Remember when lunch meant something your mom packed in a metal lunchbox or what the local diner served on a paper plate? The 1950s brought us some seriously interesting sandwich combinations that most people have completely forgotten about today. Some were born from hard times when families had to make meals from whatever was in the pantry, while others were fancy party foods that looked more like art projects than lunch. Here are the sandwiches that defined a decade, from the simple to the downright bizarre.
Pimento cheese became a golf tradition
The pimento cheese sandwich was everywhere in the 1950s, especially in the South. This spread mixed shredded cheddar cheese, chopped pimentos, and either mayonnaise or cream cheese into a thick paste that stuck to bread like glue. People ate it at picnics, packed it in lunch pails, and served it at casual get-togethers. The sandwich was cheap to make and lasted a few days in the refrigerator, which made it perfect for busy families.
What’s wild is that this sandwich became famous at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. A couple named Hodges and Ola Herndon started selling pimento cheese sandwiches on the golf course in 1947 for just 25 cents each. The tradition stuck around, and today you can still buy one at the Masters for only $1.50. That’s the same price it’s been since 2002, which is pretty amazing considering a hot dog at most stadiums costs eight bucks. The sandwich became so connected to the tournament that people started calling pimento cheese the unofficial food of golf.
Chow mein sandwiches confused everyone
Fall River, Massachusetts gave us one of the strangest sandwich ideas ever created. The chow mein sandwich started when Chinese restaurant owners wanted to feed the European factory workers who lived in town. They piled crispy chow mein noodles, meat, and brown gravy onto hamburger buns and created something that looked familiar but tasted completely different. The sandwich caught on like wildfire in the 1950s and spread to other cities.
The funny thing about this sandwich is that you can’t actually pick it up and eat it with your hands. There’s so much filling that you need to use a fork and knife, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of a sandwich. Places like Mee Sum restaurant became famous for serving massive plates of chow mein with buns on the side. Even Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island started selling them. Chef Emeril Lagasse grew up eating these in Fall River and loved them so much he put a recipe in his cookbook. Most people outside of Fall River have never heard of this sandwich today.
Tea sandwiches required good manners
Tiny sandwiches with the crusts cut off were a big deal at ladies’ lunches and bridge parties in the 1950s. These tea sandwiches came from the British tradition of afternoon tea, where fancy people needed a snack between lunch and dinner. The sandwiches were usually filled with spreads made from shrimp, egg, ham, or vegetables mixed with mayonnaise. Women would spend hours making these little finger foods for their friends.
Some tea sandwich recipes were designed specifically to be polite. The vegetable tea sandwich from Charlotte, North Carolina called for finely chopped veggies mixed with mayonnaise and gelatin, but the recipe warned against using garlic, herbs, or seeds. Why? Because nothing could linger on your breath or get stuck in your teeth when you were trying to be a proper lady. These sandwiches were all about appearance and etiquette. They had to look perfect on the plate and be small enough to eat in one or two bites without making a mess.
Monte Cristo sandwiches got fancy treatment
The Monte Cristo was basically a grilled cheese sandwich that went to finishing school. This hot sandwich stacked ham, chicken or turkey, and Swiss cheese between slices of white bread. Then the whole thing got dipped in beaten eggs like French toast and fried in butter until golden brown. The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles made it famous when they put it in their 1949 cookbook and gave it the fancy name inspired by the Alexandre Dumas novel.
What made this sandwich special was the sweet finish. After frying, the Monte Cristo got dusted with powdered sugar and served with a side of fruit jelly or cranberry sauce. The combination of sweet and salty was pretty unusual for the time. Most diners and lunch counters across America added their own versions to the menu throughout the 1950s. Some places used three slices of bread like a club sandwich, while others simplified it to just two slices. You can still find Monte Cristos at old-fashioned diners today, though they’re not nearly as popular as they used to be.
Frosted sandwich loaves looked like cakes
Imagine showing up to a party and seeing what looks like a beautiful layer cake on the table, only to find out it’s actually a giant sandwich covered in cream cheese. That’s exactly what the frosted sandwich loaf was all about. This weird creation stacked layers of bread with different sandwich spreads like egg salad, chicken salad, and ham salad. The whole thing got frosted with whipped cream cheese and decorated with vegetables like olives, radishes, and parsley.
The frosted sandwich loaf came from a Scandinavian dish called smörgåstårta, which translates to sandwich cake. In Sweden and other Nordic countries, people still eat this at special occasions. But in America, the frosted sandwich loaf was mostly a 1950s and 1960s thing that showed off how fancy your party was. Making one took forever, and you needed two whole containers of cream cheese just for the frosting. Better Homes and Gardens published recipes with all sorts of different fillings, and women’s magazines featured them all the time. They disappeared pretty quickly once the 1970s rolled around.
SOS reminded people of hard times
The military gave us one of the weirdest breakfast sandwiches ever created. SOS stands for several things depending on who you ask, but most people know it as a less polite phrase involving shingles. This breakfast sandwich was made from dried beef in white gravy served over toast. The dried beef was basically lean beef that had been brined and preserved, which meant it lasted forever without refrigeration. During the Great Depression and World War II, this was the kind of food people could actually afford and find at the store.
The gravy was made from evaporated milk, flour, and butter or margarine mixed with the shredded dried beef. In the 1950s, people who had lived through the Depression and the war years kept eating SOS because it reminded them of getting through tough times. It became a common breakfast at diners and in home kitchens, usually served with fried potatoes on the side. The sandwich was filling and cheap to make, which mattered a lot to families still recovering from years of rationing. Most people under 60 have probably never tried SOS, and that’s probably fine with them.
Braunschweiger was a lunchbox regular
German immigrants brought braunschweiger to America, and it became a lunch pail staple in the 1950s. This soft sausage spread was made from pork and liver, which sounds gross to most people today but was considered normal lunch meat back then. The texture was smooth like pâté, so it spread easily on bread without tearing it up. Workers packed braunschweiger sandwiches because they didn’t need refrigeration and provided lots of protein to get through long shifts.
A basic braunschweiger sandwich just needed the meat spread and maybe some butter, mayonnaise, or ketchup. Some people added raw onion slices or pickles to cut through the rich liver taste. The sandwich was especially popular with German-American families, but lots of other people ate it too because it was cheap and filling. As America got richer and fresher meats became easier to buy, braunschweiger fell out of style. The strong liver taste wasn’t something younger generations wanted when they could have turkey or ham instead. You can still find it at some German delis and grocery stores, but good luck finding anyone under 70 who regularly eats it.
Reuben sandwiches started a big argument
New Yorkers and people from Omaha, Nebraska still fight about who invented the Reuben sandwich. The most reliable story says it showed up on the menu at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha sometime between 1920 and 1935. But the sandwich didn’t become really popular until 1956 when a waitress from the hotel entered it in the National Sandwich Idea Contest and won first place. After that, Reuben sandwiches started appearing on menus all over the country.
This hot sandwich stacks corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing between slices of rye bread. The whole thing gets grilled until the cheese melts and the bread turns crispy. The combination works because the sour sauerkraut balances out the rich corned beef, and the Russian dressing adds a spicy kick from horseradish and dill relish. The dark rye bread brings a slightly sweet taste from molasses. Reubens became so popular in the 1950s that they’re still on menus at delis and diners everywhere today. They’re one of the few sandwiches from that era that never went out of style.
Friday burgers used canned tuna
The Friday burger wasn’t really a burger at all. This sandwich was an early version of the tuna melt, made with a patty of canned tuna, Miracle Whip, breadcrumbs, onions, dill pickles, salt, pepper, and celery salt. The mixture got shaped into a patty and baked instead of fried. Then it was topped with American cheese and served on a toasted hamburger bun. The name came from the tradition of not eating meat on Fridays, especially for Catholic families.
Canned tuna was one of the cheapest proteins you could buy in the 1950s, and it lasted forever in the pantry. Families loved having something they could turn into a quick meal without much planning. The Miracle Whip added tang and kept the patty moist, while the pickles gave it some crunch. These sandwiches were popular at school cafeterias and church dinners during Lent. The Friday burger eventually evolved into the open-faced tuna melt we know today, which is basically the same thing but without the bottom bun and with the tuna mixture spread out instead of shaped into a patty.
The 1950s gave us sandwiches that ranged from totally normal to absolutely bonkers. Some of these creations stuck around and became classics, while others disappeared as soon as people had better options. Whether they were born from necessity during hard times or created to impress party guests, these sandwiches tell the story of what American life was really like seventy years ago. Next time you’re at a deli looking at the menu, remember that your grandparents were probably eating chow mein on hamburger buns or sandwiches frosted with cream cheese.
