Set aside your artisanal aioli and journey with us as we rediscover the most tantalizing, old-fashioned sandwich fillings that once graced the humble bread slices of yesteryear. For even more ideas, check out these cute retro party sandwich ideas!
Skippy and Hellman’s: Peanut butter & mayonnaise sandwich recipes (1963)
Double crunch: For a sandwich that really swings, add crisp bacon strips and Fanning’s Bread & Butters Pickles to your Hellmann’s and Skippy.
Pineapple topper: Scrumptious for supper! Super for snacks! Peanut butter and mayonnaise — a welcome flavor contrast for fruits, like canned or fresh pineapple.
Apple fandango: Deliciously daring! Creamy-smooth Skippy and Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise with sliced apples and marmalade!
Crazy combo: Man-sized pleaser! Hellmann’s and Skippy with a trio of salami, onions and sliced eggs! Don’t argue … just try it!
Funny face: Irresistible! Skippy-Hellmann’s sandwich face, flavored with raisin and carrot features!
Lunchbox special: Happy new lunchbox surprise for all the family! The basic combination is a real “natural” as is, or use as a base for your favorite fancy fixings.
Spanish Fandango sandwich with shrimp (1966)
One quarter cup Best Foods real mayonnaise, 1/8 teaspoon salad herbs softened in 1/4 teaspoon tarragon vinegar. Blend ingredients. Spoon over cooked shrimp and sliced olives.
Oriental intrigue sandwich recipe idea from 1966
1/4 cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon chopped chutney. Blend ingredients. Arrange chicken strips on crisp spinach. Fill kumquat with dressing.
Retro Swedish Seafarer sandwich recipe with smoked salmon
Combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon dill weed. Spread bread with cream cheese. Top with smoked salmon, cucumber and dressing.
1960s French Treat sandwich recipe
Blend 1/4 cup mayo, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon milk, salt and pepper to taste. Spoon over hard-cooked egg and asparagus spears.
West Coast sandwich recipe
Buttered sesame seed bread, cream cheese, avocado slices, apple or orange slices, chopped nuts, watercress.
Peanut butter & mayo All-American sandwich idea (1967)
Make dressing by blending 1/4 cup mayonnaise and 1 strip bacon, fried, drained and crumbled. Top bread with peanut butter, bacon dressing and a strip of American cheese. Garnish with crisp fried bacon strips and parsley.
Tuna All-American (1966)
ALSO SEE: Hidden Valley Ranch 6-layer tuna salad: A retro recipe from 1977
Retro deli special (ham salad) sandwich recipe (1976)
Combine 1-1/3 cups finely-chopped cooked ham, 3/4 cup finely-chopped Swiss cheese, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons finely-chopped pimiento-stuffed olives and 1-1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard. Serve mixture on large rolls lined with spinach. Serves 4.
Beefeater sandwich recipe
Buttered white bread, mustard, lettuce, rare roast beef, pimiento strips, sweet pickle rounds.
Camper’s Special sandwich on rye
Buttered dark rye bread, mustard, lettuce, French fried onions (canned), corned beef, pickle.
Danish Delight sandwich
Make dressing with 1/4 cup mayonnaise & 1 teaspoon mustard with horseradish. Blend ingredients. Arrange sardines and onion ring on chicory. Top with dressing.
Double Right sandwich
Buttered whole wheat bread; lettuce; triangles of sliced cheese and cold cuts; mustard; pickle slice.
Farmer Jones old-fashioned sandwich fillings recipe
Buttered Vienna bread, lettuce, mustard, sliced pork roast loin, pickled beet slices
Golden Disk sandwich with cottage cheese
Buttered white bread, chicory, cottage cheese, round orange slices, pitted cooked prunes & a drizzle of honey
Hearty German sandwich with liverwurst and red cabbage
1/4 cup mayonnaise & 1/2 teaspoon caraway seed. Blend ingredients. Spoon over liverwurst and chopped red cabbage.
Italiano old-fashioned sandwich idea for lunch (1967)
Blend 1/4 cup mayonnaise and 1/4 teaspoon oregano. Serve over salami. Garnish with crisp, crumbled bacon.
English Beefeater/John Bull old-fashioned sandwich fillings
Combine 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons dry onion soup mix and 1 teaspoon horseradish. Spoon over roast beef.
Polynesian Party old-fashioned sandwich lunch (1967)
Make dressing by blending 1/4 cup mayonnaise, chopped mint and a dash of ground cloves. Top sliced ham with dressing and pineapple ring. Garnish with fresh mint, if desired.
Pete’s Special: Rye with baked beans
Buttered dark rye bread, canned baked beans, mustard, fresh onion rings, crisp bacon.
Southern Ham sandwich
Buttered white bread, deviled ham, shredded lettuce, sweet pickle, peanut butter, mustard-mayonnaise.
MORE: 20 old-fashioned salad dressing recipes to try
Peanut butter treat: Peanut butter & mayo sandwich (1976)
Ingredients: 1-1/2 oz French fried potato sticks crushed (optional), 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup Skippy creamy or super chunk peanut butter, 1 cup coarsely shredded carrot, 1 /4 cup finely chopped celery, 8 slices bread and lettuce
Combine first 4 ingredients. Spread 2 tablespoons peanut butter on each of 4 slices bread. Top with carrot mixture, lettuce and remaining slices of bread spread with Real Mayonnaise. Serves 4.
ALSO SEE: Vintage peanut butter brands: How many kinds of crunchy & smooth deliciousness do you remember?
Tropical treat old-fashioned sandwich
Buttered raisin bread, peanut butter, sliced banana, orange or apricot marmalade, watercress topping.
MORE: See what an old-fashioned box social was like
Tuna All-American sandwich with apple
Combine 1 can tuna, 1/2 cup chopped red apple, 1/4 cup mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Spread on bread. Garnish with apple and additional mayonnaise.
Tuna Topper sandwich recipe
Buttered white bread, mustard, lettuce, tuna salad, sliced tomato, sliced stuffed olives.
Retro-style egg-bacon sandwich filling (1969)
1960s shrimp salad sandwich filling
Avocado sandwich filling (1969)
1960s Chef salad sandwich filling
10 very old-fashioned sandwich fillings for summer (1910)
There is literally no end to the fillings that are possible for sandwiches, provided one knows how to prepare them in an appetizing way. Any cold meat may be run through the meat grinder and made to do service by deft seasoning.
But the first requisite is a dainty attractiveness. People who are not near any good bakeries where sandwich loaves may be had often use pound baking tins in making homemade loaves. Such little loaves make slices just the right size. The bread should be buttered on the loaf in order that the slices may be of wafer-like thinness.
Old-fashioned sandwich fillings
In making meat or cheese sandwiches, both sides are spread with butter, but one side only with the meat, etc.; the other slice is then added, pressed gently and cut in two. Of all things, the edges of the sandwich should be free from butter and all suggestions of the filling.
Cut slices of rye or brown bread without removing the crusts. Rub half a pint of cottage cheese to a smooth paste with a little melted butter, half a teaspoonful of salt and two tablespoonfuls of thick cream, and put the mixture between the buttered slices. This may be varied and improved by using a lettuce leaf with each cream cheese filling or mixing with the cheese half a cupful of chopped English walnuts. Gingerbread is also nice with the filling of cream cheese and nuts.
Cold lamb sandwiches: Thin slices of the meat, nicely salted, between thin slices of bread are appetizing for a picnic luncheon, and a welcome change from ham sandwiches. A glass of currant jelly will make them more popular.
To make very appetizing sardine sandwiches, wash, skin and bone some sardines, place them in a bowl with a little butter and mash them to a smooth paste, season with some paprika and lemon juice. Spread the mixture on a slice of buttered bread and put another slice on top, pressing it down with a flat knife blade.
To make egg and sardine sandwiches, rub the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs to a smooth paste, add mayonnaise dressing to make a paste which will spread easily on the bread. Drain the oil from four sardines, cut on the heads and tails, remove the bones and scrape off the skin, rub to a paste, add the mayonnaise and egg and spread upon the bread.
Egg and watercress sandwiches are a novelty. Cut some thin slices of bread and butter and cover them evenly with fresh watercress, sprinkling with a little grated onion. Now spread them thickly with hard-boiled yolks of eggs which have been rubbed through a sieve. Place another piece of bread on the top and press together.
Nasturtium sandwiches are novel, and most people are very fond of them, especially when the flowers or leaves are gathered fresh from the garden. Drop them into ice water to crisp while the rest of the luncheon is being made ready. Cut the bread in thin slices and butter it. Place a thin layer of the yellow petals on one pungent leaf between the slices. No seasoning is required aside from a light sprinkling of salt, as the nasturtium has a delightfully distinctive flavor of its own. If the leaves of the nasturtium are used for the sandwich, it is best to add a little mayonnaise.
Cucumber sandwiches are perfectly delicious. The cucumber is peeled and sliced and put in ice water to crisp. The slices are then drained and laid on a thin slice of buttered whole wheat or white bread, a very little thick mayonnaise is put on and the whole covered in the usual way with another slice of bread and pressed down well.
Olive and tongue sandwiches are also delicious. Stone and chop French olives, seasoning with pepper and pounding to a smooth paste. Cut thin slices of bread, and butter and spread one half with the olives and the other half rather thickly with grated tongue. Press together and serve in the usual way.
For chicken salad sandwiches, mince the chicken and season with salt, pepper, mayonnaise and finely chopped olives. A trace of onion juice and a little lemon juice may be used. The mixture must not be thin enough to run.
Almost any sort of sandwich filling is improved by a light seasoning of mayonnaise dressing and chopped olives which are stuffed with little bits of red peppers.
Sweet sandwiches are not often seen in this country, but they are very good indeed for all that. A delicious sweet sandwich is made by mixing chopped figs and dates very fine, moistening with a drop or two of lemon juice and using that as a filling. Chopped nuts may make part of the mixture.
NOW SEE THIS: Try these cute retro party sandwiches
