Black & White & Read All Over (1880); French Dip Sandwich

Wed Dec 31 02:58:03 UTC 2003

BLACK & WHITE & READ ALL OVER

   In the "Newsstands" section of the "Annual Manual" in this week's VILLAGE 
VOICE, December 31, 2003-January 6, 2004:

http://villagevoice.com/issues/0353/amcotts.php
Black and white and read all over

   Where is a dating for this good old Americanism?  OED?  HDAS?  CDS?  Fred 
Shapiro?  It's not in the 
"newspaper" section of the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN 
QUOTATIONS.  I learned about the phrase/saying from a Dixie Riddle Cup.
   Could it really be as old as 1880?

)WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM)
Marion Daily Star - 5/21/1880   
...morning. THE STAR ii BLACK and WHITE and READ ALL OVER. STKAWSEP.BIE8 at 
Green 'a, to.....BK'O. have a full variety of Straw Hats, ALL sizes and ALL 
prices, from 15c. to JOSEPH.....where he bails from is elicited. THE famous BLACK 
red bird, the pride of our city, no.....Tg-tf FOUND, at this office, a babr's 
WHITE sun bonnet a wliito linen sood goods..    
   21 May 1880, MARION STAR (Marion, Ohio), pg. 4?, col. 1:
   THE STAR is black and white and read all over.

Appleton Post Crescent - 7/12/1924  
...OVER The old conundrum whch asked. "What Is BLACK and WHITE, and READ ALL 
seems to have.....Just fe wbrief minutes and it is READ ALL OVER. Tou'll like 
the easy and quick.....and vicinity. Opportunities down in BLACK and WHITE, 
accurately Indexed and.....This section is. of a certainty, READ ALL OVER by an 
the prudent people of Appleton..
Appleton, Wisconsin Saturday, July 12, 1924  855 k      

Appleton Post Crescent - 4/21/1927  
...Chicago. ____________ BLACK and WHITE-And READ ALL OVER Tlie old conundrum 
which asked.....Wliat Is BLACK 'and WHITE, and READ ALL seems to have 
been.....This section is, oC a certainty, READ ALL OVER by ALL tho_ prudent people 
-of Appleton.....Tel. 3345 irALLy n 110 E. CoHtgo Ave. OVER i BLACK Inquire of 
William rtition. ?a..
Appleton, Wisconsin Thursday, April 21, 1927  989 k     

Council Bluffs Nonpareil - 2/17/1953    
...Automobiles For WHAT'S BLACK and WHITE and RED ALL OVER? It's not a 
newspaper It's your.....the i right to accept or reject any and ALL offers so 
submitted. ALL offew not.....FAMILY BUDGET f it's plain as BLACK and WH1TK lhat you 
can't buy a new car.....nroiulway Phone S980 KRESHLY dressed, smALL WHITE 
TURKEYS. Also DUCKS ft OEESE. Lloyd..
Council Bluffs, Iowa Tuesday, February 17, 1953  701 k      

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
FRENCH DIP SANDWICH

   I keep looking for a definitive article in the historical LOS ANGELES 
TIMES on the "French Dip Sandwich."  Meanwhile, there's Robert Sietsema in this 
week's VILLAGE VOICE.

http://villagevoice.com/issues/0353/sietsema.php    
Counter Culture
by Robert Sietsema
Dip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
A damp beef sandwich stirs controversy in downtown L.A.
December 31, 2003 - January 6, 2004
Philippe, the Original 
1001 North Alameda Street, Los Angeles 213.628.3781 
Cole's P.E. Buffet 
118 East 6th Street, Los Angeles 
213.622.4090

Everyone agrees that the soggy beef sandwich called French dip first appeared 
in downtown Los Angeles nearly a century ago. What causes consternation is 
the nagging question of who invented it. A pair of competing institutions claim 
credit, each offering a different story. 

Philippe, the Original occupies spacious corner premises just north of Union 
Station, featuring sawdust on the floor, long communal tables flanked by high 
stools, and a line of countergals in starched beige uniforms, who wear surreal 
brown hats that nestle in their hair like birds. A pair of free parking lots 
makes it easy for tourists, Dodgers fans, and food writers to zip in and out, 
and the walls are plastered with accolades from periodicals. As its story 
goes, founder and French native Philippe Mathieu was preparing one of his popular 
beef sandwiches in 1918 when he dropped the bread into the broth. The 
customer, a cop, wanted the sandwich anyway, and the next day he returned with a bunch 
of chums, all of whom demanded the "French dipped" sandwich. They called it 
French—according to the restaurant's website—because of the founder's 
nationality, the kind of roll the sandwich came on, or the policeman's patronymic. 
Unbelievably, he was named Officer French. 

Cole's P.E. Buffet enjoys a less salubrious location. When it was founded in 
1908 as a bar catering to riders at a nearby streetcar terminal (P.E. stands 
for Pacific Electric), it was situated in a prime downtown area. Now the 
neighborhood is a cheesy wholesale hub that the city evasively calls the Toy 
District, combining elements of a bustling Mexican border town with a world-class 
skid row. Cole's reminds you of a Blarney Stone—a subterranean Hibernian dive 
where late in the afternoon the intrepid customers are more likely to be hoisting 
pints of stout than beef sandwiches. In fact, the eponymous buffet is by then 
a horror show of desiccated stuffed peppers and crusted-over mac and cheese. 
As Cole's tells the story, one day soon after the place opened, an old codger 
came in and, complaining of weak gums, asked the chef to dip his bun in meat 
juices to soften it. Soon everyone was asking for a "dip sandwich." The French 
part was ostensibly added by customers to designate the type of bread. This 
story rings true, partly because French bread had been recently introduced into 
this country, causing quite a sensation. 

Back at Philippe's, the sandwiches ($4.40) are assembled from pre-sliced and 
portion-controlled beef. Though the meat is cardboardy and gray, the crusty 
bun and fierce horseradish mustard partly redeem the assemblage. When I ordered 
the competing Cole's French dip ($5.39) the same afternoon, a chef with the pe
llucid skin and pale demeanor of a saint in a medieval painting had to be 
summoned from a back room. He yanked a brisket from the steam cabinet and hand 
carved pieces of irregular thickness, oozing juices and still faintly pink in the 
middle. Then he dipped each side of the roll in broth using a stubby silver 
fork. Alongside the overstuffed sandwich he tendered a plastic cup of condiment 
compounded of dill cucumber chips and short yellow chiles in their combined 
pickle juices. 

Before I even took the first bite, I could predict the result: Cole's kicks 
Philippe's ass. Another conclusion—there's nothing French about this sandwich 
but the bread. 

(WWW.NEWSPAPERARCHIVE.COM) (Cites before 1950--ed.)
Zanesville Signal - 9/16/1949   
...1 of catd imat ana' 1 tlics of ai filling. DIP SANDWICH into a mixture of 
1 slightly and.....with boy I" gfocfie fa FRENCH MEATWICH Make SANDWICH of 2 
of bread..
Zanesville, Ohio Friday, September 16, 1949  1124 k     

Council Bluffs Iowa Nonpareil - 4/6/1948    
...seasoned leftover moat, cut in half and DIP SANDWICH halves in beaten egg 
diluted.....is possible to bake. GOOD AK FRENCH FRIED SANDWICH make a SANDWICH 
with highly..
Council Bluffs, Iowa Tuesday, April 06, 1948  669 k     

Chillicothe Constitution Tribune - 9/24/1937    
...the cheese. Beat egg, add milk and salt. DIP SANDWICH in mixture 1 fry in 
butter and.....crusts from the bread, spread and make a SANDWICH with.....2 
pounds DRIED BEEF 27c 25c 25c SWIFT'S SANDWICH SPRI SWIFT'S LONGHORN CHEESE..
Chillicothe, Missouri Friday, September 24, 1937  614 k     

    Reno Evening Gazette - 2/6/1946     
...CHILI BOWL Home of the Original French DIPPED SANDWICH Make the Chili Bowl 
Your Goal..
Reno, Nevada Wednesday, February 06, 1946  643 k    

Reno Evening Gazette - 2/9/1946     
...a CHILI BOWL Home of the Original French DIPPED SANDWICH Make the Chili 
Bowl Your Goal..
Reno, Nevada Saturday, February 09, 1946  854 k     

Reno Evening Gazette - 2/4/1946     
...CHI LI BOWL Home of the Original French DIPPED SANDWICH Make the Chili 
Bowl Your Goal..
Reno, Nevada Monday, February 04, 1946  643 k       
   4 February 1946, RENO EVENING GAZETTE (Reno, Nevada), pg. 6, cols. 5-6 ad:
   CHILI BOWL
Home of the Original French Dipped Sandwich
Make the Chili Bowl Your Goal!
We proudly claime the original Old-time Tamale
   wrapped in corn shuck.
What a meal smothered with that good homemade chili!
Try Our Snappy Free Delivery Service
Always Open--As Near as Your Telephone
PHONE 8739   243 LAKE STREET

Reno Evening Gazette - 2/5/1946     
...CHILI BOWL Home of Original French DIPPED SANDWICH Make the Chili Bowl 
Your Goal..
Reno, Nevada Tuesday, February 05, 1946  654 k      

Reno Evening Gazette - 2/7/1946     
...CHI LI BOWL Home of the Original French DIPPED SANDWICH Make the Chill 
Bowl Your Goal..
Reno, Nevada Thursday, February 07, 1946  603 k     