1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,320 There are a few things more universally loved than a good sandwich. There are 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:09,960 just so many options available to you, and countless amounts of regional speciality sandwiches 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,839 almost anywhere in the world that you travel. If you strip it down to 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,199 the basics of simply any sort of filling between two pieces of baked dough, 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:23,359 you could even open up the conversation to include burghers, hot dogs, schwarmers, 6 00:00:23,679 --> 00:00:28,079 raps, tortillas, possibly even cull zones at a stretch, and the 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:34,000 list goes on and on. We as humans love the simplicity and deliciousness of 8 00:00:34,079 --> 00:00:38,960 having something to hold all of our favorite fillings together. But there was a 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:44,240 time in our history when the venerable sandwich was used not for sustenance or delight 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:48,399 in a tasty meal, but rather as a loophole with which to get around 11 00:00:48,479 --> 00:01:03,799 some rather limiting laws. These are the bizarre but true stories from history that 12 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,200 in some way involved food. I'm Nick Charlie Key, and this is the 13 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:23,959 fantastic history of food. One of today's sponsors is Athletic Greens. So what 14 00:01:23,079 --> 00:01:27,000 is athletic greens? Well, with one delicious scoop of athletic greens, you're 15 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:34,319 absorbing seventy five high quality vitamins, minerals, whole food sourced superfoods, probiotics, 16 00:01:34,359 --> 00:01:38,120 and adaptogens to help you start your day right. 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That's Athletic Greens dot com slash em R G I n 32 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,360 G to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. 33 00:03:01,199 --> 00:03:06,199 Modern day sandwiches using slices of bread on either side of a tasty filling 34 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,439 can arguably be traced back to as recently as eighteenth century Europe, but we 35 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:15,439 know that bread or similar baked goods have been placed under over or sometimes both 36 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:22,719 meat and vegetable fillings for centuries, if not millennia. Evidence of bread being 37 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,800 used to scoop up leftovers or wrap food in has been found in numerous ancient 38 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:32,680 cultures worldwide. The softer versions of the Jewish unleavened flat bread matsa has for 39 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:38,039 ages been used during Passover in the same way as we would use a modern 40 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:43,479 day rap. There are accounts of the ancient Jewish sage Hillel the Elder using 41 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,639 this method to wrap up some meat from the sacrificial passover lamb, alongside some 42 00:03:47,759 --> 00:03:53,800 bitter herbs. Similar accounts are found anywhere from Morocco to Ethiopia and India, 43 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:59,439 where the predominant method of baking bread was to bake it into a flat round, 44 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,719 differing significantly from the traditional European method of baking bread in loaves. During 45 00:04:04,719 --> 00:04:10,960 the European Middle Ages, bread was cut into thick slabs called trenches, and 46 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,479 essentially used as a plate upon which to pile your other food. Once the 47 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,560 meal was done, the thick bread slices, now soaked with food juices and 48 00:04:18,639 --> 00:04:25,160 covered with food remnants, were squashed together and then given to beggars. While 49 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,839 we all know the saying beggars can't be choosers, it is worth noting that, 50 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,560 as generous of an act as this may seem, the reason the diners 51 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:36,199 didn't usually eat this themselves is that the thick slabs of bread were usually so 52 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:42,879 stale as to almost be inedible. One of the more recent precursors to the 53 00:04:42,879 --> 00:04:46,319 so called official creation of the sandwich could be found in the Netherlands in the 54 00:04:46,399 --> 00:04:50,759 late seventeenth century. To be exact, in many taverns across the land, 55 00:04:51,079 --> 00:04:56,040 thick slabs of beef would hang from the rafters, and when a patron was 56 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,600 hungry, the barkeep maidservant or someone of that ilk would carve thin slices of 57 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,480 meat off the main slab and give it to the hungry patron atop a piece 58 00:05:04,519 --> 00:05:10,639 of buttered bread. Essentially, this was the Dutch version of an open faced 59 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:15,160 sandwich, but it was one that had not yet reached England. The sandwich 60 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,319 as we have come to know it to day is said to have its origins 61 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:24,480 amongst gambling men. It began appearing in the uppercrusted elements of society as simple 62 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,360 late night snack whilst they were engaged in some or other activity. It is, 63 00:05:29,399 --> 00:05:33,800 however, formerly named after John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, 64 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:39,120 who used to enjoy playing long sessions of card games late into the night. 65 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,399 His particular favorite was cribbage, and he would frequently attend games at the local 66 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,040 public gambling houses. Having no desire to leave the table simply to eat a 67 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,800 meal, he would call for his man servant to bring him salted beef between 68 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:57,759 two pieces of toasted bread. It was seen as ingenious and revolutionary by his 69 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,040 peers, as it allowed him to keep on gambling with one hand while eating 70 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:04,519 with the other. He didn't need to stop to use a knife or a 71 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:09,959 fork, and the toasted bread stopped his fingers from making the cards greasy after 72 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,759 eating meat with his bare hands. This new method of eating exploded in popularity 73 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,720 in London, and the earl of sandwich's name became forever etched into history. 74 00:06:20,959 --> 00:06:25,040 It would not stay merely the secret of the UK elite, but it would 75 00:06:25,079 --> 00:06:30,199 spread rapidly across Spain and England's working classes as the rise of industrialization meant workers 76 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:35,560 working long, grueling hours needed fast, portable, and relatively cheap meals. 77 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:49,439 By eighteen fifty, it is said that at least seventy street vendors were selling 78 00:06:49,439 --> 00:06:56,639 ham sandwiches daily just in London alone. The Dutch, having initially figured out 79 00:06:56,639 --> 00:07:00,319 half a sandwich, closed the loop, so to say, and with this 80 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,800 new fangled idea of two pieces of bread. However, they also chose to 81 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:11,879 predominantly serve liver and salt beef sandwiches in their rapidly expanding network of sandwich bars. 82 00:07:12,839 --> 00:07:16,199 The United States initially took a different stance from Europe, styling the sandwich 83 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:21,240 as a gourmet luxury meal, stuffed with decad and fillings and usually only consumed 84 00:07:21,279 --> 00:07:26,279 at dinner times. However, they could not hold out for long. As 85 00:07:26,279 --> 00:07:30,759 the twentieth century rolled around and bread became more and more of a household staple. 86 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,720 The sandwich then took on the same easy, cheap persona as it had 87 00:07:34,759 --> 00:07:40,800 done across the Mediterranean, and it was here in the United States and New 88 00:07:40,879 --> 00:07:45,399 York, to be specific, that the sandwich would evolve yet again into something 89 00:07:45,439 --> 00:07:48,639 else entirely. Stick around after the break, we're going to find out just 90 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:55,120 how our beloved sandwich would become a bartender's loophole to get around something known as 91 00:07:55,199 --> 00:08:09,519 the Rain's Law. Many of you may not know this about me, but 92 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,040 before I was a podcaster, I was a cookbook author, and specifically one 93 00:08:13,079 --> 00:08:18,959 that focused on low carb and keto recipes. You see, I was diagnosed 94 00:08:18,959 --> 00:08:22,279 with metabolic syndrome almost a decade ago, and my personal experience of keto was 95 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:26,199 amazing. I know it's not everyone's cup of team, but it's always good 96 00:08:26,199 --> 00:08:30,680 to know more about what's out there and what your options are. And I 97 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:33,799 can't think of a better place to start if you're wanting to learn more about 98 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:39,519 living a low carb lifestyle than listening to the Heel Nourish Grow podcast. It 99 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,399 provides practical keto tips and tricks that you can use to improve your keto experience. 100 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:48,240 It's hosted by Cheryl McColgan, and the podcast shares interviews with people that 101 00:08:48,279 --> 00:08:52,600 have been living a low carb lifestyle while experiencing improved health and weight loss. 102 00:08:54,159 --> 00:08:56,399 Most of the guests have had health problems like myself, or a history that 103 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,120 has led them to eating lower carb than the standard America and diet. For 104 00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:05,240 some, this means they talk about keito on the podcast, but other types 105 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,600 of eating are also discussed. These interviews with keito experts, doctors and physicians, 106 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,080 and a whole lot more when it comes to health and wellness related information 107 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,320 that supports the keto lifestyle. So you can listen today on Heel Nourished Grow 108 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:35,879 dot com or on whichever podcast platform you usually listen to. Near the end 109 00:09:35,879 --> 00:09:39,879 of the nineteenth century, in eighteen ninety six, to be exact, something 110 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,559 known as the Rain's Law was enacted on the first of April, and unfortunately 111 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:48,120 for those affected, this was no April Fool's prank. At the time, 112 00:09:48,399 --> 00:09:52,519 New York City was home to more than eight thousand bars. In his book 113 00:09:52,759 --> 00:09:58,080 Island of Vice, Richard Zach's writes the worst of them were seedy, dimly 114 00:09:58,159 --> 00:10:05,279 lit, all smelling, rickety chaired, stale beard dives, catering to vagrants, 115 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:11,440 shipless sailors, incompetent thieves, and aging prostitutes. Now that has to 116 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:15,320 be one of the greatest burns of all time. The rains Law, however, 117 00:10:15,639 --> 00:10:18,840 was designed almost entirely to put these sorts of establishments out of business. 118 00:10:20,519 --> 00:10:22,639 This law didn't just appear out of nowhere, however, and it was a 119 00:10:22,639 --> 00:10:28,840 part of a larger moral movement aimed at cleaning up the city. Public drunkenness 120 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:33,159 was at an all time high, and the city's existing Sabbath laws banning the 121 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,360 sale of alcohol on Sundays were hardly, if at all, enforced. The 122 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:43,080 Republican Party was not a major force in the largely Democratic constituency of New York, 123 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,720 but they did have a young, up and coming star named Theodore Roosevelt, 124 00:10:48,159 --> 00:10:50,720 who at this time was serving as the President of the Police Commission. 125 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,519 He was one of the new rains Law's staunchest supporters and said that it would 126 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:01,480 solve whatever remained of the problem of bars not closing on Sunday Day. The 127 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,480 Reigns Law became a conflict of cultures and class that spread to national proportions. 128 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,320 Protestants and middle class families were generally in favor of the new law and saw 129 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,080 it as a step in the right direction for the overall improvement of society. 130 00:11:15,919 --> 00:11:20,440 They were, however, met with fierce opposition from the city's German and Irish 131 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,399 immigrants, who saw it as a spiteful act of repression in a time when 132 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:28,879 workers still predominantly worked Monday to Saturday. This meant that the average laborer was 133 00:11:28,919 --> 00:11:33,320 now being limited as to how they themselves could spend their one day off per 134 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:39,759 week. In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the city's large Jewish population 135 00:11:39,879 --> 00:11:43,039 was also up in arms about the new law, being that they in fact 136 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:58,720 celebrated their Sabbath the day before on Saturdays. Unsurprisingly, lower income residents cried 137 00:11:58,799 --> 00:12:03,919 foul when a loop hole designed almost explicitly it seems to placate the rich meant 138 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:09,759 that the taverns and bars frequented by the working class were disproportionately affected because this 139 00:12:09,879 --> 00:12:15,120 loophole allowed any establishment with ten or more rooms for rent to serve alcohol on 140 00:12:15,159 --> 00:12:18,519 Sundays as long as it was accompanied by a meal, and in the world's 141 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:24,559 least surprising twist, It just so happened that wealthy New Yorkers tended to dine 142 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:30,039 out at the city's fanciest hotels when every Sunday, because this was also the 143 00:12:30,039 --> 00:12:33,919 one day a week that their live in servants had off. By contrast, 144 00:12:35,039 --> 00:12:37,759 it was the working class taverns that took the greatest hit. Not only were 145 00:12:37,799 --> 00:12:41,879 they now prohibited from opening on Sundays, usually their busiest day of the week, 146 00:12:43,279 --> 00:12:46,120 but the annual liquor license went up from eighty dollars a year to over 147 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:52,600 eight hundred. It also stipulated that bars could not open within two hundred feet 148 00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:56,000 of a school or a church, and the drinking age and look, I'll 149 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:01,039 probably give this one to them was raised from sixteen to eighteen in a somewhat 150 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:05,320 comical manner. It also forbade bars from closing their blinds on the Sunday, 151 00:13:05,639 --> 00:13:09,559 just in case they might sneak in a customer or two pass the now watchful 152 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:15,639 eye of any patrolling policeman. And while it seemingly left an overtly wide loophole 153 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,679 for the rich, it didn't account for the resourcefulness of the common bar owner. 154 00:13:20,279 --> 00:13:24,480 As previously mentioned, Sundays were their best trading days, and bar owners 155 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:28,639 weren't going to give up without a fight. Within a week of the law 156 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:33,279 being enacted, owners all across the city were cheerfully testing the laws new limits. 157 00:13:33,799 --> 00:13:39,840 A suspicious number of so called private clubs began opening up, and bars 158 00:13:39,879 --> 00:13:43,799 began handing out membership cards to all of their regulars. On top of that, 159 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:48,919 any spare spaces in a bar's building were hastily converted into the requisite number 160 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:54,679 of rooms meant to meet the laws requirements. Attics, basements, even large 161 00:13:54,720 --> 00:14:01,120 broom closets now became bespoke rooms for rent should their clientele so desired. For 162 00:14:01,159 --> 00:14:05,159 those establishments with little to no room to spare, they would cut deals with 163 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:09,879 neighboring lodging houses to combine forces. Being that the law stipulated that alcohol could 164 00:14:09,879 --> 00:14:15,320 only be served alongside a meal, tablecloths were now thrown over pool tables to 165 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,960 create a de facto dining room table. And lastly, and for us most 166 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,240 importantly of all, they started serving customers the easiest, cheapest, and dare 167 00:14:24,279 --> 00:14:31,360 I say most reusable of all meals, the rains sandwich. You see, 168 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,399 law enforcement itself had clearly stipulated what they believed constituted a meal, saying, 169 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:41,200 we would not say that a cracker itself is a complete meal, but we 170 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:46,240 would consider that a sandwich would be. With this knowledge in hand, bar 171 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,720 owners set to work. Whenever a customer would order an ale or a whiskey, 172 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:54,279 the waiter or the bartender would bring it with the now famous rains sandwich. 173 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,720 They might be wondering what was on it. Surely it couldn't be worse 174 00:14:58,759 --> 00:15:01,879 than the Dutch favorite of liver and beef. Right well, in a sense, 175 00:15:03,159 --> 00:15:07,159 yes and no. You see, the rain sandwich was the bar owner's 176 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:13,000 humorous loophole to get them around the law. Most taverns didn't even have a 177 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,879 kitchen space to even prepare sandwiches, and so a workaround would have to be 178 00:15:16,919 --> 00:15:20,600 developed, and in no time at all it was. You see, the 179 00:15:20,679 --> 00:15:26,120 law stipulated that alcohol had to be served alongside a meal, which we know 180 00:15:26,279 --> 00:15:30,000 the law says can be something as simple as a sandwich. What the law 181 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,919 didn't specify, however, was that the customer had to eat that meal, 182 00:15:33,639 --> 00:15:39,159 and so with each alcoholic beverage served, the rain sandwich would make its way 183 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,720 to customer after customer. More often than not, the sandwich was barely even 184 00:15:43,879 --> 00:15:48,639 edible, and if it was still technically edible, it definitely wouldn't have been 185 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,519 very good for whoever consumed it. Some were described as a desiccated ruin of 186 00:15:52,679 --> 00:15:58,919 dust laden bread accompanied by mummified ham or cheese. For these establishments, less 187 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,279 concerned with pretense, they would serve patrons a chunk of rubber between two old 188 00:16:03,279 --> 00:16:07,519 slices of bread, and it would be hurriedly taken back seconds after it arrived 189 00:16:07,639 --> 00:16:11,240 to be paired with the next beverage order and taken to another customer's table. 190 00:16:12,159 --> 00:16:15,679 It wasn't long, however, before the reformers caught wind of what was going 191 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,879 on and challenged this behavior in a court of law. In what must have 192 00:16:19,919 --> 00:16:25,320 been one of the truly great judgments of all time. The practice was upheld. 193 00:16:26,039 --> 00:16:29,399 You see, the law itself was sound. The bar owners were now 194 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,480 doing nothing technically illegal. The police and the initial court ruling had created a 195 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:40,360 laughable situation ripe for bending the law. It seems Governor Rains and his allies 196 00:16:40,639 --> 00:16:45,159 had seriously underestimated just how far New Yorkers would go for a drink. When 197 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,879 word of the ruling being upheld came to the people, it became a clear 198 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,759 turning point in the saga. As a whole, so called rains hotels began 199 00:16:53,799 --> 00:16:59,200 popping up everywhere, and within a year more than one thousand and five hundred 200 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,679 of them had opened, and in New York City alone. In Brooklyn, 201 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:07,200 which was still considered a separate municipality at the time, they went from having 202 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:11,920 just thirteen registered hotels to over eight hundred in the space of just six months. 203 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,920 Not to mention the rapid expansion of the so called social clubs. In 204 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,720 what would become a decidedly unwelcome consequence for the reformers in all of this was 205 00:17:21,759 --> 00:17:26,680 that drinking actually increased among the population now that soft beds were just a few 206 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,279 feet away in every establishment. Laborers could now drink to excess and not have 207 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:36,119 to worry about making it home. And while the Rain's Law struggle continued into 208 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:40,440 the twentieth century, it eventually began to peter out as more and more people 209 00:17:40,519 --> 00:17:45,559 took advantage of the loopholes. But it was this unfortunate failure of a scheme 210 00:17:45,599 --> 00:17:49,519 to curb drinking that would lead to its much harsher, stricter, an entirely 211 00:17:49,599 --> 00:17:56,720 teetotaling successor. When in nineteen nineteen, full blown prohibition became the law of 212 00:17:56,759 --> 00:18:00,200 the land, and with this new reality, the knee for the rain sandwich 213 00:18:00,519 --> 00:18:07,640 no longer existed. So the next time you're buttering your bread, preparing your 214 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,920 feelings and salivating at the delight that is to come, just be grateful that 215 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:18,799 it's not simplear chunk of rubber nestled between two slices stale, moldy bread. 216 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,480 This show is made entirely by me, Nick Charlie Key, with our theme 217 00:18:27,559 --> 00:18:37,200 music having been made by the enigma that is the mysterious Breakmaster Cylinder. If 218 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,359 you'd like to support the show, the simplest way to do that is over 219 00:18:41,519 --> 00:18:45,519 on our Patreon account. There's just one option, so for just two bucks 220 00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:48,960 a month, you'll help me keep producing the show, and in return, 221 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:52,400 you'll get your name forever etched onto our supporters Wall of Fame over on our 222 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,920 website. No, and then maybe listen out for your name in an upcoming 223 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:18,279 episode. So until next time, bonapati wow yum.