The Earl's Easy Meal

The sandwich is one of the most convenient foods in the world. We eat them for lunch, at picnics, and as quick snacks. But did you know the sandwich is named after a real person? His name was John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century British politician.

The story goes that the Earl loved playing card games. One night in 1762, he was playing cards for 24 hours straight and did not want to stop to eat a formal meal. He ordered his cook to bring him some beef placed between two slices of toasted bread. This way, he could eat with one hand and continue playing cards with the other, without getting grease on the cards.

His friends saw this and started ordering "the same as Sandwich." Soon, the name stuck. Although people had probably eaten bread and meat together for centuries before this, John Montagu gave the dish the name we use today. It quickly became popular in London society as a late-night meal and eventually spread around the world.

The Earl's Easy Meal

The sandwich is one of the most convenient foods in the world. We eat them for lunch, at picnics, and as quick snacks. But did you know the sandwich is named after a real person? His name was John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century British politician.

The story goes that the Earl loved playing card games. One night in 1762, he was playing cards for 24 hours straight and did not want to stop to eat a formal meal. He ordered his cook to bring him some beef placed between two slices of toasted bread. This way, he could eat with one hand and continue playing cards with the other, without getting grease on the cards.

His friends saw this and started ordering "the same as Sandwich." Soon, the name stuck. Although people had probably eaten bread and meat together for centuries before this, John Montagu gave the dish the name we use today. It quickly became popular in London society as a late-night meal and eventually spread around the world.