# Is there really such a thing as a "Chillicothe Sandwich"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613 "2013-03-11T05:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/1 "2013-03-11T05:14:14Z")
I watched part of _The Harvey Girls_ (1946) on TCM today. At the beginning of the movie, one of the girls on the train offers Judy Garland an “award-winning” Chillicothe Sandwich for lunch, claiming it’s based on a recipe of her aunt’s. I would logically assume that this was something well-known at the time, and that it found its way into the Harvey’s menu,\* but I cannot find any recipe for it anywhere (or any mention of it beyond the movie). Has anyone ever actually eaten a Chillicothe Sandwich? Judy said that hers tasted like chicken. \*I remember eating at Harvey’s with my dad back in the '60s, when they ran the restaurants at the oases on the Illinois Interstate. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/2 "2013-03-11T05:30:38Z")
The [Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce](http://www.chillicotheohio.com/weeklyletter/weu_1_31_03.htm) was asked that question 10 years ago, and responded: > [@](#): > > Tim Wilson from California wrote us recently asking if there ever was a “Chillicothe Sandwich.” We’ve come up blank is this office, but if you have any knowledge of one, let him know … . Also copy us since our readers might like to know, too. If those locals hadn’t heard of it, I’d guess it was just made up for the movie. (I’ve been to Chillicothe myself a few times, but without eating a Chillicothe sandwich.) ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/3 "2013-03-11T05:54:52Z")
FTR there are Chillicothe’s in Ohio and Illinois. I doubt the sandwich will be much of anything special. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/4 "2013-03-11T06:02:56Z")
I’m pretty sure Judy Garland’s character was from Chillicothe, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/5 "2013-03-11T12:02:20Z")
There appear to be towns named Chillicothe in Ohio, Texas, Missouri and Illinois. I have lived in the one in Ohio for 13 years and have never heard of a Chillicothe sandwich. If one were to be invented today, it would almost certainly involve a huge slab of deep-fried pork loin. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/6 "2013-03-11T12:03:57Z")
The movie was definitely referring to food? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/7 "2013-03-11T13:52:19Z")
Susan was from Ohio, but I don’t believe she was from Chillicothe. The character Alma was from that town, and she provided the sandwich. The movie was definitely referring to food. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/8 "2013-03-11T14:39:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The movie was definitely referring to food? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/9 "2013-03-11T15:07:29Z")
Never seen this movie, but was the sammich provided by a railroad employee? It’s entirely possible that the RR had its own menu of random stuff with names of towns along the line. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/10 "2013-03-11T15:25:53Z")
Oh lord, please tell me it wasn’t a [cuitlacoche](http://www.thesneeze.com/2005/steve-dont-eat-it-vol-7.php) sandwich. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/11 "2013-03-11T16:01:46Z")
And smell like a paper mill 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/12 "2013-03-11T23:32:28Z")
It’s just a story that one of the girls made up so she could give Judy Garland’s character a sandwich, because they could see that she didn’t have anything to eat. “Here’s my aunt’s award-winning Chillicothe sandwich, Mabel, would you like to try it?” “Not me, I’m full” “How about you, miss?” “Oh, thank you. (Bites into sandwich) Mm, tastes just like chicken.” (And I wonder if that was the start of that joke, although it’s a throwaway line in the movie.) Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/13 "2013-03-11T23:51:35Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Oh lord, please tell me it wasn’t a [cuitlacoche](http://www.thesneeze.com/2005/steve-dont-eat-it-vol-7.php) sandwich. Ugh. The last picture looks like a scoop of very wrong ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/14 "2013-03-11T23:59:06Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Oh lord, please tell me it wasn’t a [cuitlacoche](http://www.thesneeze.com/2005/steve-dont-eat-it-vol-7.php) sandwich. Ugh. FWIW, cuitlacoche is pretty delicious. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/15 "2013-03-12T04:49:41Z")
Probably unrelated in any way, but a bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri was the first to use a machine to make sliced bread. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/16 "2013-03-12T13:56:05Z")
What was the greatest thing before that? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/17 "2013-03-12T14:07:13Z")
The name Chillicothe is of Shawnee origin. It comes from the name of one of the five Shawnee tribal divisions: the Chalakatha. The basic name is _Chalaka_, and the suffix -_tha_ means ‘person’ in Shawnee. Historically, there have been seven sites in Ohio that have gone by that name, because wherever the tribe moved, the name moved with them. The present Chillicothe is just the most recent town they lived in before the Indians got kicked out of Ohio. Another Ohio town, Piqua, is named after another of the Shawnee tribal divisions, the Pekowi. As for the eponymous sandwich, I got nothin. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/18 "2013-03-12T14:53:20Z")
From wikipedia: Screenplay Edmund Beloin Nathaniel Curtis Harry Crane James O’Hanlon Samson Raphaelson Additional dialogue: Kay Van Riper How many of these folks are still alive? Maybe we could have a seance, and ask them. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/19 "2013-03-12T16:36:54Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What was the greatest thing before that? 😉 1. Fire 2. The Wheel 3. Booze 4. Sliced Bread 5. Internet Porn ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613/20 "2013-03-12T16:41:14Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > 1. Fire > 2. The Wheel > 3. Booze > 4. Sliced Bread > 5. Internet Porn Pointy stick probably pre-dated fire. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-such-a-thing-as-a-chillicothe-sandwich/652613.md?page=2)