I never heard it, either, and was surprised to read back in the thread and see the term associated with the Rainbow Market and Charlie Young. We were familiar with both, of course, from my father working at Ernie's for several years in the mid-fifties and from our regular patronage there. Well, that ended when my father left Ernie's - it wasn't a completely amicable separation, and we shopped at Fred's thereafter. If the term was more of a sixties-on thing, that's understandable, but I never even heard it in any other circumstances.
I remember the term 'sando' from the late '60's when we used to go to Rainbow Market in Larkspur & get a sandwich from Charlie Young who ran the butcher counter there, we called them 'Charlie Sando's' usually, although some called them an 'Ernie Special' since Ernie owned Rainbow Market, my usual was 50 cents worth of Swiss cheese & 25 cents worth of salami, 25 cents for the roll, so a 1 buck Chuck made a decent affordable lunch.
We always used it since the 60's. Or maybe it was at the Belli-Deli on 2nd St in the mid 70's. They used to be so busy late at night on weekends, now I don't think they're open past lunch. Of course back then they only had the right side half of the space they have now. Places always seem to be busier in smaller quarters. With the sando we'd get a 'stoga, back when Calistoga water was a local product.
Speaking of expanding and going out of business, what about the great Spanky's in Fairfax. With the cool model trains cruising the perimeter on elevated tracks. They had lines out the door. Then they expanded taking over the store next door, then they opened a second spot in Larkspur. Then they went out of business. No more breakfast at Spanky's
As someone who grew up in Marin and lucky enough to still live here (now almost 40), I have an important question to pose to the forum: are we Marinites the only ones to use the term "sando" (short for "sandwich")? Everytime I use this term around someone from work (many of whom grew up outside of CA), they give me a hard time. Is this just a Marin thing? Just a California thing? Heck, just a Greenbrae/Larkspur thing?? :)
