Editing Po' boy (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Hot Roast Beef with Gravy po boy, dressed.jpg|thumb|upright|A roast beef po' boy]]

In the late 19th century, fried [[oyster]] sandwiches on French loaves were known in New Orleans as "oyster loaves", a term still in use. A sandwich containing both fried shrimp and fried oysters is often called a "peacemaker" or {{lang|fr|La Médiatrice}}.<ref name=times-picayune>{{cite news |url=http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2012/04/was_the_oyster_loaf_invented_i.html |work=[[New Orleans Times-Picayune]] |first=Brett |last=Anderson |date=April 20, 2012 |title=Was the oyster loaf invented in (gasp!) San Francisco?|access-date=2013-06-15 |archive-date=September 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904115152/http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2012/04/was_the_oyster_loaf_invented_i.html |url-status=live }}</ref><!--unable to be archived at Wayback Machine or WebCitation-->

A popular local theory claims that the term "poor boy" (later "po' boy", etc.), specifically referring to a type of sandwich, was coined in a [[New Orleans]] restaurant owned by Benjamin ("Benny") and Clovis Martin, former [[streetcar]] conductors originally from [[Raceland, Louisiana]]. 

The Martins established their eatery in 1921. In 1929 the bakery of John Gendusa first baked the bread used for this sandwich.<ref name="cohen1950" /><ref name="nyt-20091111" /> In 1929, [[1929 New Orleans streetcar strike|during a four-month strike against the streetcar company]], the Martin brothers served their former colleagues free sandwiches.<ref name="nyt-20091111" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Mizell-Nelson |first1=Michael |title=1929 Streetcar Strike - Stop 4 of 9 in the Streetcars and their Historian Michael Mizell-Nelson tour |url=https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/514 |website=New Orleans Historical |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mizell-Nelson |first=Michael |title=Po-Boy Sandwich - Stop 6 of 7 in the French Quarter Street Food tour |url=https://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/480 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=New Orleans Historical |language=en}}</ref>

The Martins were interviewed on record regarding the origins of the sandwich. Benny Martin reminisced that they jokingly referred to an incoming diner as "another poor boy" if he turned out to be one of the strikers.<ref name="nyt-20091111" /> The Martin brothers were asked the question of whether the name was inspired by some French or French patois word such as {{wikt-lang|fr|pourboire}}, but they denied that was the case.<ref name=cohen1950/>

One New Orleans historian finds the Martin claim suspicious for several reasons, starting with the fact that it was not described by the local press until 40 years after the strike, and that prior to 1969 the story from the Martin brothers themselves was that they had created the po' boy for farmers, dock workers and other "poor boys" who frequented their original location near the French Market. The Martin brothers wrote a letter, reprinted in local newspapers in 1929, promising to feed the streetcar workers, but it referenced "our meal" and made no mention of sandwiches.<ref name=NOLA-02-05-17>{{cite news| url=http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/02/another_bite_at_the_origin_of.html#incart_most-read_celebrities_article| title=If po-boys were invented in 1929, how was Louis Armstrong eating them a decade earlier?| first=James| last=Karst| work=[[The Times-Picayune]]| location=New Orleans| date=February 5, 2017| access-date=February 6, 2017| archive-date=February 6, 2017| archive-url=https://archive.today/20170206235548/http://www.nola.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/02/another_bite_at_the_origin_of.html%23incart_most-read_celebrities_article| url-status=live}}</ref>