National Sandwich Day

November 3rd is National Sandwich Day, maybe because the 4th Earl of Sandwich was born in November. The Earl’s birthday is generally listed as November 13th but that might be an old (Julian) calendar date for what we call November 4th today. Anyhow, consider eating stacked slabs of bread with stuff between them today.

1963 March on Washington: 80,000 Cheese Sandwiches

“In New York, volunteers showed up at the Riverside Church at 3:00 AM to make bagged lunches. The bagged meal, comprised of a cheese sandwich, mustard, marble cake and an apple, could be purchased by marchers for 50 cents. Working in shifts until 4 in the afternoon, the assembly line crew paused once for a few words from Dr. Robert Spike, director of the Commission on Religion and Race of the National Council of Churches: ‘As an act of love, we now dedicate these lunches for the nourishment of thousands who will be coming long distances, at great sacrifice to say with their bodies and souls that we shall overcome.’ In all, 5 tons of American cheese went into the 80,000 lunches that were loaded onto refrigerated trucks and shipped down to Washington.”

— “Eating on the March: Food at the 1963 March on Washington,” Smithsonian Magazine blog [links added]

250th Anniversary of the Sandwich

John Montagu (1718– 1792), Fourth Earl of Sandwich, was Britain’s able but corrupt First Lord of the Admiralty during the period of the American Revolution. An avid promoter of exploration, Captain James Cook named the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) after him. Due to his other enthusiasm, gambling, he lent his name to something else. One evening the innovative Earl requested a meal of cold meat between bread slices so he could eat at the card table, and thus the “sandwich” was born. Nice story, anyway.

The incident is said to have occurred in 1762, so the town of Sandwich, Kent is celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Sandwich this weekend. Surely the Earl of Sandwich lived in Sandwich, right?

No.

“Thank You Earl! England Toasts 250th Anniversary Of The Sandwich,” Tina Kaiser, Die Welt via Worldcrunch

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Image (“Coat of Arms of the Earl of Sandwich”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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The National Food

With wieners in the news, Felisa Rogers takes the opportunity to examine the history of America’s iconic national sandwich, the frankfurter or tube steak:

“How the hot dog became the most American food,” Felisa Rogers, Salon