May 16, 1964: The Submarine Sandwich Revolution

The original Blimpie store in Hoboken

May 16, 1964: The first Blimpie store opens, at 110 Washington Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. The founders were Tony Conza, Peter DeCarlo, and Angelo Bandassare, former high school buddies and classmates at St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, and they were inspired by Jersey Mike's in their favorite Shore town, Point Pleasant Beach.

The concept was, basically, a salad sandwich, with things like lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber slices, but with meat. Cold cuts: Ham, salami, roast beef, turkey, things like that, and sometimes combinations thereof. And cheese.

Conza didn't want to call the sandwiches "submarines" or "subs," thinking it sounded dirty. That was partly the fault of Murray "the K" Kaufman, one of the top New York disc jockeys at the time: He called kids fooling around in parked cars "the submarine races," and the term was widely known enough locally.

Conza wanted to use the Philadelphia term "hoagies," but Hobokans, being quasi-New Yorkers, didn't recognize the term. Nor did they use the New York term for them, "hero sandwiches." Because of the shape, and the connection to submarines, "torpedo" was also used. In New England, they were called "grinders." In New Orleans, they were "poor boys" or "po'boys." Conza looked through a dictionary, and found the word "blimp," thinking it sounded like a sandwich.

They eventually expanded into a chain, first through the Northeast, then through the country. They put the sub sandwich on an even keel with hamburgers and fried chicken. But they would end up getting surpassed in the 1990s, first by Subway, and then, after Jersey Mike's began franchising, but their former inspiration. Blimpie closed many of their stores, including the original in Hoboken.

Their corporate headquarters is now in Scottsdale, Arizona, outside Phoenix. In spite of this, you can still buy a hot and juicy sandwich at Blimpie: It won't be a dry heat.

UPDATE: As of May 16, 2026, the site of the 1st Blimpie store is a "Hawaiian-inspired" health food restaurant named Shaka Kitchen.

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May 16, 1964 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 10-6 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Steve Hamilton was the winning pitcher, in relief of Stan Williams. Roger Maris hit 2 home runs, and Mickey Mantle and Joe Pepitone each added one.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 6-4 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Jim Davenport hit a home run in the bottom of the 15th inning. Willie Mays went 2-for-7 with a home run. Willie McCovey went 2-for-6 with a walk and an RBI. Juan Marichal pitched 9 innings, but would not be the winning pitcher. Duke Snider, at the end of a great career, who looked strange enough playing for the Mets at the Polo Grounds the year before, looked even stranger as a Giant. He appeared as a pinch-hitter, but did not reach base. Jesse Gonder and Chalrey Smith each had 3 hits for the Mets.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dick Williams, 3 years away from managing the Sox to a Pennant, singled rookie star Tony Conigliaro home to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Dick Radatz, the Sox' closer, singled home the winning run, Lou Clinton, off Jim Perry in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell hit home runs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White sox, 3-1 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline did not play.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4. Ernie Banks went 0-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Braves, 6-5 at the first Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* The Houston Colt .45s beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The next year, the Colts moved into the Astrodome, and renamed themselves the Houston Astros.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Willie Stargell went 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs.