In the 1960s and 70s, when jam wasn’t available, children would often turn to sugar, in the form of sugar sandwiches. It was the meal that kept children happy and dentists busy. A sweet treat made with two slices of white bread. Every sandwich seemed to be made with white bread back then. They were cheerfully cheap and satisfied the sweet tooth of the nation.
The sugar sandwich delivered empty calories while giving an energy rush that stopped hunger in its tracks. Many adults who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s may still smile at the memory, although I doubt most wouldn’t dream of eating one today.
It was a snack designed for comfort and convenience.
And just like a jam sandwich, they were so easy to make. As a boy, even I could make them. I’d return home from school at lunchtime, hungry for a sandwich and with a plan in mind as to what I wanted.
“What are we having to eat?” I would ask my mother.
“There’s cheese, spam, some corned beef left …”
“Do we have any jam?” I asked, ignoring all the more nutritious options on offer.
“Jam? Not until I go to the shops.”
“No jam? I wouldn't mind a sugar sandwich. I can make it.” I said with hope.
“Sugar sandwich? I suppose so, but don’t blame me if you get a toothache.”
Wise advice often ignored.
Making them involved no fuss and no special ingredients. All you needed was bread, margarine and sugar. Two slices of bread, sprinkled with sugar, all held together by Stork margarine. For those that could afford it, butter was a better option, but that was a luxury unknown to us except at Christmastime. For many families, this was the kind of food that filled a need.
They were a part of growing up. We didn’t eat them every day, but they were a sandwich that seemed normal to have when you wanted one. It may have ranked behind jam, treacle, and lemon curd, but sugar sandwiches were always available.
Sugar was always there. We never seemed to run out of sugar.
There’s also something nostalgic about them. They’re the kind of food that you remember what they are like. The sensation of sticky fingers and the sugar rush from the first bite to the last.
But the same sweetness that made us feel better back then also had a negative side to it. Occasionally, a nagging toothache would be the result of all these sugary treats, followed by a visit to the dentist. It didn’t do much to calm the nerves.
Maybe we know better now?
Sugar is high on the list of what turns teeth into a problem. So even if sugar sandwiches weren’t the sole culprit causing toothache, they contributed to those visits. It was a comfort food for kids that resulted in frequent appointments at the dentist as we got older. That’s the sugary snack legacy. It was a treat that gave quick joy but had consequences later.
Today, sugar sandwiches may feel like an odd relic from a simpler time. Looking back, many may wonder how and why parents allowed it, but sugar sandwiches belonged to a different era. They were another cheap meal, quick to make and made from ingredients almost every household had sitting there in the cupboard.
They also represent something that, for the most part, wouldn’t happen today. They’re a symbol of a childhood comfort from the past: inexpensive, made from that most ordinary of things — bread, margarine and sugar. A slice of homemade happiness you could hold in your hands.
Eating too much sugar still happens, but perhaps it is consumed in a different way. Sugar gets into everything now. You only have to look at the ingredients on any package or tin of food that we buy. Sugar is always on the list — maybe it always was, but I was too young to notice or care at the time. Today, we have far healthier eating options and more information available to tell us what we should be eating, but sugar is still everywhere.
But the old sugar sandwich is off the menu today.
So, here’s to sugar sandwiches, an old British comfort food that once helped keep children happy, if only for a moment, while keeping Britain's dentists in a job for life.
Image - Martin Bradshaw, ChatGPT.
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