![]() Its mainstream popularity was also due to industrialization, as companies figured out how to extend the shelf-life of bread, peanut butter, and jelly. The first published mention of the sandwich was a 1901 article in Boston Cooking School Magazine, which suggested “spreading ‘peanut paste’ and ‘currant or crab-apple jelly’ on finger sandwiches.” But by the 1910s, the sandwich was being heralded as the solution to the “problem of the schoolboy’s lunch,” since it was also enjoyed by children. It began as a fancy tearoom treat for the upper class. Though it became a food for all, the sandwich has a surprisingly elite origin. ll classes of Americans munched on PB&Js.”īy the 1910s, the sandwich was being heralded as the solution to the “problem of the schoolboy’s lunch.” Lastly, it bridged economic gaps as “a staple of the working class and much of the country during times of economic hardship…. It also connected generations-both adults and kids enjoyed it. Because you could take it anywhere, it was a bridge between public and private life: “The sandwich symbolized ‘home,’ but it was just as often eaten outside of the house” on picnics, camping trips, and school cafeterias. This was due to a few factors, Estes argues. The PB&J was at its peak in the second half of the twentieth century. By the twenty-first century, historian Steve Estes writes, “the PB&J had gone from a symbol of doting mothers and idyllic childhood to a marker of negligent parenting and unhealthy kids.” What took the sandwich from iconic to outdated? But sometimes a great rise can also mean a great fall. Its website currently lists peanut butter and grape jelly, strawberry jam, honey and several reduced-sugar “spreads” as options, along with “chocolate flavored hazelnut spread.” One might call that Nutella, but that, of course, is trademarked.There was a time when peanut butter and jelly, spread generously on two simple slices of bread, was a quintessential American meal. Smuckers continues to make Uncrustables sans patent. ![]() The sandwich wars continue, however–in a recent volley, a Los Angeles food “disruptor” had tried to disrupt the Uncrustables model with gourmet sandwiches made along the same lines. Things dragged along for a while–from 2001 to 2005, when a federal appeals court decided that 6,004,596 “was not novel or non-obvious enough to merit the award of a patent,” writes Alex Swerdloff for Munchies. That seal gave the Uncrustable a competitive advantage over other sandwiches, including other sealed-edge sandwiches that used starch for sealing, the company argued. (Technically, the original inventors of the crustless sandwich were another, smaller company that Smuckers quickly bought.) Among the most important, she writes, Smuckers claimed that the Uncrustables sandwich was different from a normal crustless PB&J, beloved by picky kids everywhere, because the crimping process the company used to seal the bread edges was new. There were a lot of questions involved in deciding whether or not Smuckers could patent its sandwich. “Patents are both technical and legal documents, and their interpretation is subject to many laws and legal decisions that challenge even experienced patoent attorneys,” she wrote. Media at the time mocked Smuckers for its silly-seeming patent, but Shin questioned whether the patent is really as absurd as people made out. Challenger Albie’s Foods responded by filing a lawsuit that stated the patent wasn’t valid. Not long after that, another, much smaller company began producing a similar product, an Smuckers sent them a cease and desist letter. “The frozen sandwich can be placed in a lunchbox in the morning so that by lunchtime, the thawed sandwich is ready to eat,” Shin writes. Shin for Gastronomica in 2002, Smuckers started producing Uncrustables–frozen, sealed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with no crust. The central question: Can you really patent something that’s been made for generations?Ī few months after gaining the patent, wrote Anne M. Since that time, it’s gained some infamy in the world of patent law. Patent Number 6,004,596, “Sealed crustless sandwich,” was first issued on December 21, 1999. attempted to patent a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Whether they are or not is a matter of personal judgment, but there have been attempts to formalize sandwich definitions before–specifically, when J.M. ![]() In fact, the sandwich is such an open category of food that hot dogs, wraps and pizza have all been argued to be sandwiches. ![]() They are, after all, just bread and fillings arranged in an easy-to-eat way. Sandwiches, which in their modern form are named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, have been around in one form or another for a long time. ![]()
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