Sloppy joes key west11/26/2023 ![]() ![]() For the next two decades, Sloppy Joes grew in popularity across the country, but in 1969, their popularity hit new heights thanks to the introduction of a canned Sloppy Joe sauce that would soon become synonymous with the sandwich. Wherever it originated, references to Sloppy Joe sandwiches began popping up regularly in newspapers in the 1940s, and by 1949, it was already being served in school cafeterias. Both have been pointed to as potential spots for the sandwich to have originated, but there’s also some research done at the Carnegie Library that points to a Midwestern origin, specifically with the “loose meat sandwiches” of Sioux City, Iowa. Then there was Sloppy Joe’s Bar that opened up in Key West, Florida, in 1933. Perhaps the most famous Sloppy Joe’s was a bar in Havana, Cuba, that opened up in 1918, an enormously popular tourist spot for Americans, particularly during prohibition. “Sloppy Joe’s” was also used as a way to describe a cheap restaurant or lunch counter, much like the term “ greasy spoon. The term “Sloppy Joe” didn’t originally describe a sandwich at all: Historically, it was a pretty common pairing of words going back to at least the 1880s, where it was used as a lighthearted insult for someone who was unkempt. This ambiguous nature is a theme that echoes all the way back to the origins of the sandwich, as no one’s exactly sure where it came from. But there’s something about its messy nature and unflattering name that has given it a more dubious, questionable, almost mystery-meat-like reputation (even if it doesn’t deserve such scorn). They’re not much different from a taco, just with different flavoring and put on a bun instead of a tortilla. Sometimes people like to get creative, but Sloppy Joes are simply cooked ground beef in a tomato-based sauce, sometimes with diced onions, peppers and some spices thrown in. To be clear though, Sloppy Joes are generally not made of leftovers at all, as there’s a pretty standardized recipe for them. Fortunately, I didn’t care, because it was always delicious, whatever the hell it was. Sloppy Joe Day was a surprise and, once you got your Sloppy Joe, the surprises didn’t end there, because, what the fuck was that stuff anyway? It was beef, I’m sure, but was it something else beforehand? Was it the meatballs from Tuesday or the hamburgers from Wednesday? Or was it - like the Adam Sandler song says - yesterday’s meatloaf? There was simply no way to know. It might occur only once or twice a month, and you never saw it coming (unless you read the monthly menu beforehand, which, of course, I didn’t). ![]() Fridays were a given - I always bought lunch on pizza Fridays - but Sloppy Joe Day was less predictable. I usually brought my lunches to school back in the day, but about once or twice a week, I’d get some money from my mom to buy lunch. That honor, without a doubt, belonged to Sloppy Joe Day. But while Pizza Day was comforting, it wasn’t the most exciting day on the school cafeteria menu. After a long week in school, it was nice to know that on Friday, lunch would be something reliable, something you could trust, and with pizza being just three easily-identifiable ingredients, you always knew what you were getting. Don’t get me wrong, I loved pizza Fridays as a kid. ![]()
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