<P> The Philadelphia Almanac and Citizen's Manual offers a different explanation, that the sandwich was created by early - twentieth - century street vendors called "hokey - pokey men", who sold antipasto salad, meats, cookies and buns with a cut in them . When Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta H.M.S. Pinafore opened in Philadelphia in 1879, bakeries produced a long loaf called the pinafore . Entrepreneurial "hokey - pokey men" sliced the loaf in half, stuffed it with antipasto salad, and sold the world's first "hoagie". </P> <P> Another explanation is that the word "hoagie" arose in the late 19th to early 20th century, among the Italian community in South Philadelphia, when "on the hoke" was a slang term used to describe a destitute person . Deli owners would give away scraps of cheeses and meats in an Italian bread - roll known as a "hokie", but the Italian immigrants pronounced it "hoagie". </P> <P> Shortly after World War II, there were numerous varieties of the term in use throughout Philadelphia . By the 1940s, the spellings "hoagie" and, to a lesser extent, "hoagy" had come to dominate less used variations like "hoogie" and "hoggie". By 1955, restaurants throughout the area were using the term "hoagie". Listings in Pittsburgh show hoagies arriving in 1961 and becoming widespread in that city by 1966 . </P> <P> Former Philadelphia mayor (and later Pennsylvania governor) Ed Rendell declared the hoagie the "Official Sandwich of Philadelphia". However, there are claims that the hoagie was actually a product of nearby Chester, Pennsylvania . DiCostanza's in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania claims that the mother of DiConstanza's owner originated the hoagie in 1925 in Chester . DiCostanza relates the story that a customer came into the family deli and through an exchange matching the customer's requests and the deli's offerings, the hoagie was created . </P>

Where does the name sub sandwich come from