Back To School,  Culinary History,  Food History,  School Lunches

Sandwich Fillings: A Chance to Be Creative

Mankind has been eating bread dipped in oil, slathered with a sauce or loaded with other goodies since ancient times.
The person most often credited with inventing the sandwich is John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich in the 18th century. It is said that this earl used the first sandwich, which is claimed to have been a piece of salted beef between two pieces of toaste
d bread, to sustain himself at the gambling tables.
Since then, sandwiches have come a very long way with all kinds of things being slapped between two slices of bread and are one of the most popular choices for school lunches. They are an excuse to get creative with what we have in the fridge! Ever heard of the Fluffernutter? Or the Monte Cristo? My favorite sandwich will forever be the classic peanut butter and jelly.
Contrary to popular belief, George Washington Carver, though often credited with inventing peanut butter, was not the creator. Though he did not invent peanut butter himself, George Washington Carve and his research and experimentation at the Tuskegee Institute with the peanut, was to see if he could find a way to not only create new products with this groundnut, but also produce a demand for them too.
Cotton was king in the South even after the Civil War, but during the Reconstruction Era, the soil of the south was poor and devastated by the boll weevil. Peanuts helped put vital nutrients back into the soil. Peanut butter or some form of it has been around for quite awhile. Commercial peanut
butters hit the market in 1895 and were first marketed as a health food!
What is your favorite sandwich filling? From some clippings in World War II magazines, here is a list of sandwich filling ideas that they suggested to keep the factory workers going. There are some… odd ones, I admit. Beans and applesauce is not what I want to find on my sandwich come lunch time. 😀 What would you try?

 

U.S. : Sandwiches for the man on duty, 1943
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Vintage Recipes for sandwiches and sandwich fillings
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