History of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

"The first known recipe for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was published in 1901 in The Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics. The author suggested pairing peanut butter with crab apple or currant jelly, which was unusual for the time. Peanut butter, which was considered a delicacy, was usually served as a savory food..." (1)

My favorite sandwich is the Peanut Butter and Jelly, although I use jam. I was just talking with my neighbor's eight-year-old son as we, both, wondered how boring life must have been without ice cream, and peanut butter & jelly (jam, too).

We'll leave ice cream to another day, and focus today on the ever-popular Peanut Butter and Jelly (jam, too) Sandwich.

Nothing has been written about the peanut butter and jelly sandwich before 1940, according to some food historians. During World War II GI's were given rations of both peanut butter and jelly. After the war peanut butter sales and jelly sales both soared. Many say this was the birth of the sandwich made of peanut butter and jelly.

However, 13 years before WWII, an innovation took place that brought the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich on to the tables of the American family and into the hands of children nationwide through an invention by Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, and improved upon by St. Louis baker Gustav Papendick. What was it? Sliced Bread!

Kleen Maid Sliced Bread was introduced by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, as the first sliced-bread in 1928, and Wonder Bread began selling sliced bread nationwide in 1930. Now, kids could make their own sandwiches without the fear of a child slicing bread with a sharp knife.

The first located reference to the now famous peanut butter and jelly sandwich was published by Julia Davis Chandler in 1901.

(and, not to veer off subject here, but, the word television was coined in France in 1901 -- another "kid" staple)

Prior to 1901, peanut butter, without jelly, was served in high-scale cafes and New York's finest tearooms. It was served on triangle pieces of toast, and soda crackers, and with water cress. It was expensive, but, as manufacturing costs dropped with modernization, by the time Wonder Bread hit the American scene in 1930, the time was right for this great American sandwich.

Dr. George Washington Carver was not the father of peanut butter, but he is still referred as the father of the peanut industry because of all the over 300 products he created using the peanut.

The first patent issued (US patent #306727) for what would set the stage for modern peanut butter was issued to Marcellus Gilmore Edson of Montreal, Quebec in 1884, for a process of milling roasted peanuts between heated surfaces until the peanuts reached "a fluid or semi-fluid state." As the product cooled, it set into what Edson described as "a consistency like that of butter, lard, or ointment."

A St. Louis physician (1890), it is told, encouraged George A. Bayle Jr., the owner of a food products company, to process and package ground peanut paste as a nutritious protein substitute for people who had bad teeth and were unable to chew meat.

The doctor had been experimenting with grinding peanuts in his hand operated meat grinder. Bayle mechanized the process and began selling peanut butter out of barrels for about 6¢ per pound.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Battle Creek, Michigan) started experimenting with peanut butter as a vegetarian source of protein for his patients. His brother, W.K. Kellogg, was business manager of their sanitarium, the Western Health Reform Institute. J. H. Kellogg secured US patent #580787 in 1897 for his Process of Preparing Nutmeal, which produced a "pasty adhesive substance" that Kellogg called "nut-butter."

W. K. Kellogg opened Sanitas Nut Company and supplied foods like peanut butter to local grocery stores. Peanut butter was marketed as a health food originally.

In 1904, Peanut Butter was a favorite at the International Exposition in St. Louis. C. H. Sumner was the first to introduce the product to the world at the fair. He sold $705.11 worth of peanut butter at his concession stand during the run of the fair, thus, putting the product on the fast track to becoming an American favorite.

1908 saw Krema Products Company in Columbus, Ohio begin selling peanut butter. They are the oldest peanut butter company in the world still in business. And, beginning in 1922, Joseph L. Rosefield began selling peanut butter in California under several names and received a patent in that year for peanut butter able to stay fresh for up to a year because the oil did not separate from the peanut butter. These peanut butters were churned like butter and they were smoother than the gritty peanut butters of the day.

One of the first companies to adopt Mr. Rosefield's method of peanut butter production was Swift & Company in 1928. Swift & Company was later renamed Peter Pan. Mr. Rosefield, himself, began manufacturing peanut butter under the "Skippy" name in 1932, and two years later created the first "crunchy-style."

With the purchase of W.T. Young Foods of Lexington, Kentucky (producers of Big Top Peanut Butter) in 1955, Proctor & Gamble entered the peanut butter business. It was Proctor & Gamble who introduced JIF in 1958.

JIF, now owned by Smucker's, has the largest peanut butter factory in the world, producing 250,000 jars per day.

(1) Start with selecting sliced bread and putting two pieces flat on a plate.

(2) Locate a jar of peanut butter. Open it.

(3) Take a spoon and spread peanut butter on one piece of bread.

(4) Locate a jar of jelly (or jam). Open it.

(5) Take a spoon and spread jelly (or jam, or both) on the other piece of bread.

(6) Put both pieces together.

(7) Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Some information for this article came from the following:
http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/PBJ/peanutbutter.htm
http://ask.yahoo.com/20020524.html

http://peanutbutterlovers.com/pb-lovers/pb101/history/

http://foodsciencesecrets.com/?tag=peanut-butter

http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/

(1) Quote from:

http://www.gilttaste.com/stories/5016-how-to-make-a-better-peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich