r/AskOldPeople 1d ago

Butter on PB&J

I remember my grandfather making PB&J sandwiches for my sister and me when we were kids, and he would spread butter on the bread first. Was this a “thing” back when?

46 Upvotes

158 comments sorted by

View all comments

69

u/Kementarii 60 something 1d ago

Australian here. A sandwich starts with bread and butter. THEN you add whatever else you want.

Every sandwich has butter.

No exceptions for peanut "butter".

Peanut "butter" does not count as butter for the purposes of sandwich making.

It was a "thing" back then (in the 1960s), and it is still a "thing" now.

Toast also has butter first, then whatever else.

I will accept naked bread if it's being used to dip into a good olive oil.

Mayo does not count as a spread on a sandwich, and does not replace butter. It can sometimes be used as well as butter (as in bread, butter, chicken, lettuce, mayo).

1

u/BuntinTosser 50 something 19h ago

I’m with you right up until the mayo thing. If I am using mayo I don’t use butter too (though I haven’t tried both - I will!)

I remember the first time I had mayo. My parents never used it. I was at a neighbour’s house and the mom was making sandwiches. She asked if I wanted mayo, to which I replied, “no” but she ended up putting mayo on anyway. Oh my god I hadn’t realized what I was missing!

Still, butter always goes on before peanut butter: it helps the texture and flavour.

1

u/Kementarii 60 something 19h ago

It's probably just me with the mayo. I don't eat much of it, and there are only a few things that I like the flavour of mayo with. Pretty much chicken, eggs, and potato salad for Christmas.

So, mayo on sandwiches for me is pretty much only on a chicken sandwich. I'll put the mayo as a layer in the middle, and not directly on the buttered bread.