Introduction
In the early years of twentieth century, sandwiches made of peanut butter and jelly became very common. This literature review will focus on the history of peanut butter and jelly by examining the thought on interchangeability of peanut butter in the construction of sandwich, the schools of thought on the study and how they influences the construction of peanut butter and jelly.
In this literature review, issues concerning the possibility of peanut butter interchangeability and peanut butter and jelly sandwich construction are also discussed. Data was collected from secondary sources.
Literature review
To Robinson (2001), Americans were being amazed by the popularity that peanut butter and jelly was gaining during the start of the twentieth century. He argues the trigger was the fact that most Americans never knew of the methods and ways of preparing the sandwich.
Robinson further explains that despite the fact that Americans both young and old came to like the delicious sandwich; their culture had not incorporated the best ways of preparing it. As a result, housewives and teachers of home economics used to write letters to cookbook companies requesting for information on how to prepare the sandwich.
There was widespread debate on the interchangeability of peanut butter in the 1920s and 1930s. Discussions mainly featured women’s magazines (Robinson, 2001). Robinson states that “there were articles which advised people to make wise choices of peanut butter” On the other hand, quite a good number of writers emphasized that consuming peanut butter and jelly sandwich was a choice that people were supposed to make on their own just like they could opt for any other item in the market.
Only a small percentage of articles emphasized on the need for the constructors of peanut butter to have other thoughts apart from personal choice when it came to making a choice on whether to consume peanut butter. Owing to the great role played by the advertisements, the interchangeability of peanut butter was portrayed as simple.
Robinson (2001) noted, “The peanut butter industry has always being interested in people’s association of the product with less anxiety.” Consumers were assured that they should not worry anymore about the proper use of peanut butter but they should purchase the types that appealed to them most.
Currently there is too much emphasis for people to use peanut butter as portrayed in advertisements. Robinson (2001) asserts that magazines do not like going against the advertisers. Therefore, magazine editors do not object to what companies tell them, for example, magazines may fail to indicate the negative effects of the interchangeability of peanut butter.
Several theoretical frameworks and schools of thought have emerged to reinforce the discussion on peanut butter. The studies on peanut butter and jelly sandwich can be traced to the popular and scholarly literature schools of thought (Robinson, 2001). Famous magazines carried out scholarly research seen in advertisements. In the 1930s, companies dealing with peanut butter contracted academic institutions to carry out research on their behalf. Most of the studies were conducted on the nutritional value of consuming peanut butter.
By the start of the 1940s, research conducted by academic institutions was not too much. Peanut butter is perceived to be expensive and thus unfavorable due to the high cost that would be incurred when carrying it out. The period starting from 1941 witnessed some decline in the number of studies conducted on peanut butter and jelly.
References
Robinson, J. (2001). American food over the decades. New York: Three rivers press.