Notable Sandwiches Special: 1909 Flashback Edition
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the series in which I, alongside my editor David Swanson, stumble through the strange and ever-shifting document that is Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches, in alphabetical order. This week, at the suggestion of a reader, we’re making a slight detour from the List. To slake and perhaps quench our nostalgia for the past, we’re revisiting the immortal classic “The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book.”
Eva Greene Fuller, the author of 1909’s The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book: 400 Ways to Make a Sandwich, does not fuck around.
There’s no cutesiness to this book at all, no front matter, author bio, epigraph, or composed, winsome black-and-white photo-portrait of the enigmatic author. The foreword, seven short paragraphs of eminent practicality, begins thus: “The first requisite in the preparation of good sandwiches is to have perfect bread in suitable condition.” Undoubtedly true, in a way that echoes across a century, but delivered with a grave forthrightness.
The only concession the book makes to fashion is its cover, which features a raven-haired ingenue in black stockings carrying a picnic basket, presumably stuffed with up to four hundred sandwiches. The New York Times absolutely roasted the cover, practically accusing the book of spurious advertising for somewhat inscrutable reasons: “Quite frivolous as to its general appearance and mystifying as to its cover design, ‘The Up-to-Date Sandwich Book’ (A.C. McClurg & Co.) would surely be guilty of false pretenses if it had not its name in large black letters across its rosy face,” wrote an acid-tongued anonymous reviewer in 1909.
Still, the book does deliver precisely what it promises—400 Edwardian-chic sandwiches, divided into the categories Fish, Egg, Salad, Meat, Cheese, Nut, Sweet, Miscellaneous and Canapés, and laid out in crisp directives of notable brevity. (I list myself under both “Nut” and “Miscellaneous” as a matter of course.) The book found general acclaim among readers in its day, advertised as an “Inexpensive Small Gift Book” by its publisher. “It will astonish anyone who looks through the book to see how great may be the variety of the simple sandwich and how much it may add to any entertainment,” wrote The San Francisco Chronicle. “The commissariat for future picnics will rejoice to see this book,” added the Decatur Daily Review. Another edition, even more up-to-date, was published in 1927, unchanged but for the addition of a supplement containing 155 more sandwiches, such as "pineapple salad" and "avocado pear and mayonnaise.”
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The other chief Edwardian feature of the book is its gestures towards the exotic, featuring a veritable world tour of sandwiches named after locales from Austria to Texas. That the sandwiches named after these places often have little if anything to do with their regional namesakes presumably didn’t diminish the gesture as much, in the pre-Interstate, pre-airline world of 1909. The world is smaller now, if also and often hectic, shitty, overwhelming, frightening. Nostalgia is the impulse to valorize the past, and it can lead to dark places. Reading about 1909’s most fashionable sandwiches is something of a corrective to that impulse.
I love reading memoirs and stories about people who lived from the end of the nineteenth century clear through to the late twentieth: it’s mind-boggling to imagine a world so simultaneously transformed and shrunken, in which the previously unimaginable became routine at a crazily rapid clip. (I’m not sure how long Fuller lived, nor even whether the name is a pseudonym; I like to think she survived to see the rise of microwaves and disco.)
But in 1909, travel was not so simple, nor so accessible, as it is now. There’s something wonderful, too, about imagining unreachable places as hard as you can, and converting that vision into something you can hold in your hand, and that’s the charm of Fuller’s vision. These sometimes baffling, sometimes charming constructs are more quixotic imaginings than anything a modern foodie snob would construe as “authentic”—and feature a lot more mayonnaise than you might expect
Without further ado, here’s a “world tour” of 1909’s primo sandwiches. Offered without comment, if with some mild bemusement.
Austrian Sandwich
Two cans of boned and skinned sardines, two balls of cottage cheese, one small onion chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of chopped parsley, two tablespoonfuls of chopped mint, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, salt to taste, a dash of red pepper, the grated rind and juice of two lemons; also use the oil from the sardines. Mix and beat thoroughly; spread between thin slices of lightly buttered rye or brown bread.
Berlin Sandwich
Chop olives fine and moisten with mayonnaise dressing; spread on buttered slices of bread. Spread other slices with Neufchatel cheese and put slices together in pairs.
Bohemian Sandwich
On thin slices of lightly buttered graham bread, spread a thin layer of mustard; on top of that spread a layer of cottage cheese, then a layer of olives that have been chopped fine, and mixed with a little mayonnaise dressing. Cover with another slice of bread and press together. Cut in strips and serve on a lettuce leaf.
Boston Brown Bread Sandwich
Between thin slices of lightly buttered brown bread place a lettuce leaf that has been dipped in mayonnaise dressing.
California Prune School Sandwich
Spread thin slices of lightly buttered white or whole wheat bread with a thin layer of honey, then a layer of stewed sweetened prunes that have been chopped fine. Cover with another slice of bread. Cut diagonal and wrap in wax paper.
Chicago Club Sandwich
Toast lightly two slices of white bread and one of rye; lightly butter and on the slices of white bread, place slices of cold cooked chicken and a couple of slices of bacon well crisped; cover with the slice of rye bread and on that place a lettuce leaf that has been dipped in a little mayonnaise dressing; sprinkle with a little chopped green pepper, then cover with the other slice of white bread.
Chinese Lichee Nut Sandwich
On thin slices of lightly buttered whole wheat bread place a lettuce leaf that has been dipped in mayonnaise. Then spread on some cottage cheese. Sprinkle with finely cut Lichee nuts. Add dash of salt. Cover with another slice of buttered toast. Garnish with stuffed olive.
Coney Island Sandwich
Cut Parkerhouse rolls lengthwise. Place a cooked hot Weinerwurst between; spread lightly with mustard; press rolls tightly together.
Creole Sandwich
One cupful of cold boiled chicken chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of green pepper that has been parboiled and chopped fine. Add a dash of salt, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley; moisten with a little mayonnaise dressing and place between thin slices of lightly buttered white bread. Garnish with an olive.
Dutch Sandwich
Between thin slices of lightly buttered rye bread, spread highly seasoned cottage cheese; on this sprinkle finely chopped olives. Cut in diamond shape. Garnish with a sprig of parsley.
English Walnut and Fig Sandwich
Chop figs fine, adding enough water to make' a smooth paste, and cook slowly until of a consistency to spread. Flavor with a little orange juice or grated candied orange peel. Chop one-half cup of English walnuts fine, add to the fig paste filling. Place between thin slices of white or brown bread lightly buttered, cut in fanciful shapes.
Florida Fruit Salad Sandwich
Equal parts of apples, and celery, cut fine. To this add one-half grapefruit and two bananas, cut Juliene, one-fourth cup of chopped pecans or English walnuts. Moisten with French dressing. Place on crisp lettuce leaves between lightly buttered white or whole wheat bread. Press firmly together, cut diagonally. Garnish top with maraschino cherry.
French Sandwich
To one pint of cold cooked fish, add two hardboiled eggs chopped fine, two tablespoonfuls of capers,and a little mayonnaise to moisten. Mix and spread on thin slices of lightly buttered white bread, cover with another slice, and cut in strips. Add a sprinkling of finely chopped cress to the top of each sandwich; rub the yolk of a hard-boiled egg through a sieve and chop the white very fine. Add a sprinkling of the yolk to the cress on half the number of sandwiches, adding the white to the other half. Then arrange them in groups of twos, one of each color on the serving plate. Any cold meat may be used instead of the fish.
German Club Sandwich
Thin slices of pumpernickel, rye, and white bread are used for this sandwich. Rub half a pound of smearcase until smooth, add three tablespoonfuls of thick cream and two of melted butter; season with pepper and salt. Spread some of this cheese mixture on a buttered slice of pumpernickel bread, followed by a slice of rye covered with the cheese, covered with a slice of buttered white bread.
Hawaiian Sandwich
Mix one cupful of crushed or grated pineapple with three-fourths cup of chopped figs. Cook until smooth, then add one-third cup of sugar and the juice of one lemon. Cook until thick. Remove from the fire; when cool, add one-fourth cup of chopped walnuts. Spread this mixture between thinly cut slices of lightly buttered white or whole wheat bread. Cut in strips. Garnish with a cherry.
India Sandwich
One cup each preserved ginger and candied orange peel chopped fine; mix with one-half cup of thick cream and spread, on white bread thinly buttered. Garnish with stick of candied orange peel.
Italian Sandwich
Take an equal number of slices of white and graham bread, spread with butter and cream cheese; on these put finely chopped olives that have been mixed with a little mayonnaise dressing. Press slices together in pairs with a crisp lettuce leaf between each pair, and cut diagonally. Garnish with parsley.
Japanese Egg Sandwich
Chop four hard-boiled eggs and three boned sardines fine, add a teaspoonful of melted butter and rub to a paste; season with pepper and salt and a little mayonnaise dressing; cut in slender strips. Garnish with parsley and an olive.
Long Island Duck Sandwich
On thin lightly buttered white or whole wheat bread, place a crisp lettuce leaf that has been dipped in mayonnaise dressing. On this place slices of breast of cold roast duck that has been seasoned; then a thin spread of apple butter. Cover with another slice of bread. Cut diagonal and garnish with a stuffed olive.
Mexican Sandwich
Put large square salted crackers into the oven to heat. When warm, put on each cracker a large tablespoonful of baked beans that has been mixed with a little catsup heated with butter and highly seasoned.
Monte Carlo Sandwich
The yolks of two hard-boiled eggs mashed fine; a dash of salt and paprika, a tablespoonful of anchovy paste, and two of Russian caviare. Mix and spread on very thin slices of lightly buttered rounds of toast. Cover with another round of toast, and garnish with a slice of lemon.
Morocco Sandwich
Melt a cupful of cheese, American or Parmesan ; while soft, add enough mayonnaise to make it spread easily; lay this on thin slices of lightly buttered whole wheat bread and slice stuffed olives over cheese. Cover with another slice of lightly buttered bread; garnish top with stuffed olive.
Moscow Canape Sandwich
On a crisp, small lettuce heart place a slice of tomato. On this spread Russian Caviare. Garnish top with a sprig of parsley and a slice of lemon.
New England Sandwich
Mash beans that have been cooked well, add a dash of catsup, lay on a crisp lettuce leaf between lightly buttered white or brown bread. Garnish with a pickle.
Parisienne Canape Sandwich
Cut hard-boiled egg in halves, remove the yolk and mix with Russian Caviare and a little anchovy paste. Serve in the white of the egg on a lettuce leaf. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and a slice of lemon.
Oriental Sandwich
Mash four bananas; add one-half cup of maraschino cherries, two tablespoonfuls of honey, and two tablespoonfuls of sweet thick cream. Mix and spread on thin slices of lightly buttered white bread, cover with another slice, and garnish top with a cherry.
Russian Sandwich
Spread zepherettes with cream cheese and cover with chopped olives mixed with a little mayonnaise. Place a zepherette over each and press together.
Spanish Sandwich
Cut slices of white bread rather thick and toast; trim off crusts and lightly butter. Remove skin and bone from the sardines and lay them on the toast. Sprinkle chopped olives over the sardines and the juice of a quarter of a lemon. Cover with another slice of buttered toast. Serve on a lettuce leaf.
Texas Sandwich
Chop one-half pound of broiled calf's liver fine. Season with salt and cayenne pepper, add on teaspoonful of melted butter and a few drops of onion juice; rub together to a smooth paste. Spread on thin slices of unbuttered white bread. Cover with another slice.
There are three hundred and seventy-one more recipes in the full book, which you can find at the Internet Archive here. I’m off on an excursion around the globe, and I’ll be sure to bring plenty of onion juice, zepherettes, sardine oil and mayonnaise dressing with me to keep my strength up.
Happy weekend!
Talia
I distinctly recall being fed a brown-bread-and-mashed-baked-beans-with-ketchup sandwich in suburban Boston in the mid-1970s. (I confess that it was pretty good).