<P> Thousand Island dressing is a salad dressing and condiment based on mayonnaise and can include olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, cream, chili sauce, tomato purée, ketchup or Tabasco sauce . </P> <P> It also typically contains finely chopped ingredients, which can include pickles, onions, bell peppers, green olives, hard - boiled egg, parsley, pimento, chives, garlic, or chopped nuts (such as walnuts or chestnuts). </P> <P> According to The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, the dressing's name comes from the Thousand Islands region, located along the upper St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada . Within that region, one common version of the dressing's origins says that a fishing guide's wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the condiment as part of her husband George's shore dinner . Often in this version, actress May Irwin requested the recipe after enjoying it . Irwin, in turn, gave it to another . In another, second version of the story, Thousand Islands summer resident, George Boldt, who built Boldt Castle between 1900 and 1904 and who was proprietor of the Waldorf - Astoria Hotel, instructed the hotel's maître d'hôtel, Oscar Tschirky, to put the dressing on the menu in 1894 after he forgot dressing on salads and improvised with what ingredients were on hand at the time . A 1959 National Geographic article states, "Thousand Island Dressing was reportedly developed by Boldt's chef ." Despite claims that he was involved in the introduction of the salad dressing at the Waldorf, chef Tschirky did not mention the salad dressing in his cookbook that was published during that time period . </P> <P> When University of Wisconsin sociologist Michael Bell and his graduate students attempted to determine the origin of Thousand Island dressing in 2010, they found that the story differed among villages and islands in the Thousand Islands region . They discovered the existence of a third origin story in which the original recipe was based upon French dressing, which is supported by a recipe published in the 11th edition of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1965). All the claims appeared to be based upon oral traditions without supporting written records . </P>

Where does thousand island dressing get its name