Harvey's Sandwich System In 1907, the two-story brick building at the southeast corner of Chouteau and Carr Lane avenues in St. Louis housed a confectionery. In 1910, the confectioner sold his business to a butcher, and the 3532 Chouteau address became a meat market. In 1934, the butcher put his meat market up for sale, and by the end of 1937, he had sold it to a baker, who turned it into a sandwich shop. The building at 3532 Chouteau remained a sandwich shop until 1978; most of that time it was owned by the baker who had purchased it from the butcher in 1937.
In 1993, the two-story brick building was
demolished. The property is now a parking lot.
The two-story building at 3532 Chouteau, just
500 feet east of South Grand, should have been no more than a
footnote in St. Louis history. The names of the confectionery and
meat market have been forgotten. But the sandwich shop lives on in
St. Louis lore – in photographs, in paintings, on t-shirts – because
of a sign that was painted on its second story.
Harvey Warren Evans was born in St. Louis in 1910 – the same year the 3532 Chouteau address was transformed from a confectionary into a meat market. In 1930, at the age of 19, Evans was living with his parents and working as a baker in a cookie factory. In 1932, he worked for the Nafziger Baking Company, at Sarah and Cook. In 1935, Evans married Marie Rose Mills. By 1937, the couple was living at 3646 West Loughborough and Evans was still working as a baker. But by November of 1937, Evans had started his own business. He purchased the building at 3532 Chouteau and turned it into a sandwich shop.
Evans called his new venture Harvey’s Sandwich
System, the name displayed prominently on the front of the building.
With his experience as a baker, Evans may have baked his owns
sandwich breads, as well as the donuts he advertised on the front
and side of the building. His sandwich selection included a
hamburger, with lettuce, tomato and onion, also advertised in paint
on the building. And, of course, Evans offered his customers brain
sandwiches for twenty-five cents.
Brain sandwiches were "a South St. Louis thing," explained the late Vince Bommarito, who never served brains at Tony's. They were specific to St. Louis like toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake, although not as beloved. The regional delicacy dated back to the late 1800s, when the proximity of the East St. Louis stockyards made cow brains, along with other parts of the animal, widely available.
"Brains and lungs and other parts of the cow
were not saleable,” explained chef and Bizarre Foods host Andrew
Zimmern. "The workers were allowed free access to them, and brains
became something that workers got used to eating."
Across the river in St. Louis, diner owners caught on that cow brains were both good to eat and inexpensive. To make them palatable to their customers, they breaded and fried them, then sandwiched them in a bun or toasted marble rye. They further obscured any offal flavor with mustard, pickles and onions.
Cooking brains was not simple. The surrounding
membrane had to be peeled away before battering and frying. And the
deep fryer was not an option; brains responded better to an
oil-filled, cast-iron skillet.
It's not documented when Harvey Evans painted the "BRAINS 25˘ DRIVE IN" sign on the west wall of his sandwich shop. Photos aren't available before the early 1970s. A brain sandwich was advertised as costing 25˘ at Mitchell's Lunchroom on South Broadway in 1947. The same sandwich cost 50˘ in 1965 at Millstream Restaurant on Lemay Ferry Road and 50˘ in 1966 at The Point Restaurant on Lemay Ferry Road. So it's possible that Evans created his sign in the 1940s, not long after he opened his restaurant.
In May of 1940, Evans purchased an existing
sandwich shop at 1927 North Grand, on the southwest corner of North
Grand and North Market. The single-story brick building had parking
space for drive-in service. Harvey’s Sandwich System presumably sold
brain sandwiches at its new location, although there was no second
story for a "BRAINS 25˘ DRIVE IN" sign. Evans sold his North Grand
sandwich shop in 1947.
In 1976, after serving brain sandwiches for
almost 40 years, Harvey and Marie Evans sold their shop at 3532
Chouteau and retired. Lane’s Truck Stop sold sandwiches in the space
until 1978. Pizza was sold there until 1981.
Charles Bailey obtained the 3532 Chouteau building in 1981. Bailey also owned a wrecking company. In late 1983, Bailey took down the "BRAINS 25˘ DRIVE IN" sign and turned the building into a one-story structure.
Harvey Evans passed away in 1987 at the age of
77. Marie Evans died in 1992, also at the age of 77. The building at
Chouteau and Carr Lane where they sold brains for 25 cents was
demolished in October of 1993.
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