Show Notes
Welcome to Episode 3 of Eating History’s sandwich season! This week, Stephen and Adrienne explore how the Industrial Revolution took the sandwich out of aristocratic parlors and put it into the hands of the working class. Discover how the rise of factories, densely packed cities, and fast-moving railroads forced humanity to eat by the clock, and why the sandwich was the perfect culinary technology for the job.
In this episode, we explore:
The Rise of the Sandwich: The grim reality of 19th-century railway food, and why paying for a terrible, sawdusty sandwich was better than missing your train
The Invention of Lunch: How factory bells and rigid work schedules forced the main meal of the day to shift to the evening, creating the modern midday lunch break
The Original Ham-Sandwich: How a London coffee shop owner capitalized on late-night theater crowds to invent a booming street food market
The Rise of the Torta: How Armando Martínez Centurión dressed in a formal suit to sell Mexican tortas to everyone from factory workers to celebrities in 1890s Mexico City
Ybor City's Cigar Factories: How the famous lectores (professional readers) entertained a melting pot of Cuban, Spanish, Italian, and Jewish workers who were all trading sandwich secrets
Dangerous Recipes: The 1909 Up-to-Date Sandwich Book that documented the first PB&Js, alongside diabolical creations like the sardine-and-popcorn sandwich
More from Eating History
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