History of Sandwiches

The modern concept of a sandwich using slices of bread (as found within the Western World) can arguably be traced to 18th century Europe. However, the use of some kind of bread or bread-like substance to lie under (or under and over) some other food, or used to scoop up and enclose or wrap some other type of food, long predates the 18th century, and is found in numerous much older cultures worldwide.

1st Century B.C.

The ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder (110 BC - 10 AD) is said to have wrapped meat from the Paschal lamb and bitter herbs between two pieces of old-fashioned soft matzah—flat, unleavened bread—during Passover in the manner of a modern wrap made with flatbread. Flat breads of only slightly varying kinds have long been used to scoop or wrap small amounts of food en route from platter to mouth throughout Western Asia and northern Africa. From Morocco to Ethiopia to India, bread is baked in flat rounds, contrasting with the European loaf tradition.

6th to 16th Century 

During the Middle Ages, thick blocks of coarse stale bread called trenchers were used in place of plates. Meats and other foods were piled on top of the bread to be eaten with their fingers and sometimes with the aid of knives. The trenchers, thick and stale, absorbed the juice, the grease, and the sauces. At the end of the meal, one either ate the trencher or, if hunger had been satisfied, tossed the gravy-soaked bread to their dogs or given as alms to less fortunate or poor human. Alms were clothing, food, or money that is given to poor people: In the past, people thought it was their religious duty to give alms to the poor. Trenchers were clearly the forerunner of our open-face sandwiches.

16th and 17 Century

Variations of the concept of sandwiches have been around for centuries. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when or where they first appeared. Farm laborers in rural France had been eating meat between sliced bread long before it had a name, though the sandwich likely started even earlier than that.

In Mark Morton's well researched 2004 article "Bread and Meat for God's Sake," he wrote:

"What, then, were sandwiches called before they were sandwiches? After combing through hundreds of texts, mostly plays, that were written long before the Earl of Sandwich was even born, a possible (through somewhat prosaic) answer emerges. The sandwich appears to have been simply known as "bread and meat" or "bread and cheese." These two phrases are found throughout English drama from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For example, in an anonymous late sixteenth-centry play called Love and Fortune, a young man pleads for "a peece of bread and meat for Gods sake. Around the same time, in The Old Wives Tale by George Peele, a character confesses, "I tooke a peece of bread and cheese, and came my way." Shakespeare uses the phrase, too, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, where Nim announces, "I love not the humour of bread and cheese." A slightly later anonymous play, known as The Knave in Grain, includes a pedlar called a "bread and meat man" in its dramatic personate, and Thomas Heywood's seventeenth-century version of The Rape of Lucrece includes a song made up of the cries of street pedlars, including, "Bread and - meat - bread - and meat." Dozens of other plays from the same era also make reference to "bread and meat" or "bread and cheese."

The immediate culinary precursor with a direct connection to the English sandwich was to be found in the Netherlands of the 17th century, where the naturalist John Ray observed that in the taverns beef hung from the rafters "which they cut into thin slices and eat with bread and butter laying the slices upon the butter"— explanatory specifications that reveal the Dutch belegde broodje, open-faced sandwich, was as yet unfamiliar in England.

1762 - The Modern Sandwich Enters Society

The first written record of the word "sandwich" appeared in Edward Gibbons (1737-1794), English author, scholar, and historian, journal on November 24, 1762. Gibbon recorded his surprise at seeing a score or two of the noblest and wealthiest in the land, seated in a noisy coffee-room, at little tables covered by small napkins, supping off cold meat or sandwiches, and finishing with strong punch and confused politics. On November 24, 1762, he wrote in his journal:

"I dined at the Cocoa Tree....That respectable body, of which I have the honour of being a member, affords every evening a sight truly English. Twenty or thirty, perhaps, of the first men in the kingdom, in point of fashion and fortune, supping at little tables covered with a napkin, in the middle of a coffee-room, upon a bit of cold meat, or a sandwich, and drinking a glass of punch."

The Cocoa Tree, located at Pall Mall and St. James's Street, was a fashionable gentlemen's gaming club in London in the 18th century. Gaming houses in London were for the chosen few, where men of common tastes and of one class might meet together. In 1746 the Cocoa-tree Club became the haunt of politicians, particularly Tories, who met there under the guise of taking chocolate in order to hatch political plots. After 1750, only the more modest establishments survived, frequented by the public at large. The most select chocolate houses became private clubs, strictly limited to gentlemen from the ranks of high society.

1762 - It is also said that the cooks at London’s Beef Steak Club, a gentlemen's gaming club held at the Shakespeare Tavern, invented the first sandwich.

The sublime society of Beef Steaks' was very exclusive, limited to 24 members. The Prince of Wales became its 25th member. They dined off beef-steaks accompanied by generous amounts of port and arrack-punch. The members met at 5 o'clock on Saturday's from November until the end of June. Each member could also invite a friend.

How the Sandwich got its name

John Montague (1718-1792) was the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. He became First Lord of the Admiralty and was patron to Capt. James Cook (who explored New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Hawaii, and Polynesia.). Capt. Cook named the Hawaiian Islands after him, calling them the Sandwich Island. Montague Island, a large island at the entrance to Prince William Sound on the Gulf of Alaska, was also named by the famed Captain Cook.

Montague was a hardened gambler and usually gambled for hours at a time at this restaurant, sometimes refusing to get up even for meals. It is said that ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. Because Montague also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!" The original sandwich was, in fact, a piece of salt beef between two slices of toasted bread.

Of course, John Montagu (or rather, his nameless cook) was hardly the first person to think of putting fillings between slices of bread. In fact, we know exactly where Montagu first got the idea for his creation. Montagu traveled abroad to the Mediterranean, where Turkish and Greek mezze platters were served. Dips, cheeses, and meats were all “sandwiched” between and on layers of bread. In all likelihood Montagu took inspiration from these when he sat at that card table.

Becky Mercuri, author of American Sandwich, quotes researcher J. J. Schebel on a French claim that travelers and field workers carried meat between two slices of black bread, long before the “sandwich” gained prominence. None of this is surprising; in fact, it would be more surprising if slices from loaves of bread had not been used to hold meat, cheese, fish and other fillings. There’s just no notation of it; it took the celebrity of the fourth Earl of Sandwich to give it a name.

1787

Charlotte Mason published a receipt for sandwiches in 1787 in which one was told to put some thin slices of beef between thin slices of bread and butter.  If preferred thin slices of veal or ham could be used instead of the beef.  – The Lady’s Assistant for Regulating and Supplying the Table.

1816

Sandwiches first appeared in American cookbooks in 1816. The fillings were no longer limited to cold meat, as recipes called for a variety of things, including cheese, fruit, shellfish, nuts and mushrooms. [I can't find any American cookbook published in 1816.]

1824

Early American sandwich:

To Make Oyster Loaves [some say this the precursor to the New Orleans Po'Boy] "Take little round loaves, cut off the top, scrape out all the crumbs, then out the oysters into a stew pan with the crumbs that came out of the loaves, a little water, and a good lump of butter; stew them together ten or fifteen minutes, then put in a spoonful of good cream, fill your loaves, lay the bit of crust carefully on again, set them in the oven to crisp. Three are enough for a side dish." ---The Virginia House-Wife, Mary Randolph, with Historical Notes and Commentaries by Karen Hess [University of South Carolina Press:Columbia] 1985 (p. 78)

1827

Domestic Economy and Cookery for Rich and Poor, by Maria Eliza Rundell, 19th-century British author of cookery books, instructed the cook to make Anchovy Sandwiches by spreading anchovy paste on bread, topping with a second slice of bread, and trimming the crusts. For Ham Sandwiches the same source recommended mixing cheese and butter, seasoning agreeably, and adding thin slices of ham, tongue, redded beef or bacon. A Common Sandwich was made by layering sliced ham, redded beef, or tongue, laid neatly between two slices of bread and butter, with mustard if wanted.

Shrimp sandwiches were quite appealing made from potted shrimps or shrimp butter. “Butter the bread, and arrange the shrimps, press together, and cut them neatly.” Oyster and lobster butter were recommended to make elegant sandwiches; and egg-butter “answers well” with minced or pounded anchovies. “Fish sandwiches are the lightest; sprinkle them with anchovy essence”. Rundell was admired throughout the classes, although she often referred to her work as necessary for the "'modern' middleclass housewife".

1829

An 1829 book advised that hot suppers were, “not much in use”, where people were prone to eating late, which explains the instructions for having the sandwiches ready to serve at midnight. – Radcliffe, A Modern System of Domestic Cookery.

SANDWICH OF FILLET OF FOWL AU SUPREME.  Cut off the fillets of as many fowls as will supply the party intended to be given.  Twelve fowls will give you sandwiches enough for a large assembly.  Twelve au supreme are sufficient.  First make the bechemel well seasoned* …mark the fillets in a saute-pan with very little butter dip the fillets in melted butter, put them in the saute-pan powder a little salt over them, and saute them two hours  before you can make use of them, to have them quite cold when you cut up.  When you make the sandwiches, slice the fillets as thin as possible without trimming them.  Take them up very thin, and leave them one upon another to prevent their getting dry, for sandwiches should not be made till late in the evening, otherwise the bread will become dry, and they will be good for nothing.  When you begin to make the sandwiches, (which you should not do till towards nine o’clock, to serve up at twelve,) lay two bits of bread side by side, spread upon them a very little of the bechamel then put the white of the fowl on one of the bits of bread, with al ittle salt, and put the other piece on the same way as before so that they may join well:  cut the sandwich in half only.  Serve on silver plates; one sandwich upon another, a little turned, but do not try to innovate or improve by attempting to serve them miroton-way, when the plate is reasonably filled.  Ude, Louis Eustache.  The French Cook.  1829.  London.

The preceding source offered recipes for sandwiches of fillets of pheasant, fillets of sole, anchovies, and salad (green herbs). Radcliff suggested sandwiches could be made from a long list of suggestions he gave for cold suppers which included game, fowl, rabbits, fish, oysters, small birds, cutlets, cold tongue, ham, collared things, Hunter’s beef sliced, rusks buttered with anchovies, grated hung beef with butter, grated cheese, potted meats, crabs, lobsters, prawns, crayfish, etc.

By the 1840’s bakers were selling what they termed sandwich loaves which attests to the popularity of various sandwiches by that time. As the century progressed more and more types of sandwiches and recipes for making them were included in cookery books.

1840

The sandwich was introduced to America by Englishwoman Elizabeth Leslie (1787-1858). In her cookbook, Directions for Cookery, she has a recipe for ham sandwiches that she suggested as a main dish.

Ham Sandwiches - Cut some thin slices of bread very neatly, having slightly buttered them; and, if your choose, spread on a very little mustard. Have ready some very thin slices of cold boiled ham, and lay one between two slices of bread. You may either roll them up, or lay them flat on the plates. They are used at supper or at luncheon.

Late 1860s

The years following the Civil War saw an increase in sandwich consumption, and they could be found anywhere from high-class luncheons to the taverns of the working class. By the end of the 19th century, sandwiches earned new names for their many different forms, like the triple-layered “club sandwich” and the corned beef “Reuben.”

1893

One of the first cookbooks devoted to the sandwich was also one of the most interesting: Beverages and Sandwiches for Your Husband's Friends, by One Who Knows (G.L. Horton, 1893). The slim volume set forth that these meals were manly food, to be eaten with alcoholic punches or fine wine. And the recipes, which are adventurous even by today's standards, read like a trophy shelf of hard-won, exotic ingredients: Camembert sandwiches (with pear!), lamb sandwiches with capers, and even sandwiches made with "Botargo"_ [sic]_, the salty dried tuna roe.

At the dawn of the 20th century, there was indeed a manly air to many sandwiches: The great American hamburger, hot dog, and hero traditions were establishing themselves in the streets, but they were passed over on the printed page. These gutsy foods were not the kind favored by the reform-minded cooking experts of the day, like Sara Tyson Rorer and Fannie Farmer, who offered up the sandwich as a "dainty" food for "light entertaining." As cities got bigger and faster and louder, the bourgeois home was presented as a quiet haven from those forces. Home economists were preaching the value of modest cooking, thrift, and nutrition—effectively a kind of culinary temperance movement. In her 1894 cookbook Sandwiches, Rorer even tried to gentrify the workingman's lunch, proposing a double-decker sandwich, made with both wheat and white bread and spread with seasoned cottage cheese. "These are palatable, and are very much better for the average workman than bread and ham," she speculated.

1900's

Initially perceived as food that men shared while gaming and drinking at night, the practice of serving “sandwiches,” including elaborate presentations of poached fillet of pheasant and guinea hen, soon became a popular late-night meal at society balls, and the sandwich slowly began appearing in polite society as a late-night meal among the aristocracy. The sandwich's popularity in Spain and England increased dramatically during the 19th century, when the rise of industrial society and the working classes made fast, portable, and inexpensive meals essential.

It was at the same time that the European-stye sandwich finally began to appear outside of Europe. In the United States, the sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate meal at supper. The sandwich became very popular in the American diet when bakeries started selling pre-sliced bread, thus making sandwiches very easy to create. Sandwiches became an easy, portable meal for workers and school children alike. By the early 20th century, as bread became a staple of the American diet, the sandwich became the same kind of popular, quick meal as was already widespread in the Mediterranean.

From Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Solomon H. Katz, editor, William Woys Weaver, assoicate editor [Charles Scribner's Sons:New York] 2003, Volume 3 (p. 235-6)

"The concept is supremely simple: delicate finger food is served between two slices of bread is a culinary practice of ancient origins among the Greeks and other Mediterranean peoples. Literary references to sandwiches begin to appear in English during the 1760s, but also under the assumption that they are a food consumed primarily by the masculine sex during late night drinking parties. The connotation does not change until the sandwich moves into general society as a supper food for late night balls and similar events toward the end of the eighteenth century...Charlotte Mason was one of the first English cookbook authors to provide a recipe for sandwiches...During the nineteenth century, as midday dinner moved later and later into the day, the need for hot supper declined, only to be replaced with light dishes made of cold leftovers, ingredients for which the sandwich proved preeminently suitable. Thus the sandwich became a fixture of intimate evening suppers, teas, and picnics, and popular fare for taverns and inns. This latter genre of sandwich has given rise to multitudes of working class creations...During the early years of the railroad, sandwiches proved an ideal form of fast food, especially since they could be sold at train stations when everyone got off to buy snacks...During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the sandwich came into its own, especially as a response to the Temperance Movement. Taverns and saloons offered free sandwiches with drinks in order to attract customers."

1920s

Eventually, recipes loosened up and encouraged homemakers to riff on the form. In the 1920s, when people could easily get their hands on tight-grained, soft-crumbed commercial sandwich bread, cookbooks and brochures published by bread and flour companies offered instructions for making whimsical party sandwiches, like the ones my mother's cookie cutters were used for. The fillings were mostly convenience foods, like tinned fruits, meats, and vegetables, mixed with store-bought mayonnaise or cream cheese to form sweet and savory spreads. There were sandwich rolls, sandwich checkerboards, and sandwich loaves—whole bread loaves sliced longitudinally and spread with different fillings, then cut into colorful cross-sections.

1924

From "Sandwiches Flourishing," New York Times, November 2, 1924 (p. XX2)

"The day of the sandwiches has arrived. It is so proclaimed by placards and posters plastered over the business districts. A new type of lunchroom substantiates the announcement--the 'sandwich house.' It may offer side lines of hot dishes and pastries, but to sandwiches it owes its existence. For them it is known and patronized. In its turn it has served to change the status of the commodity. 'A sandwich used to represent a picnic or a pink tea,' [see pink tea definition below] commented one business man addicted to the habit. 'At best it was just a mouthful of something to eat to tide you over until mealtime. Now it is lunch. You may order something to keep it company, but the sandwich is the main thing. It is the corn beef and cabbage, the steak and onions, the liver and bacon of other years.'

Restaurant keepers agree. One of them in the financial district, who presides over a chain of sandwich buffets, believes he has hit upon the secret of the business man's desire for his midday meal. Once he was manager of a large hotel where men came in leisurely, ordered lavishly and ate copiously. That day is gone, he is convinced, as he watches throngs file past his counters and stacks of sliced bread, meat and cheese disappear. At one of his lunchrooms he feeds 700 at every lunch hour. When the day is over 1,000 sandwiches have usually been consumed. Only 25 per cent of his patrons, he estimated, call for hot dishes--the rest are sandwich eaters.

This development has brought with it all the machinery of sandwich--making, now becoming as common a feature of restaurant windows as the hot cake steam plate New Yorkers know so well. There is a machine that slices the loaves and another that slices the meat. This last, at the press of a button, cuts and stacks ham, tongue, beef and so one without touch of human hands. Sandwich-making is thus facilitated and sandwiches themselves have changed not only in status but also in stature and girth. These sandwiches have little in common with the link tea or picnic offering or even with those pressed slabs in waxed paper piled up at soda fountains, for the business man's lunch is a high stack of bread, meat and salad, combined, and they make it as you order.

The vogue of the sandwich is attributed to a considerable extent to the rush of modern business life. Men have no time to sit around leisurely waiting for large orders. They must grab a bite, preferably wholesome and satisfying, but essentially without delay. The sandwich has been found to fill the need. Education, too, it is said, has something to do with the matter. 'Ever since the war people have seemed to understand eating better than they did before,' said one restaurant keeper. 'Before the war you could not get away with the idea that a sandwich was enough lunch for a business man. But somehow they have come to the conviction that a light lunch is the best thing if they expect to go back to the office and do their best during the afternoon. They have heard, too, that salads are good for you and so they have tried them out and felt much better for the experiment. Salads and sandwiches--they are the style for a business man's lunch today. That is what they want and that is what they get."

Note: The Oxford Dictionary gives this definition of a pink tea:

Origin Late 19th century; earliest use found in Evening Observer (Dunkirk, New York). A formal tea party or other social engagement, especially one hosted and (largely) attended by women, often for charitable fund-raising; (in extended use) an exclusive gathering.

Late 1920s

In the late 1920s, when Gustav Papendick invented a way to slice and package bread, sandwiches found a new audience. Mothers could easily assemble a sandwich without the need to slice their bread, and children could safely make their own lunches without the use of a knife. The portability and ease of sandwiches caught on with families, and the sandwich became a lunchroom staple.