The fillings of British sandwiches tend to be obvious from their names. The bacon
sandwich, for example, contains bacon. However, the American sandwiches are much
more complex culinary constructions with names that are not descriptive of their
contents.

The Dagwood

The Dagwood gets its name from the American cartoon strip, Blondie. http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/blondie/about.htm Dagwood is Blondie's husband and is famous for the size of his appetite. He regularly creates huge sandwiches.

http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/blondie/images/uc03273u.jpg

A Dagwood up here in Vermont (and Northern New York [what I've seen of
it]) is a sandwich consisting of ham, turkey, bacon, cheese, sauteed onions,
lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.

There are at least three deli's in SLC that I know of that have a sandwich called the "Dagwood" and they are all huge. In fact my friends and I would all chip in a couple of dollars for a two of them and that would feed 6 of us.

The Reuben (alternative spelling: Rueben)

The Reuben is a good artery blocker. It is made with good rye bread and
corned beef and saurkraut with mustard, thousand island dressing and swiss
cheese. The cheese should be mounded like a volcano and popped under the broiler
until golden and bubbly. They are huge and somewhat gooey while still warm.

Variations on the theme: pastrami instead of the corned beef, coleslaw in
place of the sauerkraut (then called a ??), a bagel rather than the rye bread.

The best ones can be found at the Excalibur in Las Vegas..., Baltimore, stage door New York

http://people.stdnet.com/jonathan/originals/bestreuben01.htm

The Reuben is the only entirely invented sandwich, or so the screenwriters
for the movie "Quiz Show" say.

The BLT

I am SHOCKED that, in a survey of American sandwiches, no-one has mentioned
the BLT a.k.a. bacon, lettuce and tomato, sandwich. The bacon should be crispy,
the toast still warm, the portion of mayonnaise generous...

The BLT is a great sandwich as well. I have a quirky friend who does not like
either bacon or tomato. One day we were out dining together when she ordered a
BLT. I told her I didn't think they served just an "L".

Regarding BLTs, the tomato should be home grown in NJ, harvested in
mid-August.

The Polish Dog

with mustard, onions and relish,

The Club Sandwich

Fat Cats

Is that just a New Brunswick thing?

The Monte Cristo

French toast with ham and turkey and cheese in the middle (sometimes grilled
again). This might make some of you squirm, but I like to dip mine in maple syrup
(the fake stuff- I don't like the real thing) while I'm eating.

all hail the Monte Cristo! Mind you, you can't get a good one everywhere. The
Monte Cristo might just be the sandwich most likely to be ruined.