A former Marshall Field’s waitress commented on the photo above, “I worked at Marshall Field’s as a waitress and often helped in the kitchen at the Old Orchard, Illinois store during the 1970’s. There was one piece of bread, then turkey and cheese. A dome of lettuce, almost half a head, a ladle of dressing, the garnish of tomato, egg, and black olive held in with a tooth pick. If I recall correctly, 2 strips of bacon at the sides on the bottom of the plate.”

Ingredients

Sandwich layers:

1 head iceberg lettuce
3 -5 sl. of freshly roasted turkey breast (white meat only)
3/4 c. thousand island dressing
1 sl. thin Swiss cheese
1 sl. rye bread
1 t. soft butter
2 sl. cooked bacon
1 sl. hard-boiled egg
1 sl. tomatoes
Thousand Island dressing: 1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. Heinz Chili Sauce
2 T. sweet pickle relish
2 large green olives, pitted, finely chopped
1/2 t. dried tarragon
1 dash Tabasco sauce
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped (optional)
salt, pepper, to taste

Directions:

Butter rye bread and place on a large cold serving plate. Cover bread with Swiss cheese slice, followed by one or two slices of turkey. Take a nice large outer lettuce leaf from the head of iceberg and set aside. Slice the iceberg lettuce in a few large sections and arrange a section on top of the turkey and Swiss cheese.
Cover the open-face “sandwich” with big lettuce leaf. Top with several slices of turkey. Pour a very ample amount of dressing over the lettuce, allowing it to puddle slightly all around the plate. Place a slice of bacon and an olive on either side of sandwich mound. Place tomato slice and egg slice atop mound with parsley sprig. Garnish with a large stuffed green olive. Serve immediately.
Thousand Island Dressing: Combine all Thousand Island Dressing ingredients. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Serve.
Yield: One and three-fourths cups dressing.