A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Entry from February 08, 2013
Spucky, Spuckie or Spukie (sandwich)

Entry in progress—B.P.
 
The long list of the names of sandwiches served on long rolls includes blimpie, bomber, Cuban (medianoche), Dagwood, garibaldi, gondola, grinder, hero, hoagie, Italianjawbreaker, muffuletta, peacemaker (La Mediatrice), pilgrim, pistolette, po’ boy (poor boy), rocket, skyscraper, spiedie, submarine (sub), torpedo, torta (Mexican po’ boy), wedge and zeppelin (zep).
 
Amazon.com
The Dictionary of American Regional English
Volume V, Sl-Z

Joan Houston Hall, Chief Editor
Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
2012
Pg. 217:
spucky n Also spooky, spu(c)kie [Etym. uncert] chiefly Boston, MA area
A type of sandwich roll; by ext., the sandwich made with such a roll; a submarine sandwich.
1968-70 DARE (Qu. H41, .. Kinds of roll or bun sandwiches..in a round bun or roll) Inf MA122, Spooky [spu-ki]’ (Qu. H42, ..[A sandwich]..in a much larger, longer bun, that’s a meal in itself) InfMA7, Spucky {spuki].

3 April 1954, Boston (MA) Daily Record, "Auto Gossip" by Otto Scoops, pg. 43, col. 3:
The eatery features "Spukies" that are out of this world.
(A restaurant near Stadium Motors -- ed.)

10 November 1962, Boston (MA) Globe, pg. 5 ad:
All-Wheat Bread, Scoli Bread, French Rolls, Submarine Spuckies, Bulkies, Soft. Rolls, Italian Cookies and Pastry. Cassaro, Inc, is a family corporation.

11 April 1967, Record American (Boston, MA), "Imagination Can Add To Sandwich Treats" by Martha Lee, pg. 20, col. 4:
THE Earl of Sandwich would be amazed to see how far his little idea has gone. We Americans have heated his sandwich, halved it, eaten it with a knife and fork and held it daintily at tea parties. We have doubtless consumed millions of submarines, spuckies, torpedoes, or whatever the composition of what would undoubtedly astound the Earl.

27 June 1968, Record American (Boston, MA), "Construction Workers: These Hard Working Men Really Know How to Eat!" by Averil Lashley, pg. 31, col. 1:
Digging into brown bags and canvas satchels (lunch boxes seem to be out of fashion) those hard-working men eagerly pull out an assortment of edibles raning from fully packed baked bean sandwiches to "spuckies" filled with delights from the corner Jewish delicatessen to all manner of cookies, pastry and fruit.

Boston Online
The final word on spuckies
From “The Answer Guys,” Middlesex News, 10/31/93.
(...)
Donofrio said he’s heard several possible origins for the word. One is that it comes from “spuccadella,” which is a particular kind of Italian roll. Spucky rolls, he said, tend to be more pointy at the ends than normal sub roles and are split on the top.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityFood/Drink • Friday, February 08, 2013 • Permalink


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