# When was it that you learned where "Thousand Island" referred to? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865 "2014-06-28T15:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/41 "2014-06-29T15:53:39Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Until two minutes ago, I thought the same. That it related the the myriad of tiny islands in the south Pacific. > > Now I know better, I guess. Humbling, ain’t it? Especially in light of being far enough away from the real Thousand Islands never to have even heard of them until late in life. There just has to be some counterpart place in Dixie that others have no idea might be the source of some exotic food. It probably ain’t Vidalia onions, though. 🙂 Any ideas, fellow Southerners? ETA: **Jophiel** , this isn’t aimed at you specifically since I see you’re from the Chitown region. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/42 "2014-06-29T16:00:11Z")
I always assumed it was a Pacific Islands type of thing, probably because I associate it with shrimp cocktails served in avocado halves in a cheesy 50s Tiki setting…so consider me educated. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/43 "2014-06-29T16:00:36Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I had no idea where the term came from. In fact, although I frequently see it on grocery shelves and on restaurant menus, I have only tried it a few times and no longer remember what it tastes like. This entry tells where it came from: > > [Thousand Island dressing - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Island_dressing) > > So up to now I never even thought about where it came from for more than a fraction of a second. Don’t trust the wikipedia entry as far as historic origin. The 1900 New Orleans part is totally false. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/44 "2014-06-29T16:02:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve always known what Thousand Island dressing is, and I’ve always presumed that the “islands” were the little chunks of relish in it. Is that correct? It never even occurred to me that it might be associated with any geographical islands. Same here. I just figured it was a figurative name. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/45 "2014-06-29T16:03:38Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I’m pretty sure I knew what the Thousand Islands were before I ever heard of Thousand Island dressing. I grew up in western New York, and my family took a camping vacation to the area when I was 5 or 6. I was absolutely fascinated with [Boldt Castle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boldt_Castle). I wanted to buy it when I grew up and finish building it. Little did I know that it would take $15 million just to restore it to the way it was in 1904 when construction was halted. Western NYer checking in. I remember driving over a tall bridge around the Thousand Islands and being terrified. I knew the connection to the dressing as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/46 "2014-06-29T16:31:24Z")
Thanks, samclem. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/47 "2014-06-29T17:22:41Z")
Funny enough just last week when someone telling me about his upcoming trip to the New England, Canada and upstae NY mentioned it as he will going to that region. Never knew or thought about it before then. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/48 "2014-06-29T18:18:58Z")
I still don’t know where they are. Guess I should look it up now. > [@Erdosain](#): > > This thread, apparently. I suspect most people don’t know the origin of the name. It’s not all that popular a salad dressing, these days. If not for the Big Mac, it would probably be even more obscure. Big Mac? “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.” I know that by heart. No mention of thousand island dressing. I’ve never, ever heard thousand island mentioned in connection with a Big Mac. The “special sauce” might be thousand island, I guess, but I’ve never heard anyone refer to it as that. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/49 "2014-06-29T18:25:49Z")
Ah ha! The Wikipedia article on Thousand Island dressing includes this statement: > [@](#): > > According to Sarah J. Gim of The Huffington Post, “Many people assume that the ‘special sauce’ used on a McDonald’s Big Mac is just Thousand Island dressing, but it is thicker, sweeter, and has a slightly different taste.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/50 "2014-06-29T18:28:48Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Don’t trust the wikipedia entry as far as historic origin. The 1900 New Orleans part is totally false. So fix it. It ain’t the Encyclopedia Britannica. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/51 "2014-06-29T19:36:40Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Until I was an adult, I thought Thousand Island dressing was a “South Seas” thing. Why? It doesn’t have any particular flavor associated with the “South Seas.” It doesn’t really have any particular flavor at all, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/52 "2014-06-29T19:40:48Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Why? It doesn’t have any particular flavor associated with the “South Seas.” It doesn’t really have any particular flavor at all, in fact. Nothing to do with flavor, which was sweeter and creamier than the French I got at home, usually over just lettuce. It was the name. Sounded like some Polynesian concoction. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/53 "2014-06-29T21:23:47Z")
I spent many summers vacationing in a camp in the Thousand Islands, a resort town a couple of hours north of my city. Lovely place on the St. Lawrence, not ritzy, you can just sit and watch the occasional huge cargo ship pass through the channel. Such happy days! We ate at the restaurant of a famous hotel there, and the paper menu had the story of Thousand Islands salad dressing printed on it, and also the recipe. I remember trying to make the Thousand Islands dressing when I got home, but it wasn’t as tasty as the bottled. There is the faintest hint of cinnamon in a good dressing, which comes from the chopped sweet pickle in the relish. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/54 "2014-06-29T22:42:54Z")
I’m from Ontario and it came up in school pretty early on. I was probably about 8. I always assumed that is to what the dressing referred, but can’t say I ever confirmed it as I don’t really like it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/55 "2014-06-29T23:18:26Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Don’t trust the wikipedia entry as far as historic origin. The 1900 New Orleans part is totally false. Totally false as in that _A Book of Famous Old New Orleans Recipes used in the South for more than 200 years_ doesn’t contain a recipe for “Breaded Veal Rounds and Thousand Island Dressing,” or wasn’t printed in 1900? I admit, [this Amazon page](http://www.amazon.com/FAMOUS-ORLEANS-RECIPES-SOUTH-YEARS/dp/B001BVYL1Q) does not appear to show a 114 year old book, but I’m unwilling to pay $4 to check. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/56 "2014-06-29T23:54:49Z")
I’m another who has always known. When I was a child, our family vacationed in the area on multiple occasions. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/57 "2014-06-29T23:57:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Totally false as in that _A Book of Famous Old New Orleans Recipes used in the South for more than 200 years_ doesn’t contain a recipe for “Breaded Veal Rounds and Thousand Island Dressing,” or wasn’t printed in 1900? No author, obviously a Junior League publication or the like, which means any/all of the recipes were contributed by ladies in New Orleans, so they (the recipes, not the ladies) have doubtful-at-best provenance. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/58 "2014-06-30T00:13:03Z")
It’s pretty hard not to know of them if you live in Ontario. As for the Big Mac sauce, I’ve made “Big Macs” at home, and Thousand Island dressing is a near perfect substitute. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/59 "2014-06-30T00:55:20Z")
I had been to the Thousand Islands, as a child, before I ever heard of the dressing. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865/60 "2014-06-30T11:45:10Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Don’t trust the wikipedia entry as far as historic origin. The 1900 New Orleans part is totally false. > [@BigT](#): > > Totally false as in that _A Book of Famous Old New Orleans Recipes used in the South for more than 200 years_ doesn’t contain a recipe for “Breaded Veal Rounds and Thousand Island Dressing,” or wasn’t printed in 1900? > > I admit, [this Amazon page](http://www.amazon.com/FAMOUS-ORLEANS-RECIPES-SOUTH-YEARS/dp/B001BVYL1Q) does not appear to show a 114 year old book, but I’m unwilling to pay $4 to check. > [@silenus](#): > > No author, obviously a Junior League publication or the like, which means any/all of the recipes were contributed by ladies in New Orleans, so they (the recipes, not the ladies) have doubtful-at-best provenance. Wasn’t printed in 1900. The oldest copy is at Harvard and has the additional information _Published–New Orleans: Printed for the Free French Movement. c. 1900._ Why someone appended “c. 1900” to the description, I don’t know but the “Free French Movement” is the telling thing. Obviously the 1930s or so. I found a new Google book result yesterday that was “1905.” Checked the title page, and it was indeed 1905. Hooray!! I just antedated the item. Wrong. I noticed that the term was in a newspaper clipping which had been pasted into the book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-it-that-you-learned-where-thousand-island-referred-to/691865.md?page=4)