OT - Those Big Sandwiches

[DobbsRover2]

I believe that the use of "sub" predates Subway by quite a bit. I remember it as a child as common even if grinder was dominant. It was, however, turned into a Jello, Xerox, Kleenex, etc. type of term with the advent of Subway franchises across the country in areas that had never used it as a term.

Funny thing is my mom was born in Philly and grew up in the Mount Lebanon area of Pittsburgh but I have never heard her use "hoagie" in my life.

BTW, another term that has gone unmentioned but is used in some small areas for the same reason as subs is blimp. The chain Blimpie's came after the use of the generic form of usage.

In this day and age, eating a blimp might not be considered too healthy minded. I mean, that's a sandwich that you don't even have to supersize for it to be supersized.

I believe where my mother grew up in Guangzhou, they maybe called them pork rolls back then.

 

[Frodo]

Frodo, did you to get your hoagies at Tommy's when you went to Gettysburg College?

No, it was a guy who was an offensive lineman on the football team...he'd go from dorm to dorm every night. Since there were no football scholarships I assume it was how he was working his way through school.

We did spend a lot of time at the VD (Varsity Diner) a fairly short walk into town down the railroad tracks from the freshman dorm.

 

[Frodo]

Pajer's in Agawam makes pretty good grinders too.

Grew up in Agawam so I know Pajer's well...used to have great hot sausages.

 

[Waquoit]

In lower Fairfield County, you order a "wedge". Or, if you're not quite as hungry, you can get a wedgie.

 

[Icebear]

No, it was a guy who was an offensive lineman on the football team...he'd go from dorm to dorm every night. Since there were no football scholarships I assume it was how he was working his way through school.

We did spend a lot of time at the VD (Varsity Diner) a fairly short walk into town down the railroad tracks from the freshman dorm.

What years at G-burg?

I was down by those railroad tracks. I was at FIJI.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

By the way - thanks all for the interesting discussion.

I remember the chain Blimpie now that you folks mention it, there was one near RU in my day (mid '70s). Think they called them "blimpies" not "blimps", but most customers used "sub". Had great "sub shops" in the area.

FWIW, we have a transplanted Philly guy out here in Tucson with a Hogie Hut - the sign man misspelled it and he went with it. Never been there, but want to go some time. Back in NJ, used to frequent a place called "Hoagie Hut" near where my wife worked - I should have asked the owner (who worked the lunch line) why "Hoagie" but never did. His "hut fries" were the best.

 

[Frodo]

What years at G-burg?

I was down by those railroad tracks. I was at FIJI.

One year...fall of 1964

 

[Icebear]

One year...fall of 1964

Ah, Tommy's didn't exist until the late 60s.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Okay, so where do all these terms for a "big sandwich (Earl of Sandwich)" come from. According to online sources:

Sub: obvious, looks like a submarine
Blimp: obvious looks like a blimp
Grinder: you just grind on through it if you live in CT
Wedge: obvious, you're something made from wedges of bread
Po'Boy: a shortening of a lunch that poor boys from N'Orleans could afford
Hoagie: sandwich for Philly naval yard workers first made on Hog Island, known as hoggie, and then hoagie

others:
Spuckie: Boston thing, made from Italian spucadella roll
Torpedo: obvious, looks like a torpedo to NJers
Bomber: obvious to upstate NYers, as it looked like the bomber planes they worked with
Italian sandwich: kind of bland term, but you see this a lot in restaurants around the counntry
Cheesesteak: kind of confined to a particular type of big sandwich originating in Philly. Geno may know about these things.

 

[Icebear]

In PA an Italian sandwich contains specific meats like salami, bologna, Italian ham, provolone cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato with oil. Mayo is a contemporary substitute.

 

[JRRRJ]

Readers Digest had a short feature about someone doing regional dialect research and showed his "maps" for how folks pronounce pajama, the soda / pop / coke question, and the "big sandwich" question.

It turned out that northern New England likes "Hero"; southern NJ, Philly and Pittsburgh like "Hoagie"; and most of the rest of the country like "Sub" EXCEPT:

- "other" in southern Louisiana (which must be a Po'Boy)
- "other" in Connecticut, RI and Western Mass (do you folks say "Grinder"?)

Was wondering how accurate this is to anyone's personal take on it - we traveled quite a bit and never noticed the regional variation in Ct, while certainly noticed the others.

Growing up in central CT in the 50's & 60's, we called them grinders. When we visited family in Bahstin, they were called Heroes. Out here in the desert, they're subs.

So my experience mostly corresponds to RD's assertions.

In a few locations around the country, I've seen them referred to as "torpedo sandwiches". Can't bring up the memory of location, but my febrile brain wants to associate it with southern locales.

 

[JRRRJ]

Good thing I dont live where you grew up.... I'd either be serving multiple life sentences or would have been already executed Its the first thing i look for on the menu if i go to a sub shop or restaurant that has subs. Preferably on a long sub roll, steamed for softness. Most of the places here toast the bread though

I'm kinda ok with the cheeseburger -- meatball is one of my favorites and it's not far off except for the wrong cheese -- but how can you turn a nice, crusty roll into Wonder Bread? Blasphemy!