendly meal.
Tongue Sandwich: Piled high with sharp mustard on rye, beef tongue was a standard fixture in historical New York delis before falling out of mainstream favor.
Savory Roast Beef Sandwich (1920): A heavy flavor mashup utilizing mustard butter, rare roast beef, salt, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, and mayonnaise.
Now I want a sandwich! Which one should we try? If you do try one, let me know and I’ll give you a Penny For Your Thoughts.
