What is the Italian Sandwich in New Jersey Called? is it the Hoagie, the Hero, or the Sub?

What is the correct name for the Italian sandwich inItalian immigrant workers who would take large Italian
New Jersey? Is it the Hoagie, the Hero, or the Sub?sandwiches made with cured meats, spices, oil,
New Jerseyans love their food and the most populartomatoes, onions, and peppers for their lunches.
sandwich in New Jersey is the Italian sandwich,Because of the location of the shipyard, the workers
although it’s not called the Italian sandwich,were nicknamed “hoggies”, and at some point
depending on what part of the state you live in, it isthe sandwiches they ate adopted the name
called the Hoagie, Hero, or Sub.“Hoggie”.
New Jersey, similar to the United States, is divided intoAfter World War II, the "Hoggie" became the "Hoagie"
two geographic regions with people having differentand quickly caught on outside the Italian community and
roots, cultural traditions, and food tastes. I-195, runningsoon achieved the status as the favored sandwich in
west to east from Trenton to Belmar, is consideredPhiladelphia. South Philly neighborhood “mom and
the unofficial dividing line, between north and southpop” delis began offering the Hoagie as the
Jersey.featured sandwich and Wawa Food Markets began
North and south Jerseyans root for different footballselling Hoagies in the late 1970s. Philadelphians who
teams, different baseball teams, different basketballbegan the migration to south Jersey in the 50’s,
teams, and have different accents.retained the name Hoagie for the popular Italian
In south Jersey, most people who live there had rootssandwich.
in the Philadelphia area. South Jerseyans receive theirFormer Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell declared the
TV programming and newspapers from Philadelphiahoagie the "Official Sandwich of Philadelphia".
and tend to be slower paced with food tastes andThe Origin of the Hero
food descriptions largely influenced by Philadelphia.The Hero originated in New York City. The term is
People who live in the more crowded north Jersey arenow used in downstate New York and north Jersey.
influenced by NYC events and traditions and eitherThe name “Hero” is credited to NY Herald
have roots in New York or commute to New York toTribune Food writer Clementine Paddleford who wrote
work. North Jerseyans receive their TV programmingin the 1930’s that you needed to be a hero to eat
and newspapers from NYC and tend to be fasterthe giant sized Italian sandwich.
paced, with food tastes and food descriptions largelyLegend has it that in 1905, James Manganaro, who
influenced by New York City.came from Italy to New York to join his cousin in the
Where did the Italian sandwich come from?deli business was responsible for popularizing the Italian
Most of the early twentieth century Italian food in thesandwich in NYC where he sold the king sized Italian
United States came from the southern Italiansandwich that later caught on and became the Hero.
immigrants who arrived during the great wave ofThe Origin of the Sub
immigration in the United States from the lateThe origin of the name submarine sandwich or
1800’s to the early 1900’s.“Sub” is widely disputed, with stories of its origin
Most of these immigrants settled into the large northtaking place in Boston, MA, Groton, CT and Patterson,
east cities of New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia.NJ. Today the term is used throughout New Jersey
Many Italians became fishermen, shoemakers, waiters,and New England, and has spread across the United
fruit and food peddlers, and tradesmen, though mostSates by the many chain restaurants like Subway,
were unskilled laborers working in mines, constructionQuiznos, Blimpies, and Jersey Mikes Subs.
jobs, building roads, and as longshoreman on theOne legend credits it being originated at a restaurant in
waterfront.Scollay Square in Boston, MA at the beginning of
The southern Italian immigrants from the Naples, ItalyWorld War II, and whose customers were large
region (Neapolitan) brought with them the Italiannumbers of navy servicemen stationed at the
sandwich, made with baked crusted bread withCharlestown Navy Yard who coined the name sub
pointed ends stuffed with cured meats and cheese.after the hull of the submarine.
Entrepreneurial immigrants seized on the opportunity toAnother story places the naming of the sub sandwich
peddle the sandwich to the Italian immigrant workersduring World War II when the naval submarine base in
on the docks at the waterfront, and to the laborers atGroton, CT ordered 500 Italian sandwiches a day from
construction sites.Capaldo’s Italian deli in New London, CT and the
Later on, this tasty sandwich became sought after byemployees of the deli began to refer to the sandwich
Americans and other ethnic groups and they began toas the “Sub”.
include additional varieties of meat, vegetables andThe other legend has the earliest date in 1910, when
cheese. It wasn’t until the end of World War II thatthe sub was named by Dominic Conti owner of
the Italian sandwich caught on outside theDominic Conti's Grocery Store on Mill Street in
Italian-American community and began to achievePatterson, NJ who observed the similarity of shape
widespread popularity. At that time, the typical Italianwith his crusted, pointed end bread sandwich and a
sandwich was made with 12” long by 3” widelocal exhibit of the first experimental submarine, and
baked crusted bread with pointed ends, provolonebegan selling the sandwich as the “sub”.
cheese, Italian hard salami, lettuce, tomatoes, oil andThe Correct Name of Italian Sandwich in New Jersey
vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper.is the Sub.
How did the Italian sandwich in New Jersey take onThe appropriate name for the Italian sandwich in New
the names of Hoagie, Hero, and Sub?Jersey is the Sub. Although the location of the origin of
The Origin of the Hoagiethe name “Sub” is widely disputed, one of the
The Hoagie originated in the Philadelphia area. Thethree popular legends has it that the name “sub”
term is now used in regions such as Scranton,was coined in Patterson, NJ. The Jersey legend also
Pittsburgh, southern New Jersey, Delaware, andhas 1910 as the earliest date of all the legends. Hoagie
southern Ohio.and Hero clearly have their origins in Philadelphia and
Legend has it that an area of Philadelphia known asNew York City.
Hog Island, a shipyard during World War I, had many