Why is hoagie bread called hoagie bread?

Question

Why is hoagie bread called hoagie bread?

Answer 1

The exact origins of the word "hoagie" are not known.  But there are three theories.

The Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manual says that “the Centennial made popular the “hokey-pokey man,” a street vendor selling ices, sandwiches, sausages, fresh bread, “zoologicals” (Philadelphia baker Walter G. Wilson’s animal crackers), and small antipasto salad. When Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “H.M.S. Pinafore” opened in Philadelphia in 1879, bakeries produced a long loaf called the pinafore. Entrepreneurial “hokey-pokey men” sliced the loaf in half, stuffed it with antipasto salad, and sold the world’s first hoagie.”

Professor Domenic Vitiello, professor of Urban Studies at the University of Pennsylvania offers a different explanation of the word's origins: "Italians used to work at the old Navy Yard [in Philadelphia] where they would grab meat, cheese, and lettuce and put it between two slices of bread. The location of the Navy Yard was called Hog Island, so the sandwich eventually became known as the 'Hog Island' sandwich; hence, the 'hoagie'."

According to one reference, many older, Italian-descended, South Philadelphia residents, said that the real origin of the word "hoagie" arose in the late 19th-early 20th century, when there was a term "on the hoke" that was used to denote someone who was down-and-out. The word "hoke" may have been derived from a Scottish term, "howk," meaning "rummaging around." Men who were "on the hoke" would ask deli owners for handouts, who would put together scraps and off-cuts of their cheeses and meats and offer them in an Italian roll. The sandwich was known as a "hokie." The Italian immigrants pronounced it as "hoagie."