Bologna: A History

The history of Bologna combines a distant past with modern inventions, immigration patterns, government regulations, and economic necessity, all to arrive at the boloney, mayo and American cheese on white bread staple that USA Today calls “a nutritionally dubious midday meal for millions of US students.” Join The History Guy for this snippet of forgotten history and be sure to subscribe for more.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #lunch

[@cgrable8342]

One CHRISTMAS, my Mom took a huge "chub" of baloney (that's what we called it) scored the top with a knife, covered it with a homemade glaze and then poked cloves in it & and baked it. That was our Christmas Ham that year. My memory (from 60+ years ago) was that it was so good, and, not until my adult life did I realize we couldn't afford ham.

[@stevewixom9311]

Sounds like your mother was a very creative person.

[@trishayamada807]

We had a square can of spam one very tough year. My mom but pineapple chunks and brown sugar on it with cloves.

[@hoodagooboy5981]

People who grew up around the 30's & 40's knew how to make due with what they had. My folks grew up around then and did similar stuff like your mom.

[@alienonion4636]

That sounds very appealing. One 4th of July the year my dad was sick for months we had thick slices of bologna on the grill. Mom brushed some make do BBQ sauce on it and toasted stale bread on the grill. I liked it and didn't care a thing about the neighbors... just glad daddy didn't die from how sick he was.

[@2daysoffproductions887]

@@alienonion4636 we smoke a log of bologna a few times of year. Glaze it with a sweet chili sauce and omg it is amazing. Even food snobs eat all of it.

[@Thermodynamicool]

If this man can make bologna interesting, he is a part of history, that deserves to be remembered.

[@johnperts7963]

Yup, he makes you want to go out and buy a bow tie!

[@debannas4567]

I carried bologna and mustard sandwiches to school EVERY DAY for 12 years. If for some reason on the rare occasion that some other sandwich was substituted, I didn’t feel like I’d had lunch… I still eat boloney and mustard sandwiches to this day nearly 70 years later❤

[@debannas4567]

@Oklahoma Girl Cooks yes!! I put the chips on the sandwich. When I was young I called that my lettuce🤗

[@Gameprojordan]

Mustard always. Was never a fan of mayonnaise with it

[@raidengoodman8754]

It’s the little things in life one remembers fondly

[@randy5761]

That's funny but it tells me I'm not alone in life-I grew up kinda poor and as soon as I started working (at 15) I bought ham to take for lunch. So for over 40 years that I have taken my lunch to work it has always been ham and cheese sandwiches...no more bologna except on "special" occasions lol

[@mechanicalman1068]

My father grew up the son of Sicilian immigrants in the 50’s and went to very “white bread American” schools. His grandmother packed his lunch, which usually contained sandwich of roasted red peppers, an Italian cheese and coppa or mortadella on fresh baked sourdough. He was so embarrassed. All he wanted was Oscar Meyer bologna and Kraft American cheese on Wonder bread. Crazy.

[@Reddotzebra]

Roasted red peppers are so good together with ham though... Then again, I was always more concerned with how food tastes as opposed to what other people think of me eating it.

[@genxx2724]

Watch the Sal Maniscalco clip about taking lunch to school. Complete with Stella d’Oro cookies.

[@bronsonperich9430]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@paulacornelison243]

WONDER BREAD? YUCK!!! It is ROMAN MEAL BREAD that was good!!!!!!!

[@raywhitehead730]

Had that very sandwich, last night.

[@LM-sc8lu]

I remember eating two bologna, cheese, and mustard sandwiches almost every day growing up right up until I entered the Army. After a tour of Viet Nam, I was stationed at Ft Lewis, Washington, by that time I had mastered the fine art of trading beer for after-hours food from the mess hall, my food of choice; bologna, cheese, bread, and mustard. I returned home in 1972, married, and settled into life raising kids, growing older, all the time eating two bologna, cheese, bread, and mustard sandwiches. I am now 72 years old, retired, and enjoying life more than ever. I still eat two bologna, cheese, and mustard sandwiches almost every day, and sometimes for a night-time snack. By my very unscientific reckoning, I believe I have consumed over 30,000 bologna, cheese, bread, and mustard sandwiches in my lifetime, all thanks to Mr. Oscar Meyer!

[@allenferry9632]

Thats a bunch of bologna.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

@@allenferry9632 - Maybe he's never heard that "you are what you eat."

[@austinknowlton1783]

Mustard is the only fitting condiment for balongna.

[@austinknowlton1783]

@@captainamericaamerica8090 people who put mayo on balongna are the same ones who put ketchup on hotdogs.

[@maggie4834]

Great Story! Thanks for sharing 😄

[@Kennymac8251]

Fried bologna Sandwich as a child was fantastic. Now 70 years old and still one of my favorites, smothered in mustard of course.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

Dominion (2018)

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

My siblings did that! Were all under forty, lol.

[@bikeny]

Right there with ya.

[@davidkermes376]

why do folks fry bologna? i've never been able to comprehend that....

[@bikeny]

@@davidkermes376 Because frying it makes it taste that much better.

[@michaelt.wardlespider2496]

As a child I loved fried bologna/baloney on white bread with mustard...

[@pb68slab18]

Toasted white bread for me, please!

[@terryprater8115]

Yep. Me too. I remember cutting 3 slits around the edge to keep it from shrinking up. I still like to eat one of those delicious sandwiches once in a while. It's very nostalgic.

[@davidgagniere2923]

That was our Sunday lunchtime treat.

[@northwesttravels7234]

Love it fried. Made college affordable.

[@prometheus5700]

Oh yeah! I think I'll make one for old times sake

[@markcain460]

I spent summers in northern Michigan with my Grandfather Smokey and his brother Tye. A day on the boat fishing always started with a stop at the grocery store for a large piece of uncut bologna, a loaf of bread an onion and some mustard. Sandwiches were made on the boat's bench seat with a pocket knife followed with a cold can of Carlings Black Label. Best lunch's I ever had.

[@williamwilson6499]

Lunch’s what?

[@carbonking53]

My mind often drifts back to memories of my late wonderful grandfather and I fishing. He was too poor to have boat so we fished from the bank. Lunch was often bologna sandwiches, Vienna sausages on saltine crackers, or canned sardines. Desert was a moon pie or little Debbie snack cake of some sort. We didn't have much, but we had a lot of love and good times. I miss him dearly.

[@billmoyer3254]

@@williamwilson6499 Wilson!!!!

[@kenvangoe9358]

Used to go fishing with my uncle and cousins every Saturday morning and would pack the night before in a cooler bolongna sandwiches and Falstaff and an occasional black label or PBR wouldn't be to far fetched back in the late fifties and sixties the sandwiches were good and the beer just barely cold by the time lunch came around those were some good memories even when we didn't catch a thing only a severe sunburn.

[@debeichmann236]

Black Label! You sound like a Canuck. LOL

[@markrothenbuhler6232]

It's finally come to this. A History Guy episode full of bologna!

[@kevinbrady6075]

LOL! But he admits it!

[@steveg9744]

🤣🤣🙄

[@floydvaughn9666]

Baloney.

[@peregrine63701]

Groan

[@firefalcon100]

ba da dum

[@TheSteveinNY]

Growing up I ate bologna because it was cheap and I wasn't very well off. Today I eat bologna because I love it.

[@andrewweltlich9065]

Same here. I'm 33 years old and still eat a bologna sandwich for lunch most days because I genuinely like it.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Bologna has a nice subtle flavor that pairs well with flavorful cheeses like provolone and other meats like salami or ham.

[@mineplow1000]

Amen. Fried in the morning on nice, toasted bread or in the afternoon with some chips and a smattering of condiments. Few things hit like bologna does.

[@SirReptitious]

I remember eating a lot of bologna growing up because it was cheap. But since I had it so much then I haven't had it in decades. Well the last time I went to the grocery store I happened to glance at the bologna since it was next to the bacon. Everyone knows bacon has skyrocketed in price, but I looked at the oscar mayer bologna and it was fucking expensive! There is no way I would buy it now since it's main attraction was it's low price compared to other forms of meat way back in the day....

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@SirReptitious I cannot recall the last time I bought a package of brand-name pre-sliced sandwich meat. Store brands for the win. All of the flavor, much less of the advertising budget.

[@rubywingo6030]

My brother in law used to love bologna! He was just a teenager at the time he got a job at a local deli and came to our house with this huge log of red wrapped bologna! My mom laughed and laughed and told him he was going to turn into bologna he ate so much! I know, sounds stupid to ya’ll but it’s a happy memory from my childhood.❤

[@OhJodi69]

I loved it when my dad bought sliced deli bologna from the butcher.....I loved pulling the red plastic off each slice!

[@jonslg240]

Today: "wow, they were geniuses." *Back then: "WOW, ANIMAL WHO DIE ON CLEAR ROCK STILL TASTE GOOD. TASTE BETTER!! PUT CLEAR ROCK ON DEAD ANIMAL!!"*

[@texaswunderkind]

Yeah, some of the slices had that ring of red plastic you had to remove. Added a touch of class.

[@russellpowell6634]

Bologna salad often called ham salad.

[@richardbidinger2577]

Never imagined bologna had such an elaborate history.

[@jimhaaay]

Being a Swedish guy this made me think of the swedish sausage "Falukorv", which is a bologna-style sausage. It's commonly viewed as a poor mans choice of sustenance since it originated in the 1500's mining towns in northern Sweden, where they used horses to pull the mining carts. Needless to say, these horses (and miners) were short lived due to horrible working conditions and got turned into sausage when they couldn't work anymore (not the miners, mind you).

[@jlpsuroeste]

😜👍

[@danielseelye6005]

You _hope!_ 😋

[@dr.barrycohn5461]

Ugh. Them horses should have rebelled.

[@CAMacKenzie]

Waste not, want not. I'm sure the Swedes had an analogous saying.

[@Kari.F.]

Norwegian here. Falukorv is a sentimental childhood weekend lunch treat for me. Fried eggs and falukorv with sliced tomato and my mother's homemade, wholegrain bread. 😋 I still have that on occasion, except with store bought bread. It has a taste of good memories and simpler times to me.

[@robirwin6149]

Not only history that deserves to be remembered, but brought me back 50 years ago to remember my childhood. Thank You THG!

[@blondbowler8776]

Took me back 50+ years and a stint in the hoosegow for seeds. A couple dozen seeds. Baloney sandwiches every. Single. Day. Imagine being locked up in close confinement with a thousand others, all with chronic, severe baloney breath, gads, seems like cruel and unusual punishment nowadays.

[@nashvillain171]

It took me back to yesterday when I ate a baloney sandwich.

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

They want to keep you as slaves! 👉👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🔥🔥

[@DinsdalePiranha67]

I can remember a lot of road trips as a kid where instead of stopping at a restaurant for lunch (fast food wasn't nearly as prevalent in the 1970's as it is now), Mom would buy a loaf of bread and a package of Oscar Mayer bologna and we'd make sandwiches while driving wherever we were headed. I'm sure it was at least partly motivated by finances; Dad was a high school teacher and Mom stayed at home to raise my sister and me until I was 12. BTW, for almost the entirety of his career (36 years; he's been retired since 2002) Dad took a bologna and American cheese sandwich with mayo and mustard to work with him for lunch.

[@texaswunderkind]

You're right about eating out. My family road trips in the late 1970's and early 80's rarely included restaurant stops. We drove from Nebraska to Florida eating mostly what my mom had packed in a cooler. In Florida we got into a fight at the grocery store because I wanted pears, and my mom couldn't believe I liked pears. She didn't know they were a staple of school lunches. What a memory.

[@dr.velious5411]

Even in the 90s my family didn't eat a lot of fast food. Similarly to yours, my mom would stop and get bread and chicken salad from the store and we would all make sandwiches before moving on to other errands.

[@maggiebee5261]

My father, who passed away four years ago at age 98, vividly remembered the nauseating frequency with which his mother served bologna during the Depression, and having it served to him in wartime canteens. As a result, it was the one foodstuff that was not allowed in our home as I grew up. My siblings and I were frequently served bologna at friends’ houses, but none of us acquired a taste for it. Chips off the old block.

[@djquinn11]

Chips off the old block? Cream chipped beef is another food that US GI’s would mostly never eat again after WWII. They had a special name for it when served on toast.

[@johngore7744]

My Fad was born in Montreal ( where I still live. ) in 1918 ( he died at 93 ) He was in the RCAF in WW2 but didn’t talk about mess food. What he talked about were ketchup sandwiches during the depression and the horse drawn I’ve cart ( for ice boxes) the drivers kid would sit in the back and toss chips of ice to the kids in the street who’d chase after it. Poor kids popsicles. Lol.

[@johngore7744]

My Dad. Lol.

[@johngore7744]

Ice cart

[@jgstargazer]

Maggie: My grandmother had a little grocery store during the Depression and at times helped men down in their luck with one slice bologna and bread sandwiches.

[@brianbedoe8656]

As a good Catholic school kid, I could tell you what day of the week it was by my lunch. Most of the time it was Oscar Mayer Bologna 2 or 3 days a week, then ham or maybe turkey, and on Friday it was cheese (ugh!) or tuna salad. I once found my wife making a fired baloney sandwich (yepp, she was a keeper!) We enjoy fried bologna and fried Spam too!

[@georgemckenna462]

Yes indeed, the unique tale tale scent of fried Bologna. It ain't steak, but it'll get you there. Amen.

[@tygrkhat4087]

I love fried bologna; my favorite pub restaurant serves it. I never had Oscar Meyer bologna at home; my folks would always get a local brand. And yeah, fellow Catholic here; tuna on Fridays. And I never have a cheese sandwich with only one variety of cheese.

[@johnbeckman492]

Fried it for breakfast or after school snack around 1970.

[@V.Hansen.]

It’s interesting to me that the only people I’ve ever noticed complaining about cheese or fish are catholic. Fish was a delicacy for us. Too expensive to have often, and cheese is very filling. If I got a cheese sandwich instead of just bread and margarine, I was happy. It’s funny how the mind works. It was forced so you didn’t like it. 😂

[@mohammedcohen]

@@V.Hansen. ...I can dig it...mom used'ta bake smelts on Fridays - hated them and often 'swore' that I'd NEVER eat them EVER AGAIN once I became an adult...I'm 72 as so far have kept that promise to myself!!!

[@kiphenry4684]

I heard a story about when country singer Toby Keith opened one of his restaurants in Vegas, the “experts” tried to talk him out of putting fried bologna sandwiches on the menu, but he insisted, and so they were. A few months after opening, he went to a meeting with the same “experts” and asked what was the best selling menu item. They hemmed and hawed a bit before finally admitting - it was the fried bologna sandwich.

[@constancemiller3753]

Heard that one too. 🥪

[@bobedgar6647]

Mexican Hats! Love‘m 🥰

[@bartmix8994]

Doesn’t say much for the rest of the food at that restaurant, and i say this as someone who loves bologna. I don’t really think i need to pay someone to make me a bologna sandwich, as it is perhaps the easiest sandwich in the world to make.

[@FredrickTesla]

@@bartmix8994 You sound like the kind of guy who would harp on the idea of the "Pet Rock" and anyone who bought it, yet will never be as rich as the man who actually came up with the idea.

[@jakekaywell5972]

​@@FredrickTesla The Pet Rock was still a stupid idea that made money because people are stupid. If you value everything based on dollars alone, I feel sorry for you.

[@everkief8650]

Yep, I'm a child of the 70s. I must have eaten 1000 bologna sandwiches as a kid and I cant say I remember liking them. I do remember being very excited on those rare opportunities we could afford salami though.

[@Fortjackson]

when i was a young man and living in my first batcher pad I did not make a lot of money and was often out of food altogether . My brother gave me one of the best Christmas gifts I every got it was a giant bologna. it lasted for weeks and was great and I will never forget it.

[@sandrataylor2323]

As a child we were poor, but bologna was eaten as the main dish several times a week. Mom would fry the bologna, cut it up in baked beans and we'd have bologna and cheese sandwiches. Occasionally she would cut out a hole in the middle and fry an egg in the hole, which she called a one eyed Egyptian. I'm 65 and still like an occasionally bologna sandwich with cheese sandwich.

[@saramullenish]

I remember my great-grandmother telling me the story of her and her brothers and sister taking their wagon from Charleston, Illinois to Chicago for the world's fair. They were the children of poor farmers. But they saved up their money to try a new delicacy they'd heard about. Once they arrived they sent their oldest brother to get them the new sandwiches they'd heard so much about. But he, being worried they might not like it, and being so hungry, decided to get them their usual egg sandwiches instead. The rest of the kids were so mad at him. They'd traveled probably days and all they got were egg sandwiches! They enjoy seeing the fair. And the delicacy they were looking forward to do desperately?...it was a bologna sandwich. She always told me this story while she fried me a piece for my own sandwich. I miss her, her food, and her story. Her history deserves to be remembered. 😉

[@davidmiller9485]

my grandmother was from midland Texas (my grandfather was Cherokee from near lake Hugo in Oklahoma. In one of the state parks around the lake is the old barn and cistern from their family farm) and she and my great grandparents took a buckboard wagon to Dallas to buy bologna and bread. A nickle got you a 1lbs loaf of bread and a "roll" of bologna. It was just one of many stories about just how much things had changed both in prices and technology.

[@texasblueboy1508]

@@davidmiller9485 I grew up with bologna sandwiches. Fried Bologna sandwiches were the best. Mustard, and sometimes tomatoes.

[@2beJT]

The moral of the story.. just because you might not have any sense of adventure don't ruin the fun for everyone else.

[@nacanacoo]

@@davidmiller9485 Why did you think the ethnicities of your grandparents were relevant to any of that?

[@davidmiller9485]

@@nacanacoo Maybe because I'm quite proud of my native American heritage, maybe because it shows how disadvantaged it was for him to spend money on something you didn't grow (as in just how bad the U.S. population has/is been treating Natives or maybe just because. I'm more curious why YOU thought it was an issue.

[@stevoplex]

This episode literally gave me craving for a bologna and swiss cheese sandwich. 😋

[@edwardprice140]

With pinto beans.

[@laughinoutloud2006]

'Merican cheese

[@maureensurdez7841]

Me too!

[@onewolf3750]

SWISS cheese?!?! Communist!

[@pimslickins710]

@@onewolf3750 🤣😂😅🤣😂

[@boojum402]

I love Balogna! Although I do remember the first time I encountered Mortadella! I was in Brazil and was a dorky kid from Utah, a friend ordered a hot mortadella sandwich for me and my life was changed forever. Wonderful stuff!

[@sidgar1]

*bologna, not "balogna". It's in the title of the video for crying out loud!

[@realemonful]

@@sidgar1 That's the worst spelling error you can comment on in this thread? You must be a serious "balogna" addict🤣🤣🤣

[@ArmouredPhalanx]

Atlantic Canadian here. One reason for it's popularity here, and especially in Newfoundland, is the historic dependence on the fishing industry. It was largely seasonal, and many of the fishing communities were located in remote places and on islands, so preserved meat, particularly bologna, was a common staple because it could be kept well and used to supplement protein intake during the leaner periods, and it was easier to transport to and keep in remote areas.

[@peterstickney7608]

My Canadian In-Laws (New Brunswick French Canadians) are huge fans - a special treat for them is "New Brunswick Steak" - a 1/2 in (12-13 mm) slab of a Deli Bologna round, fried up and served with fired potatoes. A good meal in a cold winter surveying camp.

[@allangibson2408]

It would definitely be an alternative to relentless dried or smoked fish fillets.

[@jadger1871]

@@peterstickney7608 Canadians call that Newfie Steak, and you can just call your relations Acadians, or alternatively, North American Hide & Seek Champions.

[@B.H.56]

I bet you know how to pronounce Newfoundland too!

[@picklesfrommars]

Newfoundland: FRY IT. FRY IT. FRY IT ALL.

[@GinoCento]

Growing up, my brown bag lunch often included a mortadella and cheese sandwich which sometimes raised the curiosity of my classmates much to my embarrassment. Nowadays, mortadella sells for a luxurious $6 for 4oz at Kroger. Who knew mortadella would become so high-class.

[@drcowan3468]

Au cotraire, mortadella is considered a fine luxury meat in Italy. One would never dare to compare American bologna and Italian mortadella.

[@genxx2724]

@@drcowan3468 It’s his perception based on childhood. :)

[@jeanhiebert3425]

One of my favorite meals from childhood was "baloney cup" - fried bologna with a scoop of potato salad plopped onto it. Yum!

[@noneedtoknowme9582]

I work for probation and parole at a supervision center and every lunch contains a bologna sandwich, I joke with the residents when they complete the program if they need inspiration to not return to drug use, slap a piece of bologna on your dash to remind you where you'll be if you relapse, they always start laughing at that.

[@timc333]

Prison mystery meat the best . When I was in Jail we had it for breakfast , lunch , and dinner most days , on Easter they gave us a thick slice of it warmed up with a slice of white bread and a pat of actual real butter (it was a holiday after all) . Nobody including the warden knew what the stuff was , what it was made from , or where it came from . The administration just knew they preferred the guards mess over the prisoners food (me too , having good connections make a difference) . Oh the good memories (sarcasm) .

[@markbyrum4743]

Great story. Growing up my brother was a PB&J guy, whereas I was balongna, mustard, and cheese. If we got our brown paper lunch bags reversed, it was a sad lunch for both of us! Good vid. Keep at it!

[@vansongs]

Indeed!

[@tobyhorn9641]

We ate whatever granny packed 8n our lunch box that was usually a sandwich depending on if it was for school or work 2 for school ,3 for work

[@lancerevell5979]

As a kid growing up in a lower-middle class family, we ate a lot of balogna. I still like it.

[@chrisk5651]

I would have been disappointed if I got either lunch. I didn’t like anything that was mixed also didn’t like condiments like mustard or mayonnaise. Also didn’t like cheese on anything but pizza.

[@rogers4845]

Met my future wife in 1st grade. It was her first day and she forgot her lunch. I shared my PB&J and some apple slices with her. Married her about 13 years later.

[@jeffrowlanduk]

🎶My bologna has a first name...🎶

[@jasonlockhartsr4415]

Since I trend towards the bizarre and strange, I once thought of combining two childhood foods, Bologna Sandwiches and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches into one. It was then that I discovered to my dismay that Bologna doesn't fry evenly like bacon or hamburger patties. Instead it tends to shrink on the outside edges causing it to "dome up". The obvious solution was a single radial cut from the center to the edge. Thus I had created a Pac-Man out of Bologna many years before the game was created. I still enjoy my Bologna seared and then melted with cheese on a grilled sandwich.

[@dollhousemakr]

My mom cut the bologna 4 times around, making it turn into a fan when she fried it. I never liked it fried, though. I grew up with not only bologna and cheese, but also bologna and peanut butter. I have no idea where the idea came from, but I still enjoy a PB and bologna sandwich nowadays.

[@inisipisTV]

I know that exactly. Here in the Philippines people tend to lightly fry sliced cooked ham or bologna even though they're supposed to be cold cuts. The Pac-man bologna is regular thing in a sandwich.

[@dickfromage9371]

I still love bologna to this day. When we were kids, we would fry it and make the "mexican hats" as we called them. When I was overseas during Desert Shield/Storm we couldn't get it out in the desert. It was the first thing I wanted when I returned to the States. A bologna and cheese with mayo and mustard. Again, still love it to this day.

[@joebombero1]

I am retired living in the Philippines. Whenever I go back to Texas I have a neighbor who has one request. He is an elderly man, retired US Navy. All he wants whenever I go back is for me to bring him a pack of Oscar Meyer Bologna. The local type is definitely different, not bad but different. I have to admit, fried bologna sandwich with mustard was always a favorite.

[@shyamdevadas6099]

In the 1930s, my mother was a poor farm girl in California. When she and her siblings went to school with a lunch bag, there was usually a rhubarb jelly sandwich in it. It was a very special thing for her to find a single-slice bologna sandwich in her bag. She's 91 today and she still has fond memories of that. Great video.

[@Charles-qt2gx]

I remember riding with my dad in a log truck in the summer and it would get so hot in the cab that the cheese would melt on bologna sandwiches. Dad said that is why he had them made with just mustard. The bonus was we each got one of those little aluminum can of chocolate pudding. I still love a plain bologna sandwich on white bread

[@johnking8557]

Thanks, History Guy. Bologna, pan-fried is a wonderful thing. The bologna of my youth, some 60 years ago fried up, much nicer than today's rendition. On a side note, I love the military memorabilia display behind you. Thanks.

[@JC-ks3yk]

When money was tight, you went to the deli and ordered your bologna "cut thick" so you could make fried bologna for dinner. Chopped slices of bologna could also be added to some ramen to make those "bachelor meals" a little more hearty. An "Italian sub" had prosciutto/capicolla, mortadella, salami, and provolone. An "American sub" was ham, American cheese, and bologna. And the best bolognas all had German brand names.

[@dukecraig2402]

Only fry bologna in the summer time when you can open the windows.

[@ronfullerton3162]

I had forgotten about how the butcher would ask my parents how thick they wanted the slices. It was fun watching the slicing and wrapping of the purchase in wax paper with the tape to bind it together that came from the big dispenser that kicked out the tape with a bump of the handle. The tape had had WEIGHT and PRICE printed on it, and the butcher filled those spaces in with his wax pencil. Then when you got home and made your sandwich, you would peel the casing off from around the edge of the meat, or you would get a surprise with your first bite. Awwwww! Those good old days!

[@someguy2135]

Processed meat is a type 1 carcinogen according to the World Health Organization. In the same category as smoking tobacco, and asbestos exposure. The plant based version of bologna tastes exactly the same. Maybe a good place to start your journey to a plant based diet? Vegans have lower rates of ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, and obesity according to the peer reviewed Adventist Studies. Link to the studies at my channel under "About."

[@LMacNeill]

My mother had an irrational fear of spoiled mayonnaise, so on my bologna sandwiches I was only allowed to put mustard -- never any mayonnaise -- because the sandwich would be unrefrigerated for 3-4 hours before I could eat it, and she was 100% convinced the mayo would spoil in that time, thus making me sick. I was *shocked* when I learned that my friends had mayo on their bologna sandwiches. LOL!

[@anthonyxuereb792]

You could have swapped sandwiches.

[@PinkyJujubean]

That's such an oddly specific thing to be afraid of

[@iglesiasjibboom6477]

Sounds like something my mom would’ve done. All kinds of unique fears that no one else had. For example, we had to wash our apples from the store with dish soap before we ate them, because they were supposedly soaked in both germs and toxins… ya, a little soap n water will fix that, for sure…

[@davestier6247]

​@@PinkyJujubean maybe spoiled mayonnaise almost wiped out her entire family

[@conradnelson5283]

My mother would only allow us to have cheese and mustard sandwiches because she was afraid that anything else would spoil and the 3 to 4 hours before we could eat it. I got so tired of cheese and mustard, and I always blame my sister because mom made her make the sandwiches for lunch. Found out later she had no choice. Lol

[@FredrickTesla]

The primary flavor in American bologna is garlic, that's why the people who like it enjoy it so much, and that's the flavor that really comes out when you grill or smoke it. I personally enjoy getting it cut thick and putting it in a smoker full of hickory. It comes out firm like pork steak and all the spices concentrate to make it a completely different experience than your average bologna sandwich. Drizzle some BBQ sauce on it, then serve it up with mashed potatoes, corn, and green beans with bacon and onions.

[@carlcushmanhybels8159]

Interesting. I'll try that. TX.

[@scottgollahon3681]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@kaizma88]

My mother wouldn't buy bologna, she was Italian, I took a Salami and Provolone sandwich to school for lunch, or Pepperoni... I didn't have bologna until I was able to buy it myself and I love it!

[@slowturtle6745]

A smoked bologna and fried egg sandwich is one of the greatest culinary delights ever created by the hand of man.

[@thebigdog2295]

It's definitely one of the top 10 ever created!🤤

[@ronsparks7887]

I like Lebanon Bologna, which was first made by the he Pennsylvania Dutch. It is made from beef instead of pork, and is smoked and quite spicy.

[@FuburLuck]

Lebanon and Troyer's trail bologna are my favorites.

[@dangreen3702]

I’ve often wondered how this beloved Pennsylvania cold cut shares the name bologna with the pink variety. I suspect there is the common Pennsylvania German roots, but Lebanon bologna seems more similar to what we normally think of as sausage than bologna. Lebanon is a town and county in south central PA, so I’m fairly sure that’s the origin of the first part of the name. Lebanon bologna is also called summer sausage.

[@carlgomm9699]

I think Lebanon bologna is the best bologna one can get, not easy to find here in Florida but very common in the Amish parts of PA

[@ronsparks7887]

@@carlgomm9699 Publix has the Boars Head brand in their deli. Maybe not quite as good as Seltzers, but pretty good.

[@IzzyTheEditor]

@@ronsparks7887 seltzers is the McDonald’s of sweet Lebanon bologna. However, their double smoked sweet bologna isn’t bad. The brands we usually eat here in south-central Pennsylvania on sandwiches are Kunzlers and twin Pines, With both of those brands also being eaten in chunks on deli trays at parties.

[@DJDennyRay]

I am a 66 year old St Louis German boy who has had the flu for the larger part of a week. You know the type...nothing smells good...nothing sounds good...nothing looks good. I now have an overwhelming craving for fried bologna. First time I've been hungry in 4 days. Thank you.

[@frankiegreer6258]

I love me some fried bologna and eggs and a tablespoon of strawberry jelly. Yum yum 😋

[@pettytoni1955]

I like an edge and sausage sandwich with GRAPE jelly.

[@TheWoodensong]

I’m a 70 year old guy who grew up down in Texas where baloney was a stable in our house. My parents would buy “Store Bought” products like Oscar Mayer or Hormel for building sandwiches but would go to the neighborhood “Mom & Pop “ grocery where they could get “hand cut” slices of this heavenly meat, in extra thick ¼” thick slabs for frying (something I don’t think you mentioned). We would have this treat for our evening meal served up with various veggies, for a non formal family meal. I recall my Dad always referred to it as San Diego Sirloin, but gave no explanation for that name. Nonetheless, it was and always will be a household favorite for me, as well as my wife, who grew up in a small Central Texas German community. As always, thanks for all you do, Mr Guest…you preserve the past and it’s history much like fine charcuterie!! - “Ol’ Scooter” down here in East Texas…

[@armandohernandez3106]

I’m 61 yo, grew up in the westside of San Antonio with a family of 9. Had baloney cold or fried. As we got older we use to joke around and called it Mexican round steak 😂.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

We were dirt poor when I was in kindergarten and first grade. I all but hated bologna. Kraft cheese product slices helped make it more palatable for me. Then again, I've always had a more adult taste, preferring dark chocolate to milk chocolate, for example. I now want to have a bologna sandwich.

[@leeingraham2767]

Was he a Marine?

[@cheddar2648]

Would that be Fredericksberg?

[@HardcoreFourSix]

My family experienced our own "great depression" in the 1970's & 1980's. We ate lots of bologna. Even though my mother was very creative with preparation techniques, I still have an aversion to bologna.

[@corneliuscrewe677]

I’ve a similar aversion to macaroni & cheese and turkey hot dogs for similar reasons in the same time period.

[@SalisburySnake]

I was going to say, your taste for it as an adult might depend largely on WHY you ate it as a child, which probably also determined how often you ate it. I wouldn't touch any Oscar Mayer product with a 10ft pole.

[@blueredbrick]

I have that with ramen noodles, it reminds me too much of being hungry whilst listeing to lectures at university.

[@bland9876]

I can't believe a single word this guy says this video is so full of Bologna.

[@jkcarroll]

Back in the late 60's-early 70's, when my older siblings brought their college friends to our lakeside cabin for a weekend, Mom would send one of the kids to the supermarket to buy a chub of bologna -- maybe 5 lbs and 14 inches long. We'd put the rotisserie attachment on the charcoal grill and put that chub to roast slowly over the coals, with the occasional dab of barbeque sauce. When done, slice it up and serve!

[@PbFoot]

there is a sausage that was invented in the former USSR called "doctor's sausage" that shares a similar history with salusbury steak, but is basically a high quality bologna. it was invented in the 1930s to help combat undernutrition and weakened health of citizens after the civil war and famine post collectivization. the sausage was influenced by techniques observed by a soviet official who traveled to chicago in order to study sausage making technology and techniques. doctor's sausage became a staple for many soviet families, often replacing more expensive meat. there is another sausage called lyubitelskaya (roughly translated as amateur, as opposed to professional) and it contains chunks of fat like mortadella, but otherwise is basically the same as doctor's sausage.

[@willyjimmy8881]

I wouldn't call it high quality, but yeah, it's basically russian balogna. It serves the same purpose to feed a lot of people on the cheap.

[@PbFoot]

@@willyjimmy8881 well, "high quality" is kind of relative. the mouthfeel and texture is definitely better than american bologna. but i know what youre saying. lol

[@bronsonperich9430]

I think I saw a video about this sausage.

[@drewgehringer7813]

I've heard people say the sausage getting worse in the 70s and 80s was one of the early signs of the Soviet Union's upcoming troubles

[@justinharvie8126]

Even when my parents could afford ham or other cold cuts, I would ask for bologna since it was one of my favorite sandwiches. Plus, a portion of the time we would make fried bologna sandwiches during the weekends. Fried would have mustard. Non-fried would have mayo.

[@rocketsurgery8337]

After a night of sand bagging during the flood of 82 (Fort Wayne) we were hungry and found a Red Cross trailer handing out bologna sandwiches. That was the best sandwich I've ever had. Ronald Regan was there, not sure if he had a sandwich though. 🤔

[@wordwalker3]

I can remember my mom dragging me along to grocery shop. Before the "supermarket" there were specialty shops We would stop by Lou's meat market. Any time mom got bologna, Lou would weigh it out on a scale, note the weight, then roll up one slice and hand it to me. That was the best tasting bologna I can remember. I would always pester my mom "don't forget to stop by Lou's for bologna"!

[@texaswunderkind]

Handmade at the butcher. It probably was a million times better than the prepackaged stuff at the store today.

[@od1452]

Having lived in Germany for years, I can tell you with certainty that every butcher shop one visits there is filled with all kinds of Cold Cuts . Germans love them. Each town and shop has its way of making all kinds and many are familiar to a U.S. citizen and some not . A common named one is Beer wurst but each towns' version is different as are their other cold cuts. Except Kinderwurst ( Baloney ) it is universal in Germany and tastes very much the same. And it is traditional and as universal if you are ordering meat with your toddler on your hip , the butcher will pass your child a slice ...usually from a fork. I can't say Germans were making Baloney in ancient times. .. But I suspect they were making it long ago. I'm sure the German version blended with the Italian version in this country. Let's face it... What kid doesn't like to say "Baloney" . The Army often would serve cold cuts for the evening meal something that is common in Germany. I haven't been back for the last 25 years.. but I doubt that Kinderwurst has changed. BTW Evil Kaneival ? He wasn't famous when I drug my Roy Rogers lunch box around with 2 Mayo and Baloney sandwiches. I loved to leave one crushed in the box for when I got home from school. It was Delicious. LOL Thanks for some wonderful memories.

[@dukecraig2402]

Yep, they even have cold cuts for breakfast. I was stationed in Germany in the Army back in the 80's, that was one of the first things I noticed that was different from America, as I recall it was called a Continental style breakfast.

[@workingguy6666]

Growing up in America, in the 1970's if we kids were waiting with dad or mom while they were ordering cold-cuts, we too would be handed a a slice or two from the grocer/butcher. Not from a fork, but from a piece of deli plastic or deli paper. I completely forgot about that practice until reading your comment. Times were better back then even for those of us who weren't wealthy.

[@nateadkins1919]

I remember how so many readings in my German classes mentioned “kalte Platte”.

[@ancientromewithamy]

When I was studying in Germany we had cold cuts for breakfast sometimes. I liked having sausages and mustard. Good times!

[@rayk48]

Request a catalog from Usingers of Milwaukee. They have all kinds of cold cuts for sale. I like their Mortadella. Brats really good too. They ship all over the US

[@davidsavage2650]

Only The History Guy could keep me interested in 16 minutes of bologna.

[@charlesandrews2360]

As a child I loved fried boloney, well done, with cheddar cheese, slathered in catsup on burnt toast.

[@nancybode6159]

My German grandmother worked for Oscar Mayer in Davenport, IA. Because of that I grew up believing that Oscar Mayer was the ONLY brand of lunch meat worthy of my money. I used to make "dagwood" sandwiches with bologna, cheese, mayo, peanut butter and grape jelly, and 3 slices of bread. I don't think I could stomach that now.

[@soundbwoikilla764]

My bologna has a first name, its O,S,C,A,R, my bologna has a second name is M,E,Y,E,R. I love to eat it everyday and if you ask me why I'll say, cause Oscar Meyer has a way with B,O,L,O,G,N,A!

[@nancybode6159]

@@soundbwoikilla764 Bravo!!!

[@jojohnston4113]

No, No, NO!!?

[@grantrichards4950]

Shudder!

[@CaptHollister]

We have a small chain of sandwich shops here in Montreal called "Dagwood". They don't offer baloney, but they do have genuine mortadella.

[@vanguardactual1]

Mr History Guy you are so right. I was born in 1975, the baby boy to a upper poor to lower middle class family. From when I can remember to now my family has always ate bologna & cheese sandwiches with mustard & mayo. But I generally didn't like it growing up because it was all we had for food many times. Always for lunch & in desperate times supper. I remember going on a few vacations/family reunions or to White Lake, NC to go swimming, as a rarity & treat but to afford to go my Mom would buy a pack of bologna, cheese & a loaf of bread & make us all several sandwiches then repack them all in the original bread bag & put in a cooler. Today I have a love hate relationship with bologna sandwiches. But one way I did love it & still do to this day is fry an egg, then fry bologna & make a breakfast sandwich with Dukes mayonnaise & ketchup! Oh lordy it's heavenly. Everyone should try it!

[@sarkybugger5009]

Mate, if you're eating bologna twice a day, you're poor.

[@kinzer69]

Oscar myer Bologna, kraft singles, miracle whip, on wonder bread.... now that's a childhood memory

[@burner8959]

My childhood delight came in the form of a bologna and cheese with ketchup and potato chips on top. That sandwich was given to me by my mother and I still enjoy it today.

[@wintersprite]

I would prefer ketchup to yellow mustard (I only like honey mustard). I like bologna sandwiches with cheese and Miracle Whip too.

[@webbtrekker534]

Being older, (I'm 76), I have mixed feelings about "bologna/baloney" but I must admit my favorite of the style is, as I grew up knowing it, is "Olive Loaf". It use to be in stores everywhere but I can hardly find it now. I keep an eye out for it but I haven't seen it anywhere now for several years. A bologna type meat interlaced with green and pimento olives. Love the mixing of flavors.

[@lisahinton9682]

@Webb Trekker I remember olive loaf! I loved it! If it's any help, I know Albertsons (a grocery chain, along with its sister store Safeway) sold it around 2015 in the Deli department (not out on the store floor - you have to go to the Deli department and look for it behind the case, and have someone slice it for you). I don't shop at Albertsons anymore so I am not sure if they still sell it. I hope you can find it! :-)

[@webbtrekker534]

@@lisahinton9682 Last place I was able to get it was a local Mom & Pop that has now closed. That was like 3 years ago. We have Safeway and Albertsons all around me and I don't find it there either. I've tried WinCo, Thriftway, Fred Myer, and even PCC. No luck.

[@donb782]

I loved olive loaf but have to settle for pickle loaf now

[@grantrichards4950]

There's a reason you can't find it anymore. Very few people like it enough to buy it. Supply and demand.

[@michaelwarren2391]

I'm with you! I always enjoyed olive loaf. Maybe I'll put some sliced olives on a baloney sandwich (rye bread and mayo) to see if it brings back memories.

[@oldgamerstudios425]

My favorite breakfast is a fried bologna, egg and cheese sandwich, with mayonnaise and a dab of hot sauce, on toast. And , there is nothing quite as simple and satisfying in one's lunch box as a bologna & American cheese sandwich. Darn it, now I want a bologna sandwich.

[@tubemanzztop]

I watch many of your episodes, I would like you to do one on the sons of Teddy Roosevelt. Most Americans do not realize the path these spoiled rich boys choose to follow and the price they paid for their sense of patriotism.

[@toddoughty2043]

I am a 20plus year chef and my ALLTIME favorite sandwich is a bologna sandwich on white bread with a good mayo, i know the nostalgia plays a part but it is still my number 1 comfort food

[@ronalddevine9587]

Interesting video. I'm 74 years old and eat a bologna sandwich nearly every day for lunch. Love it. ❤️

[@hughjass1044]

2 awesome, down home Newfie meals - 1) Grilled bologna French rye toast sandwiches. Make French toast from medium cut fresh rye bread, grill the bologna and add shredded cheese then grill the whole thing a final time. If you're aching for something thicker, shove a fried egg inside. 2) Fried thick cut bologna with fried eggs, hash browns, sliced tomatoes and baked beans. Proper ting, bye! We love our bologna in Newfoundland! In fact, around these parts, we call it "Newfoundland steak!"

[@strokersteve468]

Eye there bye!

[@noraarico1313]

I loved olives and bologna. But my favorite cold cut sandwich contained "olive loaf," which appeared to be a combination of both bologna and olives. Anyway, I don't see the cold cut olive loaf offered as it used to be years ago. I am sad about this lack of availability. I don't know where I could get this product today.

[@davestelling]

Yeah - that's good stuff!

[@trep53]

Balongna was a staple in my childhood as with most everyone else in the US. Nowadays we avoid “cold cuts” but I miss them.

[@someguy2135]

I am guessing you avoid them for this reason- Processed meat is a type 1 carcinogen according to the World Health Organization. In the same category as smoking tobacco, and asbestos exposure. The plant based version of bologna tastes exactly the same. Maybe a good place to start your journey to a plant based diet? Vegans have lower rates of ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, and obesity according to the peer reviewed Adventist Studies. Link to the studies at my channel under "About."

[@trep53]

@@someguy2135 Yes processed foods are to be avoided and “lunch meat” is on my list to avoid. Plant based protein is a great alternative I’m a big fan of tofu. I’ve never tried plant based baloney I think my fond memory of eating baloney is more about being a kid again. Also my local butcher has a good selection of fresh locally raised meat available so I’m not on a vegetarian diet but meat is only served at a few of our family meals per week.

[@Steve-oj7nd]

If you miss them…go buy them! They’re still there.

[@mrskitkatlady]

When I moved to the south and saw barbequed bologna, I felt as if I had arrived home. I love bologna! Oh and mustard is the correct condiment. 😉

[@grantrichards4950]

Actually, mayo is, but we can't all be right. LOL. Mustard is, however, acceptable in a pinch.

[@ancientromewithamy]

Yes, I was shocked when he first said mayo and bologna, but eventually he said he liked mustard. Always mustard, bologna, and cheese.

[@r.f.pennington746]

I grew up in the time when lunch at school was what you brought from home. School lunches--though affordable--were too expensive for us, ergo, we got bologna sandwiches with cheese and mayo that Mama would make. Still love 'em. I happened to marry a girl, some 40+ years ago, who absolutely HATES bologna under any and all circumstances, which has severely cut down on my intake. I still sneak some into the fridge now and again. So, final query: who else had to hit the pause button and go make a bologna sandwich? I know I did!

[@csnide6702]

South Boston , VA - The racetrack there is called "the Home of The Bologna Burger" and they sell HUNDREDS every race night.... Huge slabs with onions served on a bun.... actually quite good ! i've never been there without having at least one......

[@josephstevens9888]

I was bologna to death as a kid... I can't remember the last time I had a bologna sandwich!

[@grantrichards4950]

I had one today.

[@danielbackley9301]

Growing up on the west side of Chicago in the 60sand 70s and being lucky enough that I could go home for lunch. My choices were OM Bolonga ,tomato sandwiches or if I was lucky Krakus ham . Haven't touched Bolonga in 40 years the last time I tried it it tasted like grease needless to say I don't care whose Bologna it is it's not my Bologna.

[@gmf121266]

I'm from the UK but have American relations. When I was younger I visited and picked up a taste for cheese and bologna with mayo on rye bread sandwiches. I'm glad to say we can now get the ingredients in supermarkets here.

[@distantgalaxymusic1447]

Saturday lunch at my house in the 1970’s. Simply wonderful.

[@charlesandrews2360]

Yep. My one and only meal that was served to me in jail was two slices of bologna, one slice of American cheese food, with Miracle Whip on white bread. I was at South State in Chicago in 1978. As much as I enjoyed that sandwich at the time, I never made one for myself at home and never became a fan of Miracle Whip either.

[@kevinhullinger8743]

At 57 a bologna sandwich with mustard, cheese and Tomato on white bread is just hard to beat. I buy wonder bread just for bologna sandwiches. I’m known to make a killer bologna salad as well. 😊

[@roustabout4458]

I got a burst of nostalgia because I too had an Evel Knievel lunch box. Bologna has long been a staple growing up mildly poor in rural South Dakota. As a truck driver I came to really enjoy the fried bologna sandwich option in Southern truck stops

[@ronjones-6977]

Did you sing the song to yourself when he finally mentioned Oscar Mayer? I sure as hell did.

[@roustabout4458]

@@ronjones-6977 how could I not? 😁

[@rcajavus8141]

Here in Croatia, next to Italy, Mortadela is so wide spread and popular it is the cheapest of the cold cuts but its still not low quality because of its popularity - the plain one is pretty rare, most used is the Olive and Pistaccio kind. Ate some today on my lunch break :D

[@billmoyer3254]

wonderful taste!

[@iDarkfigure]

Who hasn't had a Fried Bologna sandwich? Variations included: Fried Bologna with fried egg sandwich or other egg dishes. Even used a home made pizza topping on occasion. Not to mention the oscar mayer song that literally every kid knew the words.

[@SwanseaTitanFan]

I haven’t had a Bologna sandwich in about 30 years, I think I’ll have one today.

[@nbrown5907]

Now I know who you remind me of a little,... and now for the rest of the story, Paul Harvey. You are are in great company thanks for all of your hard work.

[@verneblestien315]

Always enjoyed Paul Harvey. The smooth segway to the ads that kept you around until you heard those famous words.... and now, for the rest of the story.

[@flyswryan]

Lance is much better looking, thus, Paul was a radio personality.

[@CJBroonie]

Yes! History Guy is the Paul Harvey of KZbin!

[@janicefrantz1831]

I grew up in Chicago, in the 60s. I had fried bologna on white bread with yellow mustard very very often. Still love it though...

[@Dingomush]

In Alton Illinois, which is just a stone’s throw across the Mississippi River from St.Louis, during the late 80’s- early 90’s. There was a BBQ place named “Elmer’s” that did a fair amount of business in a low rent area of the city. His #1 seller all through the week was the “BBQ’d & grilled Bologna sandwich with cheese”! He would smoke the whole log for hours, then cut them down to 3/8” slices. Then they would sit in a simmering pot of BBQ sauce for 15-20 minutes. When ordered, he would take one out and slap it on the grill for a minute or so a side to caramelize the sauce and add the cheese. Slide that onto toasted white bread and top with a little bit more BBQ sauce. It was good eating! They also made the most amazing snoot sandwich I’ve ever had,….but that’s a different story!

[@jackzimmer6553]

I ate lots of balogna with mustard sandwiches as a kid. Being of German descent I ate my fair share of braunschweiger sandwiches as well but those I liked with mayo. My favorite cold cut was pickle and pimento but to each his own. Great job THG!

[@dukecraig2402]

Love me some Braunschweiger, must be the German in me to.

[@halbud]

Jack, me and you have the same high quality tastes. I love liverwurst, mayo and vidaliam onion samichces!! Everyday for lunch in grade school it was balony,cheese and mustard samiches!!!

[@rosaliemoon5905]

M-M-M...liverwurst/braunschweiger😋😋😋😋😋

[@catey62]

Do you have mettwurst over there? I know it was brought to Australia by German settlers back in the early 1800's and has become a part of Australian culture here. it is a smoked and cured form of meat, made with pork and often has garlic in it as well ( that seems to be the most popular one here )

[@jackzimmer6553]

@@catey62 Yep! We have mettwurst and bratwurst in the States. Gotta love that Kraut food!!!😄

[@Paladin1873]

I never considered myself lucky when I discovered a baloney sandwich in my lunchbox. I do recall having to remove the red plastic ring before making cold sandwiches or frying it in a pan. It would always balloon up when fried. I'd cut slits in it and try to deflate it, but in the end I had a warped piece of deli meat. My wife spent her early youth in Detroit and enjoyed baloney purchased at the local deli. She still insists it was much better than the dreaded Oscar Mayer variety. It's all a load of baloney to me. I can afford to buy better lunch meat now. I don't know about a year from now.

[@sparky6086]

I remember telling a guy who was contemplating breaking the law, that he was "...going to be eating bologna sandwiches on Rice Street"; Rice Street being the address of The Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, GA. It seemed to deter him. Perhaps he was no fan of bologna?

[@Litauen-yg9ut]

Ya, no kidding...

[@Paladin1873]

@@sparky6086 I was fed a lot of baloney when I was at Georgia Tech. The good news is, unlike today, none of it came from my professors.

[@popefacto5945]

The key to "flat" fried bologna is a bacon press. Or very thick slices. Or both. If your wife was eating Koegel bologna, she wasn't wrong. It's so much better than Oscar Mayer. Their hot dogs are excellent, too.

[@Paladin1873]

@@popefacto5945 She doesn't recall the brand, but her Mom bought them at their local Jewish deli. Right now I'm enjoying COSTCO all beef hotdogs. They are such a far cry from the dyed red dogs of my youth that leeched their colors when boiled. I have a hotdog rotisserie that does a great job if one has the patience to wait 30-40 minutes for them to reach the ideal state. It even has a bun steamer (sort of).

[@mwinchester66]

My husband can't stand bologna, but my children love it! They eat it on a weekly basis with cheeses individually, or in sandwiches. My mom used to serve me bologna sandwiches for school when I was little, loved them with limeade!

[@JoeyKO757]

Fried bologna and cheese sandwich is a gift from God

[@Linuxpunk81]

I unapologetically love bologna. My favorite sandwich in the world is bologna on wonder bread with Swiss cheese and ketchup! 😋

[@johnbernstein7887]

I just threw up....

[@grantrichards4950]

It is best with white bread (not Wonder though. I use Orowheat Buttermilk) but adding cheese and, especially ketchup, is disgusting. Bread, bologna and mayo. That's all you need. Of course, tastes do vary.

[@charlesmadison1384]

Hey, that seems like a tasty combo ... especially the Swiss (perhaps a nice Lorraine) .

[@cptcosmo]

When I was a child my mother would always make fried Balogna sandwiches with Lettuce, American Cheese, Mayo, and Sweet Pick Relish for lunch.

[@midnightrambler8866]

Fried bologna sandwiches was one of the first things I learned to cook.

[@armandohernandez3106]

Fried Balogna with cheese in between a tortilla and a glass of Kool aid. Those were the days. 😂

[@joshuahjfarquharm.3269]

Good mom. Mine was generally just bologna and bread.

[@alanwchase7449]

Mine too!

[@grantrichards4950]

You can ruin almost anything with pickle relish.

[@Law0086]

Another underrated meat that helped humans push through some crappy times. And even started its own trend and market. Taking things for granted is humanity's specialty.

[@MrHandy1]

Thanks Lance. I was not overly fond of Bologna growing up but I would not refuse to eat it either. When I hit adulthood and had a family of my own I discovered a liking for fried Bologna on soft white bread with mustard and possible mayo. I've never really put cheese on that sandwich but that is just personal choice. BTW my personal sandwich favorite growing up was definitely Tuna salad and it remains so to this day. Just goes to prove each cat has his own rat.

[@johndesjardins6089]

🐎🐓🥪!🤣

[@Echowhiskeyone]

Pennsylvania German, learned to pronounce bologna, ball-oh-na. And Lebanon Bologna, specifically Seltzer's, is what was in my lunch box for many years from childhood into adulthood.

[@rriflemann308]

Raised on seltzer’s Lebanon bologna, still use it many years later, my local grocery in California stocks it.

[@Echowhiskeyone]

@@rriflemann308 20 years ago, I was in the Navy in San Diego. I went to Exchange for groceries. I saw Seltzer's in the "Imported Meats" section, at four time the cost back home. I didn't think about the price, I just bought it. I guess over the years and better transportation, the price and availability became better.

[@edschools5580]

Lebanon native here, living in Indiana. Seltzer's, Weaver's, or Bomberger''s, the food of the gods. I think Seltzer's is the only one still made in Lebanon County, the others in Lancaster County. I didn't know about that nasty gray stuff until I went in the navy and was fed what they referred to as a bologna sandwich. I am highly offended by the Oscar Meyer product they refer to as "Lebanon Style Bologna". Whenever we go back to PA I bring a load of real bologna and scrapple back with me. I may die from clogged arteries but I'll die happy.

[@crhend512]

Like others, this took me back to childhood. I especially remember when, on Saturday, Mom would give us the treat of fried bologna sandwiches for lunch. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@dukecraig2402]

Fried bologna sandwiches are tasty but frying the bologna leaves a smell in the house one will not soon forget, my friends dad had one rule in his household, no frying of bologna when he was home and if you did fry some the odor had better be dealt with before he gets home or there'd be hell to pay.

[@TruMaverick]

Bologna has grown up with me for 30 years. I just learned so much about my Favorite food. Thanks Knowledge Guy. Appreciate the facts and tasty information

[@brianburton1843]

They make something called Ring Bologna. It's bologna but package like kielbasa. When times were tough as a kid. My Mum buy it because it was 25 cents a pound. She would boil it in it's packaging. Fry potatoes in a skillet. Serve with a can of corn and green/wax beans as 2 sides. Cheap. But one of my favorite meals.

[@helenel4126]

I couldn't stand the stuff (though I liked salami), but my brother loved it. Mom got tired of making two different sandwiches, and worrying that each kid got the "right" paper lunch bag. So bologna was responsible for us being required to fix our own lunches. He stuck with bologna. I rotated between pb&j and tuna.

[@janetd4862]

I enjoyed this! I don’t eat it anymore, but have fond memories as a child….bologna and butter (oleo) on white bread, a treat of fried bologna (don’t forget to make a slash, or it bubbles up in the middle!).

[@fnjesusfreak]

My grandmother always referred to margarine as "oleo". She also called the fridge an "icebox".

[@guytansbariva2295]

Growing up in NC in the 80's and 90's, it was white bread, baloney, mustard, American cheese, ice berg lettuce, and Ruffles potato chips all under the top piece of white bread. All washed down with either Cheerwine or RC Cola. The rest of the day was watching NASCAR(blah) or college football(Yay). Dinner was some of the famous NC BBQ, or some fresh caught fish off the coast. Great place to grow up.

[@admiralcapn]

You can still get that old school “sweet” bologna (sometimes called Lebanon bologna) in southeast PA, particularly in the greater Lancaster region where the German “Dutch” presence is quite strong.

[@josephwalukonis9934]

I sometimes get Lebanon bologna in northern virginia. I alsp like "German bologna" as well!

[@kevinkennedy3042]

I'm 60 and still love my Bologna! I always wondered what it was and where it came from, and, now I do! Thank you History Guy!

[@jamesmcfarlane3754]

Up here in Canada, you usually see a Bologna sandwich with a layer of bread and butter pickles instead of American cheese. The Bologna keeps the bread dry. One of my favorite sandwiches. Great video.

[@DH-mw7pe]

for a treat my dad would fry the bologna up in a pan then put cheese and mustard on it before toasting the bread in the pan much like a grilled cheese sandwich. its a comfort food for me even now many years later. when i get lazy and cant think of something to eat ill sometimes fry up some bologna and cheese in a pan.

[@brendanquinn6894]

I was just talking baloney the other day. It is incredible you do a program on it. Thank you.