Antedating of "Hobo" (1886); Tavern Sandwich

[Barry Popik]

HOBO:
Whew! That was close! Thought I'd lost another one!
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TAVERN SANDWICH:
(Probably similar to the long article I'd posted previously by the
same author -- B.P.)
Tavern sandwich deserves its fame (December 1, 1993)
    San Antonio Express-News
Page 3C (411 Words)
Merle Ellis, The Butcher

Every town in America has some claim to fame. The city I grew up in,
Sioux City, Iowa, has several special claims to fame. It may, for
example, qualify as the popcorn capital of the world because Jolly
Time popcorn comes from there.


Another claim to fame Sioux City has earned but not proclaimed
nationally is as the originating place of the tavern. Not the saloon,
bar or watering hole that you normally associate with the word, but
rather the sandwich...
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<i>Sex-Crime Panic:</i>
<i>A Journey to the Paranoid Heart of the 1950s</i>
by Neil Miller
Los Angeles, CA: Alyson Publishing
2002
 Pg. 49:
In one of the trial's lighter moments, Tacy questioned the police
lieutenant about an interest his wife had in a Sioux City
establishment, Ye Old (sic) Tavern. "Does your wife have a license to
sell beer?" Tacy demanded.

"We sell root beer," aid Dennison.

"But it is called a tavern, isn't it?" Tacy persisted.

"That's because we sell tavern sandwiches," replied the policeman. (A
"tavern sandwich" is Iowa lingo for a loose-meat sandwich, a sloppy
joe.)
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1 December 1944, Rock Valley (Iowa) <i>Bee</i>, pg. 8, col. 3:
There will be hot vegetable soup, tavern sandwiches and pie for lunch.
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29 November 1951, Hawarden (Iowa) <i>Independent</i>, pg. 27, col. 7:
Have a tavern sandwich at the city hall Saturday, Dec. 1, at the
Catholic Ladies bake sale and bazaar.
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16 August 1964, Sioux City (Iowa) <i>Sunday Journal</i>, pg. H10, col. 6 ad:
<i>Ye Olde Tavern Inn</i>
Home of the original Ye Olde Tavern Sandwiches
14th and Jackson Sts.
"Sioux City's Oldest Privately Owned Restaurant"

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