National BLT Sandwich Month – April 2023

History of National BLT Sandwich Month

The exact origin of the B.L.T. sandwich is unknown, but some claim it evolved from bacon sandwiches served at teatime in the English countryside since Victorian times. Although the B.L.T’s. ingredients have been around for a long time, there is little evidence of B.L.T. sandwich recipes before 1900. Dr. Evan Mee’s recipe for a club sandwich in the 1903 “Good Housekeeping Everyday CookBook” included bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and a slice of turkey sandwiched between two slices of bread. While Florence Cowles’ 1928 book “Seven Hundred Sandwiches” contains a section on bacon sandwiches, the recipes frequently include pickles and none contain tomato.

Because of the rapid expansion of supermarkets following the Second World War, the B.L.T. became popular. The initials, which stand for “bacon, lettuce, and tomato,” originated in the restaurant industry in the United States as a shorthand for the sandwich, but it is unclear when this became widely known. A 1951 edition of the “Saturday Evening Post,” for example, mentions the sandwich but does not use its initials.

By 1958, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise advertised their product as “traditional on bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches,” implying that the combination had been around for some time. However, several references to a “B.L.T.” can be found in the early 1970s, including one review of Bruce Jay Friedman’s play “Steambath” titled “A B.L.T. for God — hold the mayo.” Despite its hazy origins, the sandwich is now so popular that it has its month, National BLT Month, which is observed in April.