club sandwich

The club sandwich, or club house sandwich, as it is usually prepared today, consists of three slices of bread, between which is layered turkey (or sometimes chicken), ham or bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It is typically served quartered and held together by cocktail sticks.

But why club? How did it get its name? We don’t know for sure, but the sandwich probably originated in one or another American social club or perhaps on the club cars of trains in the closing years of the nineteenth century. But descriptions of early club sandwiches are of a much simpler sandwich, basically just an ordinary chicken or turkey sandwich. But within a few years, the sandwich evolved and became increasingly complex, until it became the dish commonly served today.

Credit for the club sandwich usually goes to the Union Club in New York City, but the earliest known reference to a club sandwich involves the Bohemian Club in San Francisco from the San Francisco Daily Examiner of 29 July 1888:

“Say, Mr. Ferrin, hadn’t you better point that rifle the other way?” mildly suggested the artist as he hid himself behind a Bohemian Club sandwich.

This, however, may be a reference to a sandwich obtained at the Bohemian Club rather than the name of a type of sandwich. The artist in question is a newspaper sketch artist and the Bohemian Club started out as a club for journalists.

And unless a recipe or detailed description is given, it’s often difficult to tell whether the moniker club sandwich refers to a type of sandwich or simply to any sandwich served at a particular club. Here is an example of a sandwich that is simply consumed at a particular club in Pennsylvania’s Pittsburg [sic] Press of 26 January 1890:

At noon the young reporter showed up his natural newspaper abilities by demolishing a Press club sandwich, a questionable portion of a chicken from an unknown restaurant, and for a relish actually startled the old-timers by devouring and seemingly digesting a large-sized water bug.

We see the club sandwich associated with the Union Club in a snippet found in New York’s The World of 18 November 1889:

Have you tried a Union Club sandwich yet? Two toasted slices of Graham bread, with a layer of turkey or chicken and ham between them, served warm.

Recipes for the Union Club sandwich were widely printed in newspapers across the United States in 1889–90, which is probably why that social club is often cited as the origin. Here is one such example from the Omaha Daily World-Herald of 10 December 1889:

THE UNION CLUB SANDWICH

The Secret of Making the Delicacy Is Now Public Property

The secret of the “Union club sandwich,” a delicacy known only to the members of that particular organization, has at length been made public. The recipe is as follows:

Take two thin slices of Graham bread, cut them and toast them well. Between the bread place a layer of chicken, ham or turkey and serve warm.

The combination is said to be highly palatable, and the general public will no longer have to wait six years, pay $1,000 initiation fee and annual dues of $75 before they are privileged to taste of this delectable morsel.

So by 1889 the Union Club sandwich was the name of a particular type of sandwich. And within a few years the club sandwich had taken its now familiar three-decker form, at least in some restaurants. From Nebraska’s Blue Valley Blade of 18 May 1904:

Ed Howe’s lecture entertainment is like a three story club house sandwich; it is in three substantial layers with the most delectable parts in between. Howe furnished the real meaty morsels of the entertainment.

Sources:

“Fish Destroyers.” Daily Examiner (San Francisco, California), 29 July 1888, 11/7. ProQuest Newspapers.

Oxford English Dictionary, June 2024, s.v. club sandwich, n.

Popik, Barry. “Club Sandwich (Club House Sandwich; Clubhouse Sandwich).” Barrypopik.com, 26 September 2007.

“Spotlets.” The World (New York City), 18 November 1889, 2/2. NewspaperArchive.com.

“The Union Club Sandwich.” Omaha Daily World-Herald (Nebraska), 10 December 1889, 2/4. Readex: America’s Historical Newspapers.

“Was Thoroughly at Home.” Pittsburg Press (Pennsylvania, 26 January 1890, 8/4. ProQuest Newspapers.

Photo credit: Erik Forsberg, 2015. Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.