Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Thursday, September 10, 2026

If there is a single sandwich associated with childhood and school lunches in the U.S.A, it has to be the PB&J. Sweet and salty, inexpensive, easy to make (maybe the first sandwich many kids make for themselves?), peanut butter and jelly is as close to iconic as a sandwich can get.

More

Comments

Admin's note: Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

More from the article ...

... It's been 125 years since the first known written recipe, and the PB&J concept is still going strong.

In its simplest form, it's a lunchbox staple, but it's also a jumping-off point for creative takes in eateries from delis to high-end restaurants.

It's nothing if not versatile: When peanut allergies led to school bans, alternative nut butters like almond and seed butters like sunflower, flaxseed and pumpkin seed stepped in.

The combo began as a tea sandwich for the wealthy

The recipe that appeared in 1901 in The Boston Cooking School Magazine was written by Julia Davis Chandler.

It called for currant or crab-apple jelly and was viewed as a fancy tea-time snack for wealthy people.

In the 1920s and 30s, commercial peanut butter and machine-sliced bread became widely available. Peter Pan and Skippy were early brands, and then Jif came along in the 1950s. ...


#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-10 12:06 AM | Reply

The real change happened after WWII.

GIs got packets with crackers, jelly, chocolate, cigarettes, peanut butter, etc.

The resourceful soldiers combined the pb and the j between the crackers.

Once home, they switched out crackers for Wonder Bread ... and a classic was born.

#2 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-09-10 12:41 AM | Reply

@#2 ... The real change happened after WWII. ...

So, applying more widely a phenomenon that had occurred previously?


Yeah, going from crackers to bread is quite significant.

What prompted me for this topic was, well, I had a PB&J for lunch today.

It was great. Flavorful and filling.

:)

#3 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-10 01:00 AM | Reply

Jelly is for fags.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

#4 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-09-10 01:50 AM | Reply

@#2

Though, I have to say ... tomorrow, I may also have a PB&J for lunch.

Though, I may get radical, and toast the bread before I make the sandwich.

That adds issues to the making of the sandwich. The warm bread seems to make the PB aspect rather, I'll say, gooey.

But I'll deal with it.

:)



#5 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-10 01:50 AM | Reply

@#4 ... Jelly is for fags. ...

Why?

#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-10 01:52 AM | Reply

@#4

Or are you in the Elvis realm that seems to prefer peanut butter with bananas?


#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-10 01:54 AM | Reply

The following HTML tags are allowed in comments: a href, b, i, p, br, ul, ol, li and blockquote. Others will be stripped out. Participants in this discussion must follow the site's moderation policy. Profanity will be filtered. Abusive conduct is not allowed.

Anyone can join this site and make comments. To post this comment, you must sign it with your Drudge Retort username. If you can't remember your username or password, use the lost password form to request it.
Username:
Password:

Home | Breaking News | Comments | User Blogs | Stats | Back Page | RSS Feed | RSS Spec | DMCA Compliance | Privacy

Drudge Retort