Sandwich History | Gentle Bedtime Reading For Sleep

Unwind with this calm bedtime reading designed to ease insomnia and bring restful sleep. Tonight’s episode explores the fascinating history and varieties of the humble sandwich, offering both comfort and gentle learning as you drift into slumber. You’ll discover how this simple yet versatile food became a worldwide staple, all while listening to Benjamin’s steady, soothing voice. There’s no whispering—just peaceful, fact-filled narration to calm stress, quiet anxiety, and help you relax.

Press play, settle in, and let your mind drift into rest.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And today's episode is about sandwiches.

A sandwich is a dish typically consisting variously of meat,

Cheese,

Sauces,

And vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread,

Or placed atop a slice of bread,

Or more generally,

Any dish in which bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type.

The sandwich began as a portable,

Convenient food in the Western world,

And over time it has become prevalent worldwide.

There has been social media debate over the precise definition of sandwich,

Specifically whether a hot dog or open sandwich can be categorized as such.

Other items like hamburgers and burritos were also considered.

In the United States,

The Department of Agriculture,

USDA,

And the Food and Drug Administration,

FDA,

Are the responsible agencies for protecting the definition of sandwich.

The USDA uses the definition,

At least 35% cooked meat and no more than 50% bread for closed sandwiches,

And at least 50% cooked meat for open sandwiches.

However,

The same USDA manual determines that burritos and fajitas are sandwich-like,

And frankfurters are sandwich-type,

While stromboli is explicitly excluded.

In Britain,

The British Sandwich Association defines a sandwich as any form of bread with a filling,

Generally assembled cold,

A definition which includes wraps and bagels,

But potentially excludes dishes assembled and served hot,

Such as burgers.

Sandwiches are a popular type of lunch food,

Taken to work,

School,

Or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch.

The bread is frequently coated with condiments such as mayonnaise or mustard to enhance its flavor and texture,

But may be served plain,

Dry.

As well as being homemade,

Sandwiches are also widely sold in various retail outlets and can be served hot or cold.

Although savory sandwiches such as deli meat sandwiches are in the majority,

Sweet sandwiches such as jam sandwiches and fluffernutters form their own category.

A sandwich is named after the inventor of a certain roast beef sandwich in 18th century England,

John Montague,

4th Earl of Sandwich.

The Wall Street Journal has described it as Britain's biggest contribution to gastronomy.

The use of some kind of bread or bread-like substance to lie under some other food,

Or to scoop it up and enclose or wrap it,

Is found in many cultures historically.

Before being known as a sandwich,

This food combination seems to have been known as bread and meat,

Or bread and cheese.

These two phrases are found throughout English drama from the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the 1st century BC,

The Jewish sage Hillel the Elder is said to have wrapped meat from the paschal lamb and bitter herbs in a soft matzah,

Flat unleavened bread during Passover,

In the manner of a modern wrap made with flatbread.

Flatbreads 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 North Africa.

From the cuisines of Morocco to Ethiopia to India,

Bread is usually baked in flat rounds,

Contrasting with the European loaf tradition.

During the Middle Ages in Europe,

Thick slabs of coarse and usually stale bread,

Called trenchers,

Were used as plates.

After a meal,

The food-soaked trencher was fed to a dog,

Or to beggars at the tables of the wealthy,

And eaten by diners in more modest circumstances.

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 belek de broodje,

Open-faced sandwich,

Was as yet unfamiliar in England.

The word sandwich appears,

Referring to a certain roast beef sandwich,

In England.

Initially perceived as food that men shared while gaming and drinking at night,

The sandwich slowly began appearing in polite society as a late-night meal among the aristocracy.

The sandwich is named after John Montague,

4th Earl of Sandwich,

An 18th-century English aristocrat.

It is commonly said that Lord Sandwich,

During long sessions of cribbage and other card games at public gambling houses,

Would order his valet to bring him roast beef between two pieces of toasted bread.

He was fond of this form of food,

Because it allowed him to continue gambling while eating without a need for a fork,

And without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.

The dish then grew in popularity in London,

And Sandwich's name became associated with it.

The rumour in its familiar form appeared in Pierre-Jean Grollet's Londres,

Neuchâtel 1770,

Translated as A Tour to London in 1772.

Grollet's impressions have been formed during a year in London in 1765.

An alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer,

Nicholas A.

M.

Roger,

Who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the Royal Navy,

Politics and the arts means the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.

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.

In London,

For example,

At least 70 street vendors were selling ham sandwiches by 1850.

During that decade,

Sandwich bars also became an important form of eating establishments in Western Holland,

Typically serving liver and salt beef sandwiches.

In the United States,

A sandwich was first promoted as an elaborate meal at supper.

By the early 20th century,

As bread became a staple food of the American diet,

The sandwich became the same kind of popular quick meal as was already widespread in the Mediterranean.

In the U.

S.

,

A court in Boston ruled in 2006 that a sandwich includes at least two slices of bread,

And under this definition,

This court finds that the term sandwich is not commonly understood to include burritos,

Tacos and quesadillas,

Which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat,

Rice and beans.

The issue stemmed from the question of whether a restaurant that sold burritos could move into a shopping center where another restaurant had a no-compete clause in its lease prohibiting other sandwich shops.

Also in the U.

S.

,

A court in Indiana ruled in 2024 that tacos and burritos are sandwiches,

Specifically that the court agrees with Quintana that tacos and burritos are Mexican-style sandwiches.

The court further ruled that such a definition of sandwich would also apply to a restaurant that serves made-to-order Greek gyros,

Indian naan wraps or Vietnamese banh mi.

The U.

S.

State of New York has a definition of sandwich that explicitly includes burritos,

Gyros,

Hot dogs and wraps and pita sandwiches.

In Spain,

Where the word sandwich is borrowed from the English language,

It refers to a food item made with English sandwich bread.

It is otherwise known as a bocadillo.

Similar usage applies in other Spanish-speaking cultures,

Such as Mexico,

Where the word torta is also used for a popular variety of roll-type sandwiches.

In Britain and Australia,

The term sandwich is more narrowly defined than in the U.

S.

It usually refers to an item that uses sliced bread from a loaf.

An item with similar fillings but using an entire bread roll cut horizontally in half is generally referred to as a roll,

Or with certain hot fillings,

A burger.

However,

In Australia,

Hot sliced,

Not ground beef,

Between two slices of toasted bread is referred to as a steak sandwich.

The sliced loaf bread distinguishes the steak sandwich from a burger.

The verb to sandwich has the meaning to position anything between two other things of a different character,

Or to place different elements alternately.

And the noun sandwich has related meanings derived from this more general definition.

For example,

An ice cream sandwich consists of a layer of ice cream between two layers of cake or biscuit.

Similarly,

Oreos and custard creams are described as sandwich biscuits,

Or sandwich cookies,

Because they consist of a soft filling between the baked layers.

In corporate finance,

Dutch sandwich and double Irish with a Dutch sandwich refer to schemes for tax evasion.

The word butty,

Originally referred to a buttered slice of bread,

Is common in some northern and southern parts of England and Wales as a slang synonym for sandwich,

Particularly to refer to certain kinds of sandwiches,

Including the chip butty,

Bacon butty,

Or sausage butty.

Sarnie is a similar colloquialism.

Likewise,

The word sanga is used for sandwich in Australian slang.

The colloquial Scottish word peace may refer either to a sandwich or to a light meal,

Especially one that includes a sandwich.

For example,

The phrase geely peace refers to a jam sandwich.

The colloquial form sammich,

Alternatively sammich,

Is used in the southeastern United States.

In Japanese,

Sando or sando ichi is used.

Sandwiches have been widely sold in cafes,

Railway stations,

Pubs,

And diners since the invention of sliced bread in the 1920s.

Sandwiches kept unwrapped,

Drying up and edges curling until they were sold,

Were widely found in Britain until the 1970s.

Cafes and buffets in railway stations and on trains were notorious,

And the term British rail sandwich was often used satirically.

In 1979,

The British store chain Marks and Spencer introduced a small range of chilled pre-made sandwiches,

Sold in wedge-shaped boxes,

Sealed to keep them fresh.

As they proved popular,

A small experiment involving five stores rapidly grew to cover more than 100 stores.

Within a year,

The store was looking for ways to manufacture sandwiches at an industrial scale.

By the end of the decade,

The British sandwich industry had become worth one billion pounds.

In 2017,

The British sandwich industry made and sold eight billion pounds worth of sandwiches.

Now let's learn about different types of sandwiches.

The submarine sandwich.

This is commonly known as a sub.

It's a type of American cold or hot sandwich made from a submarine roll,

An elongated bread roll,

That is split lengthwise and filled with meats,

Cheeses,

Vegetables,

And condiments.

Although submarine or just sub is the general term for both the bread roll and sandwiches made with it in both the U.

S.

And other English-speaking nations,

There are many local nicknames,

Especially in the northeastern United States,

Such as hoagie,

Philadelphia metropolitan area,

And western Pennsylvania English,

Hero,

New York City English,

Main Italian,

Maine English,

Grinder,

New England English,

Fulton County,

New York,

Wedge,

Westchester,

New York,

Or spunky,

Boston English.

A party sub is a particularly long submarine sandwich,

Usually cut into pieces and served to guests at parties.

This sandwich type originated in several different Italian-American communities in the northeastern United States from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.

The popularity of the Italian-American sandwich grew from its origins in Connecticut,

Pennsylvania,

Delaware,

Maryland,

New York,

New Jersey,

Massachusetts,

And Rhode Island to other parts of the United States.

This was often due to local pizzerias beginning to add the sub to their menus.

Pizzerias may have been among the first Italian-American eateries,

But even at the turn of the 20th century,

Distinctions were clear-cut as to what constituted a true ristorante.

To be merely a pizza maker was to be at the bottom of the culinary and social scale,

So many pizzeria owners began offering other dishes,

Including the hero sandwich,

Also depending on the region of the United States,

Called a wedge,

A hoagie,

A sub,

Or a grinder.

Made on an Italian loaf of bread with lots of salami,

Cheese,

And peppers.

As the sandwich's popularity grew,

Small restaurants called hoagie shops or sub shops,

Which specialized in offering the sandwich,

Began to open all over the United States.

There are now many chain restaurants that specialize in subs across the U.

S.

The sandwich is also often available at supermarkets,

Called delis,

And convenience stores.

They include Wawa,

Which annually runs a sub promotional event during the summer called Hoagiefest,

And Publix,

Whose sandwiches are often referred to as pub subs.

In a 1987 article in American Speech,

Linguists Edwin Eames and Howard Robboy identified 13 different terms for the submarine sandwich in the United States.

The use of the term submarine or sub,

After the resemblance of the roll to the shape of a submarine,

Is widespread in the United States and Canada.

Some accounts source the name as originating in New London,

Connecticut,

Site of a United States Navy submarine base from 1950 onwards,

In the World War II era.

Written advertisements from 1940 in Wilmington,

Delaware,

Indicate the term originated prior to the United States entering World War II.

One theory says the submarine sandwich was brought to the U.

S.

By Dominic Conti,

An Italian immigrant who came to New York in the late 19th century.

He supposedly named it Submarine Roll,

After seeing the recovered 1901 submarine called Fenny and Ram in the Pedersen Museum of New Jersey in 1928.

His granddaughter said,

His sandwiches were made from a recipe he brought with him from Italy,

Which consisted of a long crust roll,

Filled with cold cuts,

Topped with lettuce,

Tomatoes,

Peppers,

Onions,

Oil,

Vinegar,

Italian herbs and spices,

Salt and pepper.

The sandwich started with a layer of cheese,

And ended with a layer of cheese.

This was so the bread wouldn't get soggy.

The term hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area.

There are a number of hypotheses about the origin of the term.

One,

In 1953,

A reader letter to the Philadelphia Bulletin reported that Italian Americans were working at the World War I era shipyard,

Known as Hog Island,

Where emergency shipping was produced for the war effort,

And reduced the sandwich by putting various meats,

Cheeses and lettuce between two slices of bread.

This became known as the Hog Island Sandwich,

Shortened to hoagies,

Then the hoagie.

ToodDictionary.

Com offers the following origin of the term hoagie.

Noun,

American English,

Originally Philadelphia word for hero,

Large sandwich made from a long split roll,

Originally hoagie,

Circa 1936.

Traditionally said to be named for the jazz musician Hoagie Carmichael,

1899-1981.

But the use of the word predates his celebrity,

And the original spelling seems to suggest another source,

Perhaps hog.

The modern spelling dates from about 1945,

And may have been altered by influence of Carmichael's nickname.

3.

The Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manual offers a different explanation,

Saying the sandwich was created by early 20th century street vendors called Hokey Pokey Men,

Who sold antipasto salad,

Meats,

Cookies and buns with a cut in them.

When Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta HMS Pinafore opened in Philadelphia in 1879,

Bakeries produced a long loaf called the Pinafore.

Entrepreneurial Hokey Pokey Men sliced the loaf in half,

Stuffed it with antipasto salad,

And sold the world's first hoagie.

This hypothesis seems unlikely,

As Hokey Pokey Men were known street vendors of an ice cream product.

4.

Another explanation is that the word hoagie arose in the late 19th to early 20th centuries among the Italian community in South Philadelphia.

At the time,

On the hoak meant that someone was destitute.

Deli owners gave away scraps of cheeses and meats in an Italian bread roll known as a hoagie,

But Italian immigrants pronounced it hoagie.

5.

Yet another possible origin of the term,

As conveyed by sociology professor Howard Roboy,

Is that a man in Philadelphia,

Alfonso de Palma,

Who later opened a sandwich shop there,

Claimed to have said in 1928,

You have to be a hog to eat one of those.

De Palma styled himself as king of the hoagies,

And eventually hoagies,

And at one time had several hoagie shops around the city.

6.

Shortly after World War II,

There were numerous varieties of the term in use throughout Philadelphia.

By the 1940s,

The spelling hoagie dominated less used variants like hoogie and hoggy.

By 1955,

Restaurants throughout the area were using the term hoagie.

Listings in Pittsburgh show hoagies arriving in 1961 and becoming widespread in that city by 1966.

Former Philadelphia mayor,

And later Pennsylvania governor,

Ed Rendell,

Declared the hoagie to be the official sandwich of Philadelphia.

However,

There are claims that the hoagie was actually a product of nearby Chester,

Pennsylvania.

De Costanza's in Boothwin,

Pennsylvania,

Claims that the mother of De Costanza's owner originated the hoagie in 1925 in Chester.

De Costanza relates the story that a customer came into the family deli,

And through an exchange matching the customer's requests and the deli's offerings,

The hoagie was created.

Additional spellings include hoagie,

Spelled H-O-A-G-Y.

Woolworth's to-go sandwich was called a hoagie in all of its U.

S.

Stores.

Banh mi sandwiches are sometimes referred to as Vietnamese hoagies in Philadelphia.

The New York term hero is first attested in 1937.

The name is sometimes credited to the New York Herald-Tribune food writer Clementine Paddleford in the 1930s,

But there is no good evidence for the claim.

It is also sometimes said that it is related to the euro,

That is unlikely as the euro was unknown in the United States until the 1960s.

Hero remains the prevailing New York City term for most sandwiches on an oblong roll with a generally Italian flavor,

In addition to the original described above.

Pizzeria menus often include eggplant,

Parmigiana,

Chicken parmigiana,

And meatball heroes,

Each served with sauce.

A common term in New England,

Especially Connecticut,

Massachusetts,

And Rhode Island,

Is grinder.

Its origin has several possibilities.

One theory says it is derived from Italian-American slang for a dock worker,

Among whom the sandwich was popular.

Others say that it was called a grinder because the bread's hard crust required much chewing.

In Pennsylvania,

New York,

And parts of New England,

The term grinder usually refers to a hot submarine sandwich,

Meatball,

Sausage,

Etc.

,

Whereas a cold sandwich,

E.

G.

Cold cuts,

Is usually called a sub.

In the Philadelphia area,

The term grinder is also applied to any hoagie that is toasted in the oven after assembly,

Whether or not it is made with traditionally hot ingredients.

The term Maine Italian,

Or simply Italian,

Is used in Maine.

Local folklore claims that a baker named Giovanni Amato invented the Italian in 1899.

The traditional Maine Italian sandwich is prepared using a long,

Soft bread roll,

Or Greek olives,

Pickles,

Olive oil or salad oil,

Salt,

And cracked black pepper.

Additional ingredients such as pepperoni,

Banana pepper,

Or lettuce may be added to the sandwich.

The sandwich is often cut in half to make it easier to handle.

The term wedge is used in the New York counties of Dutchess,

Putnam,

And Westchester,

As well as the Connecticut county of Fairfield,

Four counties directly north of New York City.

Some base the name wedge on a diagonal cut in the middle of the sandwich,

Creating two halves or wedges,

Or a wedge cut out of the top half of the bread,

With the fillings wedged in between,

Or a sandwich that is served between two wedges of bread.

It has been said that the wedge is short for sandwich,

With the name having originated from an Italian deli owner located in Yonkers,

Who got tired of saying the whole word.

Wedge or wedgie can also refer to a northeastern deli meat sandwich cooked on pizza dough,

Or a style of club sandwich.

The term Spucky is unique to the city of Boston,

And derives from the Italian word spucciadella,

Meaning long roll.

The word spucciadella is not typically found in Italian dictionaries,

Which may suggest that it could be a regional Italian dialect,

Or possibly a Boston Italian-American innovation.

Spucky is typically heard in parts of Dorchester and South Boston,

And is often used to describe some bakeries in Boston's North End neighborhood have homemade spucciadellas for sale.

Subs,

Or their national equivalents,

Were already popular in many European,

Asian,

And Australian countries when late 20th century franchisee chain restaurants,

Such as Subway and fast food outlets,

Made them even more popular,

And increased the prevalence of the word sub.

Many outlets offer non-traditional ingredient combinations.

Major international chains include Firehouse Subs,

Quiznos,

Mr.

Sub,

Jersey Mike's,

Jimmy John's,

Potbelly's Sandwich Shop,

And the largest restaurant chain in the world,

Subway.

A bacon sandwich,

Also known in parts of the United Kingdom and New Zealand as a bacon buddy,

Bacon bap,

Bacon cob,

Or bacon sarnie,

Is a sandwich of cooked bacon.

It may be spread with butter,

And may be seasoned with brown sauce or tomato ketchup.

It is generally served hot.

In some establishments,

The sandwich will be made from bread toasted on only one side,

While other establishments serve it on a similar roll as is used for hamburgers.

Bacon sandwiches are an all-day favorite throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.

They are often served in British cafes and delis,

And are anecdotally recommended as a hangover cure.

In 2007,

Researchers at Leeds University evaluated 700 variants of the sandwich,

Experimenting with different cooking styles,

Types of bacon,

Breads,

Oils,

And special additions.

Each variant was then ranked by 50 tasters.

In conclusion,

The best bacon sandwiches are made with crispy,

Fried,

And not-too-fat bacon between thick slices of white bread.

Another study by the Direct Line for Business listed the top additions to the traditional bacon putty in England.

Although the original was still the preferred sandwich,

The next top contender was the breggie,

Which adds an egg.

The next most popular accessory was mushrooms,

Followed by cheese.

For sauces,

Brown sauce was slightly favored over ketchup.

However,

Food writer Felicity Cloak recommends neither,

Favoring marmalade and mustard instead.

The BLT is a popular variant of the bacon sandwich,

With the additional ingredients of lettuce and tomato,

But typically served cold.

In Ontario,

Canada,

Peameal bacon sandwiches are a common variation,

Usually served on a soft kaiser bun,

And are considered the unofficial dish of Toronto.

Bacon is a common ingredient in breakfast sandwiches,

With the bacon,

Egg,

And cheese sandwich as a particularly common variation in New York City.

A Double Down is a sandwich offered by Kentucky Fried Chicken,

KFC.

The Double Down contains bacon,

Two different kinds of melted cheese,

The Colonel's secret sauce,

Pinched in between two pieces of original recipe chicken fillets.

It is also available with grilled chicken fillets instead of the original recipe fried fillets.

The KFC Double Down was initially test marketed in Omaha,

Nebraska,

And Providence,

Rhode Island.

KFC describes the Double Down as a sandwich,

Although it does not have bread.

Fool's Gold Loaf is a sandwich made by the Colorado Mine Company,

A five-star restaurant in Denver,

Colorado.

The sandwich consists of a single warmed,

Hollowed-out loaf of bread,

Filled with one jar of creamy peanut butter,

One jar of grape jelly,

And a pound of bacon.

The name of the sandwich is derived from its price of $49.

95.

The Baked Bean Sandwich is a sandwich composed of baked beans between two slices of bread,

Which may include garnishes such as lettuce,

And toppings such as mayonnaise or ketchup.

Recipes for a Baked Bean Sandwich can be traced from as early as 1909.

One book,

Entitled Cooking for Two,

By Janet McKenzie Hill,

Suggests that the sandwich is just such a recipe as a substitute for meatless cooking,

And is a much more elaborate sandwich compared to its most common manifestation today.

Many early recipes describe essentially the same product that has become popular today.

However,

In addition,

They incite elaborate additions of garnish and dressing.

Hill suggests,

Butter two slices of Boston brown bread.

On one of these,

Dispose a heart-leaf of lettuce,

Holding a teaspoon of salad dressing.

Above the dressing,

Set a generous tablespoon of cold baked beans.

Then another lettuce leaf and dressing.

Then finish with a second slice of bread,

A tablespoon of beans,

A floweret of cauliflower,

And a teaspoonful of dressing over the cauliflower.

The Boston-area version of the sandwich eschews toppings and garnishes,

Being composed simply of baked beans between two slices of Boston brown bread.

Reviews

Instead of going to sleep. It made me want subway… still a great episode 🥖🥬🍅🧀🥩🥖
Emoji sandwich hehe

Thank you for the story, Benjamin! I love bread but this was sleep inducing! 😁 (Which is a good thing!)

Great job. And I always thought the Duke of Sandwich was a commercial think. 😅😅

Does an ice cream sandwich count as a sandwich?

Thanks for the med really appreciate it

Who knew there was so much to learn about sandwiches 🤯🤯

Love me a sandwich 🥪 Amazing how much time was spent trying to define what a sandwich is! A meal on bread. End of story. 😆It put me to sleep 😴 though , so … Thank you Benjamin!

This story made me hungry instead of Sleepy. So I'm gonna make me a sandwich 😎

By the way, good pronounciation of the Dutch "Belegde broodjes" 😀