Private Presley with his first public girlfriend, Anita Wood from Memphis
Anita Wood and Elvis got to know each other in Memphis, Elvis’ hometown, and were close friends from 1957-1962. She wrote to him in Germany where he was stationed with the U.S. Army. Years later she was interviewed about her relationship with Elvis, and recalled:
“He called me Little because I was very small at the time, tiny. ‘Little girl, go fix me a sandwich, peanut butter and jelly sandwich.’ Now, you know, back when I fixed a sandwich for him, we mixed up the peanut butter and banana together. We didn’t put it [the sandwich] in butter and put it in a skillet. We just put [the mixture] on white bread. But…the other day, this man was fixing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Elvis liked and they sliced the bananas in thick slices and put it in this butter and cooked it…so he [Elvis] may have started liking that later. But when I was dating him [1957-1962], he liked just a plain old-fashioned mashed banana [sandwich].”
The Elvis Sandwich (sometimes simply “The Elvis”) is a fried sandwich consisting of peanut butter, bananas, and sometimes bacon. It was supposedly one of Elvis Presley’s favorite foods.
The Elvis Sandwich appears open-faced before it is closed and fried.
The Elvis Sandwich is simple to make. This recipe comes from his cook:
Toast two slices of soft white bread in a toaster. Spread peanut butter on one slice, slice banana on top of the peanut butter, and cover with the other piece of toast. Fry the sandwich in a hot skillet with melted butter.
Elvis Presley joined the U.S. Army in March 25, 1958, completing his basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, and serving in Germany.
Lisa's History Room 
Hi Lisa,
There was another peanut butter and banana sandwich. It had bacon and grape jelly and was called a “Fool’s Gold” sandwich. You would take a loaf of bread, hallow it out, put in all the ingredients and deep fry it.
There was a famous story of Elvis flying from Memphis to Denver to get one of these sandwiches from a restaurant named the Colorado Gold Mine Company.
All The Best,
Cory Cooper
Elvis Historian, Consultant, Technical Advisor
ElvisExpert@aol.com
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Cory, I did see mention of that when I was researching. I read that Elvis gorged on the Fool’s Gold. Thanks for the info and keep coming back. Question: In her interviews, do you think Anita Wood embellishes her relationship with Elvis? I mean, if they were really that close, wouldn’t there have been more photos of the two of them floating around? She claims to have known him as a close friend and almost fiance for five years.
Lisa
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In truth, Elvis rarely ate this sandwich. Elvis’s trusted cook and maid of ten years, Nancy Rooks, stated that recently on an interview on Elvis Radio, the George Klein show.
Of course, she worked for him from 1967 to 1977, and he was much younger when Ms. Wood was with him.
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Cory, that sandwich sounds terrible unhealthful. I hadn’t heard the story of his flight from Memphis to Denver. Thanks for that.
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Hi Lisa,
I believe Anita Wood is being truthful, she has no reason to embellish her story. You have to remember that during their time together, Elvis was gone from 1958 to 1960 in the Army in Germany.
All The Best,
Cory Cooper
Elvis Historian, Consultant, Technical Advisor
ElvisExpert@aol.com
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I need to read more about her. Lisa
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d00de.I love peanut butter&&banana sandwichs.
Ive never had one fried though..
Thats so awesome that it was Elvis’ favorite food.
Hey Im doing a research paper on Elvis&&how he impacted Rock n Roll forever.Do you know wnay good topics I should put in?
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His impact on the Beatles is legendary. John Lennon in particular felt indebted to Elvis for his strong influence on his musical style and its development. Much has been written on this.
Elvis didn’t stick with Rock n Roll music for long. Remember he starts singing in movies in the 60s (and sings love songs often) and then in the seventies does Las Vegas tunes.
Read all my posts on Elvis and see what links they provide you for research. Lisa
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Okay I will.
Thank you very much.:]
Do you have any suggestions on which ones or should I just read them all?
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Start out with wikipedia’s article on Elvis. You will see links and sources mentioned at the bottom that will help. Also google “Elvis influence on rock’n’roll and see where that leads.
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Gotta love the fried peanut butter & ‘nana sandwich! We Southerners really have to have our comfort food, for sure.
Thank you Lisa,
Shirl
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Shirl? I like the nickname. It is so good to hear from you. Keep comin’ back, ya hear?
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ELVIS I LOVE YOU !
I love the sandwiches to..there actually really good !
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I know!
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Why doesn’t Elvis know how to stand correctly on the “v”? All of the other soldiers got it down, but maybe that was just too much thinking for Elvis. Had I been is Drill Master I would have changed his name to Sissy and made him wear a dress.
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Okay, strong feelings here. Thanks for visiting Lisa’s History Room, Alex, but why be a jerk?
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hola , como estan .lo unico que puedo decirles es que me encanta elvis creo que sigue siendo el mejor , ando buscando el material de cuando el sale riendose a carcajadas cantando ( estas sola esta noche) me gustaria saber si alguien sabe como tenerlo de ante mano muchas gracias VAL
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Thank you for your visit, Valentina.
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hi, i have n elvis cook book it’s called “ARE YOU HUNGRY TONIGHT” i have made the fried peanut butter n fried banana sandwich, i love it. i also made a quick chicken supper skillet dinner, i loved it. there are many great receipes in it. thanks
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You Americans really eat some bad food. However in Scotland we sometimes eat mashed banana sandwich on brown in the Summer if there is nothing else to eat. According to legend we live on a Mediterranean diet it is much cheaper to buy than it was in the 70s. Don’t fry everything people..and font eat bacon or you will have a heart attack like sweet Elvis
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Ab, I want to visit Scotland! Lisa
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