option of some sort of breakfast meat (breakfast sausage, bacon, or ham), and cheese. Another variation is an omelette served on bread.

Fried egg sandwiches
A 1910 New York Times article shows that at that time, fried egg sandwiches were the epitome of the prosaic. It describes a motion picture set where actors are rehearsing a "trick picture" (i.e. a special effects scene). The reporter, watching actors in costume killing time while awaiting their cues, says "the horrible Frankenstein smoking a pipe and discussing the weather and the political situation was odd, but it was hard to beat two deathlike phantoms eating fried egg sandwiches!"

In her memoir, food writer Gael Greene writes of a brief and casual romantic encounter with Elvis Presley. At its conclusion, he gestured toward the phone and asked "Would you mind calling room service and ordering me a fried egg sandwich?" Greene says "The fried egg sandwich—that part I remember. I can't remember how big It was, how long the sex lasted, or who was on top (probably me). But I have never forgotten the fried egg sandwich. Yes, the totemic fried egg sandwich. At that moment, it might have been clear I was born to be a restaurant critic."

Beyond the basic model of fried egg between slices of bread, many common sandwiches have variations that include a fried egg in addition to bacon, sausage, black pudding, cold cuts, or as another topping to a hamburger. A popular breakfast sandwich in New Jersey consists of a fried egg, pork roll, and American cheese on a roll, often topped with salt, pepper, and ketchup. A common version of the dish from Michigan consists of mayonnaise, lightly toasted bread, salt and pepper, and a lightly soft fried egg - two per sandwich - and dipped in ketchup while eating.

Egg salad sandwiches
In the United States, egg salad sandwiches are traditionally considered a comfort food; in an article on the topic, a Times food writer notes that due to the personal element, "my favorites will probably not be yours," but notes that she loves eggs "softly scrambled, or, in summer, a season that rarely inspires comfort-eating, in a mayonnaise-rich egg salad sandwich."

The mayonnaise traditionally contained in egg salad sandwiches presents health problems. Today, food writers inveigh against their high fat content ("Mayonnaise and eggs are foods one should not eat regularly because of the saturated fat and cholesterol. But with a tofu-based dressing and only one-half of a yolk per serving, it is fine to indulge in this egg-salad sandwich") But in the days when refrigeration was less common, the danger was food poisoning. The earliest mention of "egg salad sandwich" in The New York Times is a 1933 story of eight ambulances with sirens racing to the Dun and Bradstreet offices to take twenty-two employees to hospitals. A total of a hundred and fifty D&B workers had been stricken with food poisoning from egg salad sandwiches, which had been prepared by a food service worker at home and brought to the employees' restaurant in five-gallon tubs. "Girls, ashen under their rouge and powder, staggered down the corridors toward the emergency rooms set up by the nurses and internes." 1939 and 1944 stories of food poisoning at schools and hospitals, in addition to illustrating the danger, show that these were popular institutional-food items.

Sliced hardboiled egg sandwiches
A 1905 British cookbook describes an "egg sandwich" made with sliced hard-boiled eggs, marinated in oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and garnished with minced watercress. An "egg and chutney sandwich" is made from chutney and minced hard-boiled eggs; an "egg cream" sandwich from hard-boiled eggs pounded into a smooth paste and seasoned with anchovies and mustard.