I saw this ad for Sugardale Cold Cuts that ran in the Lorain Journal back on April 15, 1964 and it got me thinking.
No, not about Hamlet, the cheery porcine Sugardale ad mascot. I'm referring to just how much America's eating habits regarding lunch have changed over the last sixty years.
Back in the 1960s and 70s, Mom always bought a lot of lunch meat each week at the grocery store, or Lawson's. Lunch was always a sandwich for Dad and us kids, with an incredible selection of lunch meat to choose from: bologna (or baloney if you prefer), hard salami, olive loaf, pickle and pimento, Canadian Bacon, beef log, chicken loaf (a loaf of chicken?), chipped chopped ham, very crumbly corned beef slices, souse, and Dutch Loaf.
The Sugardale ad above has a more limited selection in its pre-packaged 'cold cuts' (a term Mom never used): bologna, pickle and pimento loaf, and Berliner.
Berliner?
I had to look that one up. The German Butchery website says it is 'a mildly flavored fully cooked German cold cut made out of finely minced pork. And the Pendle Hill Meat Market website describes it as 'a traditional German sausage made with a blend of pork and beef. Finely ground and seasoned with a savory blend of spices.' Strangely, both companies are located in Australia. Hey, I thought they ate Vegemite sandwiches Down Under.
Fast forward to the 2000s, and it's generally accepted that lunch meat is somewhat unhealthy. This Cleveland Clinic article tells the sad tale of how processed meats are high in calories and low in protein. (Conversely, the Sugardale ad boasts that the company's meat products 'give you a new way too put Protein Glow in your lunches.)
And sandwiches seem to have lost their appeal these days, perhaps due to everyone trying to cut their carbs. Most people I know seem to bring leftovers for their mid-day repast. As for me, I tend to have a light lunch of Cup-a-Soup, although a sandwich made of lunch meat sounds pretty good right now.
Perhaps by the power of suggestion, this blog post will usher in a glorious comeback for cold cuts in the Lorain County area.
I'm going through a bout with gout, the result of eating way too much processed meat.
ReplyDelete(Ah, the taste buds want what they want...)
I picked up a pound of bologna last week for the first time in 30+ years. It will also be the last bologna I ever buy. Certainly didn't bring back any great memories. I suppose my taste buds have changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteWe were a peanut butter sandwich family. I still eat one almost every day for lunch, with various jams and jellies. Though, I do enjoy a pickle and cheese sandwich from time to time.
ReplyDeleteLunch meat cost too much, for all the time, and Mum was so skimpy with it that Dad sometimes accused her of rubbing the bread with the baloney instead of putting any of it between the slices.
But our childless, substitute-grandparent neighbors always had Isaly's Chipped Ham and were generous with it, too. Yummy!
In our neck of the woods, Chicken Loaf was shredded cooked chicken meat pressed into a sliceable shape. Sort of like a huge McFugget without the breading.
In our fridge, now, we almost always have salami and pepperoni, and often ham, and sometime chicken (loaf, maybe). Funny thing, when I make a sandwich, like Mum, I use only one slice.
And Alan... Try cherry juice for your gout. Dad swore by it!
I have to say, although I dutifully ate the bologna sandwich or the PB&J when I was a kid, even then I blanched at the sight of Dutch loaf, chipped chopped ham, or pickle and pimento loaf. Sugardale meats may have promised "Protein Glow" but I just got gas.
ReplyDeleteSkip the cherry juice for gout. It's the equivalent of scaring the the hic-ups out of you. Just an old myth. I have taken febuxostat daily for the last 9 years for gout with no side effects. Eat and drink whatever you want with zero gout flares. Best part is they just began producing a generic version as it is a bit pricey for the original. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI take allopurinol; I binged on barbacoa burritos a while back, which caused the flareup.
DeleteI tried febuxostat, but after suffering a variety of fairly nasty skin-related side effects, decided I was far better off with a healthier diet. And I lost 10 pounds, too. Besides, increased uric acid in the bloodstream is tied to kidney stones. A couple of those helped put me on the straight and narrow!
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear the word cold cuts,I always think of Tony Soprano and his fetish for "gabagool".That stuff will plug your arteries up faster than a speeding bullet.
ReplyDeleteMy mom's go-to lunch meat was chipped chopped ham A close 2nd was ham salad, which for reasons that completely elude me, is absolutely unavailable in the New York City area where I live now. Every other sandwich salad-- chicken, egg, tuna, shrimp and lobster-- can be had. But not ham salad. Go figure.
ReplyDelete