BLT - BLT in Culture

BLT in Culture

In 1963, pop art sculptor Claes Oldenburg created a giant BLT sandwich sculpture, currently on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art. It measures 32 by 39 inches (81 cm × 99 cm) and uses vinyl, kapok and wood, painted in acrylic. Every time it is moved, it must be restacked, which means it varies between exhibits. The artist has said that he has not set it up personally since its creation in 1963.

In 2003, a record for the world's largest BLT was created by Michele Anna Jordan, measuring 108 feet (33 m) in length. It was prepared at a 2003 tomato festival in Sonoma County, California and had a total area of 14,976 square inches (96,620 cm2). In 2008, Marie Ganister and Glenda Castelli created a 146 feet (45 m) BLT – a sandwich which was originally planned with Jordan. The record was broken again by the Iron Barley restaurant in St. Louis, Missouri, with a BLT measuring 179 feet (55 m), and is currently held by Bentley Dining Services for their 2009 attempt, measuring 209 feet 1 inch (63.73 m).

In 2004, the New Statesman reported that the sandwich chosen by a politician as his "favourite" is loaded with political symbolism. For example, it suggested that a chicken tikka sandwich would be a "gentle nod to an imperial past and a firm statement of a multicultural present and future". The article went on to explain that the then Leader of the Opposition William Hague had accused the then Prime Minister Tony Blair of being a hypocrite with regards to food, telling one portion of society that his favourite meal was fish and chips and another that it was a fresh fettuccine dish. The conclusion of the article was that Blair chose the BLT as his favourite sandwich, which appeals to all classes.