“A sandwich is an unsuccessful attempt to make both ends meat” is a popular sandwich pun. “It is very hard to make both ends meat—especially of a pic-nic sandwich” was printed in an 1877 newspaper. “It is impossible to make both ends meat in a railway sandwich” was printed in an 1899 newspaper.
 
“SANDWICH An unsuccessful attempt to make both ends meat” was published in The Foolish Dictionary by Gideon Wurdz (pseudonym of Charles Wayland Towne) in 1904. The jocular definition has been frequently reprinted, usually without credit to the source.
 
 
10 July 1877, Every Evening and Commercial (Wilmington, DE),  “Evening Echoes,” pg. 4, col. 3:
It is very hard to make both ends meat—especially of a pic-nic sandwich.
 
9 January 1890, Jackson (MI) Daily Citizen, pg. 6, col. 3:
“Business is mighty dull,” groaned the proprietor of the lunch counter as he dusted the pies and gave the doughnuts their morning bath. “I could have sworn it,” observed a customer grimly. “Why?” demanded the lunch counter man. “Well, I noticed when I bit into this sandwich that you could not make both ends meat.”
   
Chronicling America
3 June 1898, The Semi-Weekly messenger (Wilmington, NC), pg. 5, col. 1:
A well-bread sandwich makes both ends meat in the middle.
 
26 July 1899, Denver (CO) Evening Post, pg. 8, col. 2:
It is impossible to make both ends meat in a railway sandwich.
 
Google Books
The Foolish Dictionary
By Gideon Wurdz (Charles Wayland Towne)
Boston, MA: John W.  Luce and Company
1904
Pg. ?”
SANDWICH An unsuccessful attempt to make both ends meat.
 
Google Books
October 1955, Boys’ Life, “Think and Grin,” pg. 98, col. 1:
Daffynishion: Sandwich — An unsuccessful attempt to make both ends meat. — Gary Hester, Finleyville, Pa.
 
Google Books
Handbook of Humor for All Occasions
By Jacob Morton Braude
London, UK: Bailey Bros. & Swinfen
1958
Pg. 325:
Sandwich: an unsuccessful attempt to make both ends meat.
 
Google Books
1,001 Logical Laws, accurate axioms, profound principles, trusty truisms, homey homilies, colorful corollaries, quotable quotes, and rambunctious ruminations for all walks of life
By John Peers and Gordon Bennett
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1979
Pg. 124:
A sandwich is an attempt to make both ends meat.
 
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Comic Quotes
By Geoff Tibballs
London, UK: Constable & Robinson Ltd
2004
Pg. ?:
A sandwich is an unsuccessful attempt to make both ends meat.
     
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