Nice. These guys were artisans!
The Shifter originated in the 1930s when Columbia was a bustling railroad town. According to John “Tink” Lutz, the sandwich was created by the late George “Cork” Lutz and Charles “Todder” Roberts.
Back in the day, small steam engines, called shifters, moved the railroad cars around the yard to get them in the correct position for transport. If a wreck occurred on the railroad, three or four work cars would be sent to the area to clean up the mess. To feed their crews, railroad bosses would go to the Columbia hotels where they would order a gallon of coffee at one hotel, a gallon of soup at another, and sandwiches (usually ham and cheese) at yet another hotel.
Todder had a restaurant in the front room of his home on the 400 block of Cherry Street, and Cork ran the Lutz Hotel (or Lower Hotel as it was sometimes called) around the corner on South Fifth Street. Todder got so sick and tired of making plain ham and cheese sandwiches that he told Cork they had to come up with something more nutritious. To that end, they sliced freshly baked white bread, layered on ham that they had roasted and carved, added Swiss cheese sliced from a wheel, put crisp lettuce and then fresh tomato on top. Dill pickle slices, mayonnaise and another slice of white bread completed the package—in that exact order. If the order of the ingredients was changed, it wasn’t a Shifter.
https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/the-shifter-plus-a-showdown-and-a-slice-of-history/
The Shifter originated in the 1930s when Columbia was a bustling railroad town. According to John “Tink” Lutz, the sandwich was created by the late George “Cork” Lutz and Charles “Todder” Roberts.
Back in the day, small steam engines, called shifters, moved the railroad cars around the yard to get them in the correct position for transport. If a wreck occurred on the railroad, three or four work cars would be sent to the area to clean up the mess. To feed their crews, railroad bosses would go to the Columbia hotels where they would order a gallon of coffee at one hotel, a gallon of soup at another, and sandwiches (usually ham and cheese) at yet another hotel.
Todder had a restaurant in the front room of his home on the 400 block of Cherry Street, and Cork ran the Lutz Hotel (or Lower Hotel as it was sometimes called) around the corner on South Fifth Street. Todder got so sick and tired of making plain ham and cheese sandwiches that he told Cork they had to come up with something more nutritious. To that end, they sliced freshly baked white bread, layered on ham that they had roasted and carved, added Swiss cheese sliced from a wheel, put crisp lettuce and then fresh tomato on top. Dill pickle slices, mayonnaise and another slice of white bread completed the package—in that exact order. If the order of the ingredients was changed, it wasn’t a Shifter.
https://fountainavenuekitchen.com/the-shifter-plus-a-showdown-and-a-slice-of-history/
