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National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day is celebrated annually on April 2nd.  This food holiday is a classic favorite of many.  The average American will have eaten over 2000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from high school.

Residents are learning about the history of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well as enjoying eating them this morning.  “I’ve been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all my life.  It’s probably one of the first foods I ever ate,” said Lorene Bruff

Peanut butter was considered a delicacy in the early 1900s and was only served in New York City’s finest tea rooms.  In a May 1896 article published in the Good Housekeeping magazine, a recipe “urged homemakers to use a meat grinder to make peanut butter and spread the result on bread.”  That same year, in June, the culinary magazine Table Talk, published a “peanut butter sandwich recipe.”

It is thought to be that the first reference of peanut butter paired with jelly on bread, to be issued in the United States, was by Julia Davis Chandler in 1901.  In the late 1920s, the price of peanut butter declined, and the sandwich became very popular with children.

According to the Peanut Board, during World War II, both peanut butter and jelly were part of the United States soldiers military ration list.

In 1968, The J.M. Smucker Co. introduced Goober, a jarred product which combined alternating vertical stripes of peanut butter and jelly.