# Why do white people eat mayo sandwiches? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575 "2012-04-22T10:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/41 "2012-04-22T22:09:46Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Woody Allen used this in \*Annie Hall \*to depict white-as-white-can-be, where Annie Hall orders a pastrami on white with mayo in a deli. I seem to remember another scene where Woody was trying to identify with this for the sake of the relationship and came home with a grocery bag with mayo and white bread. Hannah and her Sisters. For some reason Woody decided to turn Catholic, and came home with a bag with beads, a crucifix, a loaf of wonder bread and mayo. We saw this movie in Houston. Almost none of the audience got it. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/42 "2012-04-22T22:55:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Those were also the days of hamburg sandwiches and hot dog sandwiches - not served on buns but standardly on white bread. And here I always thought it was because my mom was too cheap to buy buns. Hamburgers when I was a kid (in the '70s) were always between two slices of bread, and hot dogs were wrapped in one slice. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/43 "2012-04-22T23:16:34Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Hannah and her Sisters. For some reason Woody decided to turn Catholic, and came home with a bag with beads, a crucifix, a loaf of wonder bread and mayo. > We saw this movie in Houston. Almost none of the audience got it. In Meyerland Plaza, I bet they got it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/44 "2012-04-22T23:18:10Z")
I eat mayo sandwiches sometimes. Maybe once every six to eight weeks. I even sometimes eat it on a bagel, too. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/45 "2012-04-22T23:32:11Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > And here I always thought it was because my mom was too cheap to buy buns. Hamburgers when I was a kid (in the '70s) were always between two slices of bread, and hot dogs were wrapped in one slice. Let me guess. Your home had avacado colored appliances and a giant wooden fork and spoon hanging on a wall somewhere. I bet this guy had Miracle Whip as a sponsor: [http://now.msn.com/now-plus/0421-driver-too-caucasian.aspx](http://now.msn.com/now-plus/0421-driver-too-caucasian.aspx) ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/46 "2012-04-22T23:32:31Z")
For those up thread who said they never met or knew anyone who actually ate them… allow me to introduce myself. Suburban Midwest white guy checking in. I ate them all the time as a kid… and still sometimes make one for a snack. We were never poor and had plenty of other options, but I assume that my parents ate them and they grew up in the depression so that could have been when they started eating them. For me though they were a treat. Of course in my house growing up, Mayo means Miracle Whip (but we called it Mayo and I didn’t know any better for several years). Anyway, two slices of Wonder Bread, a generous slather of “Mayo”… cutting on the diagonal is optional and you are set. Even better is when you have left over biscuits… Pillsbury flaky from a pop open can that have cooled off to room temperature. Pull one open and smear on some “Mayo” and that’s good eats. Whenever we make these biscuits I’ll still stash a couple away for later for just this purpose. Pretty sure I know what I’ll have for a snack later tonight. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/47 "2012-04-22T23:44:07Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > In Meyerland Plaza, I bet they got it! 🙂 +1 Oy vey! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/48 "2012-04-22T23:46:05Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Thank you for the valiant effort required to drag this thread back on track. And, :D! You’re ever so welcome, it was the least I could do! 😃 ---
**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:** [April 22, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/49 "2012-04-22T23:56:10Z")
Yes, it’s a real stereotype. Like all stereotypes, there are some significant number of people who actually fit this stereotype. Or rather, there used to be some significant number of people who fit this stereotype. It’s an old stereotype, and I don’t think much of anyone who thinks it’s hilarious to make such a joke these days. In the 1950’s, say, it was certainly true that it was much more common for white people to eat sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread, so it made sense to joke about their eating mayonnaise and to call them and the things they did “white bread.” Or more specifically, one could call someone who was white and “non-ethnic” by this stereotype. This meant that your ancestry was northern European (which was vaguely referred to a WASP). It was even more true if you came from a small town and didn’t even know any ethnic types. Everytime someone mentions a stereotype in an OP, lots of posters chime in with variations of “I don’t do that, so it must not really exist.” The fact that you don’t do something doesn’t mean that the stereotype doesn’t exist. That’s what a stereotype is. It describes just enough people that it’s not completely ridiculous. It fails to describe enough other people that it’s offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/50 "2012-04-23T00:15:07Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Let me guess. Your home had avacado colored appliances and a giant wooden fork and spoon hanging on a wall somewhere. Yes, yes we did. Avocado green, and that yellow color … goldenrod? > [@](#): > > I bet this guy had Miracle Whip as a sponsor: > > [http://now.msn.com/now-plus/0421-driver-too-caucasian.aspx](http://now.msn.com/now-plus/0421-driver-too-caucasian.aspx) Ha! Reminds me of that guy a few years ago who sued because he was denied a college scholarship for “African-Americans” because he was of Egyptian extraction instead of being black. “Last time I looked at a globe,” he said, “Egypt is in Africa”. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/51 "2012-04-23T00:45:00Z")
Yep, ate them most of my life. Thought everyone did. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/52 "2012-04-23T01:21:03Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Yes, yes we did. Avocado green, and that yellow color … goldenrod? [Harvest Gold.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_gold_%28color%29) ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/53 "2012-04-23T01:30:12Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Yes, yes we did. Avocado green, and that yellow color … goldenrod? hey! when I was a kid we had an avocado green washer and a harvest gold dryer. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/54 "2012-04-23T02:28:30Z")
Mayo is the devil’s mucus. _gag_ ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/55 "2012-04-23T02:35:53Z")
My cousins and I made mayo-only sandwiches, but I don’t recall seeing them elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/56 "2012-04-23T13:20:50Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Whats the connection here in this phrase? I saw someone say a black guy should eat a mayo sandwich to turn white, in a sarcastic manner. I have seen this several places and it doesn’t seem to make much sense unless it is the color white? I’ve eaten the offending sandwich many times. Hellman’s is the way to go, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/57 "2012-04-23T13:38:19Z")
What was the orange/brown color, burnt orange maybe? That was the color of the appliances in my family’s kitchen when I was growing up. And I think we had the huge wooden fork/spoon combo hanging over the kitchen table. I would eat Wonder bread or other cheap white bread by the truckload if I could. We went to a bakery outlet “thrift store” that specialized in factory seconds/day-old/whatever. Mom would make us kids bologna and mayo sandwiches, maybe with that cheap fake “American cheese” on it. One slice each. Dad worked in a factory, and got “better” and more meat (those super thin Buddig slices stacked up), on wheat bread and typically with not-yellow mustard. My tastes grew to encompass better mustard and wheat bread as I got older, though I think it took until college for me to accept not-white bread. But yeah, I can see poverty being a really good motivator for eating mayo-on-white sandwiches. My usual snack was to make toast, spread on a little cheap margarine, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Outside of that reasoning, mayo-on-white is a very apt symbol of super blandness. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/58 "2012-04-23T15:45:04Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Depending on the base filling, mayonnaise is a fine condiment. I cannot picture a chicken sandwich without it. I certainly can’t picture a BLT without it. But by itself? That’s as outside my experience as, um, a mustard sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/59 "2012-04-23T18:01:25Z")
I feel the need to point out that the only proper mayonnaise is Hellman’s / Best Food’s (since they are same thing). All else is crap. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/60 "2012-04-23T18:48:55Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I feel the need to point out that the only proper mayonnaise is Hellman’s / Best Food’s (since they are same thing). All else is crap. Normally I would agree with you… but, we’re talking “Mayo” sandwiches not mayonnaise sandwiches. Any proper “Mayo” sandwich on Wonder bread is made with Kraft Miracle Whip. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575.md?page=4)