I can't give historical precedents, but on the subject of "bread and butter pickles" (way back up there) I can attest that as a kid when we got hungry we got a slice of bread, slathered it with butter, and laid a layer or two of "b&b pickles" on it. About the only way they were consumed was in "pickle sandwiches." One might have used them on hotdogs or hamburgers, but in that time we seldom had meat of any kind, except home-grown chickens.

The difference in how they were made has been described, but it should be noted that while with most kinds of pickles an attempt is made to have them "crisp" the bread and butter ones are pretty much "limp" and shouldn't snap when you bite into them. They generally - at least as my family made them - were much less "tart" than the commercial imitations I find at the grocers now.

Essentially, they were preserved sweetened wilted cucumbers.

(A rare, but delectable, treat was made by substituting watermelon rind bits in the bread and butter pickle recipe, but we couldn't afford many watermelons either.)

John