Peanut Butter and Jelly is another amazing creation of WW2 GIs

Yes! Peanut Butter and Jelly is another amazing creation of WW2 GIs.

I was consuming my peanut butter and jelly breakfast (and lunch) sandwich (I will go food shopping today Mom, I promise) and I thought to myself, Who is responsible for this most amazing creation?

During WW2, soldiers were given peanut butter and jelly as part of their rations. It is believed that WW2 soldiers may have been the first to mix these two condiments, and are the geniuses behind this delicious breakfast/lunch/dinner treat. Thank you!

Another source reports that the PB&J sandwich was first documented in 1901:

"The first located reference to the now immortal peanut butter and jelly
sandwich was published by Julia Davis Chandler in 1901. This immediately became
a hit with America's youth, who loved the double-sweet combination, and it has
remained a favorite ever since.... During the early 1900s peanut butter was
considered a delicacy and as such it was served at upscale affairs and in New
York's finest tearooms. Ye Olde English Coffee House made a 'Peanut Butter and
Pimento Sandwich.' The Vanity Fair Tea-Room served its peanut butter with
watercress.... The Colonia Tea-Room served peanut butter on toast triangles and
soda crackers. That peanut butter could be combined with so many diverse
products demonstrated that it was a relatively neutral platform providing a
nutty taste and a sticky texture that bound together various
ingredients.

Peanut butter sandwiches moved down the class structure as the
price of peanut butter declined due to the commercialization of the industry.
Peanut butter's use also moved down the age structure of the nation as
manufacturers added sugar to the peanut butter, which appealed to children. The
relationship between children and peanut butter was cemented in the late 1920s,
when Gustav Papendick invented a process for slicing and wrapping bread. Sliced
bread meant that children could make sandwiches themselves without slicing the
bread with a potentially dangerous knife. As a consequence of low cost, high
nutrition, and ease of assembling, peanut butter sandwiches became one of the
top children's meals during the Depression."

Source: Peanuts: The Illustrious
History of the Goober Pea, Andrew F. Smith. University of Illinois Press,
Urbana. 2002.

Regardless of who what where when why how, I loveeee it, especially on potato bread.

To some people PB&J is more than just food, it's a science. There is even a ratio of peanut butter to jelly that will produce the perfect sandwich (I once had to explain to a non PB&J eater that such a ratio existed...well here is proof! hah!).

Ratio courtesy of SeriousEats.com

Thanks to my breakfast for inspiring this post.