Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a staple of the American diet.
You'll find them in kids' lunches across the continent on wheat, white, rye, pita bread, and even sourdough. Some will be crunchy and others will be smooth. Some will don grape jelly while others will contain strawberry. But what do you really know about this beloved sandwich?
No matter how you grew up fixing your PB&J, the sandwich most likely made an appearance during your childhood. There's no other country that loves the simple sandwich as much as Americans do. And for the folks who look down their nose at peanut butter, they just don't know what they're missing!
What's your favorite way to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Do you still love snacking on them today?
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1. Americans Eat A Ton Of PB&J
The Daily News reports that Americans eat an average of 2,984 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a lifetime. Stack all of those sandwiches up and they'd be taller than the Statue of Liberty.
2. George Washington Carver Actually Didn't Invent Peanut Butter
While George was an amazing inventor who found over 300 uses for peanuts, he was not the first to make peanut butter in all of recorded history.
The first recorded instances of peanut spread are from the ancient Incas and the Aztecs, according to Today I Found Out. It is safe to say that he did reinvent it, though, because he didn't have that ancient information at the time.
3. They Used To Be Very High-End
Back when peanuts were costly, peanut butter wasn't exactly a household staple.
Before the commercialization of peanut butter in the 1900s, peanut spreads were eaten in fancy sandwiches along with meats, cheeses, or hard-boiled eggs, as noted by Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea.
4. The American GI Helped Popularize Them
In Why Do Donuts Have Holes?: Fascinating Facts About What We Eat And Drink, Don Voorhees notes that both peanut butter and jelly were on the soldier's ration lists.
GIs had to get creative with their food, and most likely combined these ingredients very often. When the war was over, the popularity of the sandwich rose greatly, and it's not a coincidence.
5. Sliced Bread Changed The PB&J Demographic
Until the late 1920s, peanut butter and jelly wasn't a staple in American homes — though it became widely commercialized soon after. The big kicker, though, was the invention of sliced bread by Gustav Papendick in 1928, although the phenomenon didn't catch on immediately.
Pre-sliced bread made it possible for children to make their own sandwiches. Plus, the low cost, the ease of putting it together, and the high nutrition made it the perfect sandwich for the Depression Era.
6. They Can Actually Be Quite Good For You
Some folks are afraid of the fat in peanut butter, but we all need to get over that! The fats in natural peanut butter are good for you, but you have to watch out for the ingredient label when you're shopping. Not all peanut butter is created equal.
Look for one with as little saturated fats, sugars, hydrogenated oils, and sodium as possible. Similarly, look out for the added sugar in jelly. For bread, look for whole grains!
7. People Go Nuts For Strawberry Jelly
In a poll conducted by the Huffington Post, strawberry jelly won out with 36.53% of those questioned naming it as their favorite.
Grape was close behind with 31.15%. Following that was raspberry, blueberry, apricot, and then finally, orange marmalade.
8. There's A Way To Keep Your Sandwiches From Getting Soggy
According to Lifehacker, if you are tired of biting into a soggy sandwich, all you have to do is split your peanut butter up and spread it on both pieces of bread.
With the jelly in the middle and the bread protected by the thick layer of peanut butter, everything stays in its place, and you can make sandwiches ahead of time without fear of a soggy lunch!
9. They've Been Made In Space
Astronauts on the International Space Station use tortilla, peanut butter, and jelly to make their delicious sandwiches in outer space.
They can't forget to attach Velcro to all the lids and containers unless they want their meal to float away!
10. They Are A Great Way To Help Those In Need
Peanut butter, jelly, and sliced bread are fairly affordable items. One sandwich will only set you back about 50 cents, according to the National Peanut Board. That's great news for parents on a budget, especially because these sandwiches pack a nutritional punch.
But this low price point is also good news for those who want to make a difference: peanut butter is the #1 most donated comestible to food banks, as it makes for a balanced, healthy, cost-effective meal for those in need.
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