Virgin Mary image in Grilled Cheese Sandwich (now less OT)

[Wilson Gray]

On Nov 24, 2004, at 11:41 AM, Gordon, Matthew J. wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Virgin Mary image in Grilled Cheese Sandwich (now
> less OT)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> When I saw this story on BBC.com, I was struck by their calling it a =
> "toasted cheese sandwich". This is a variant of "grilled cheese" that =
> we've recorded in Missouri, mostly by St. Louisans.
> Is "toasted cheese" the usual term in British English? How 'bout in =
> other parts of the US?
>
> -Matt Gordon
>

"Mostly by St. Louisans"? That's very bizarre. I first knew of the
"grilled-cheese" sandwich as an offering of the student cafeteria at
St. Louis University. This would have been in 1955 or so. Before then,
I had never eaten a grilled-/toasted-cheese sandwich nor had I even
heard of such a thing, though I had, by that time, lived in St. Louis
for about twenty years. What can I tell you? Segregation worked.

-Wilson Gray