When Detective Murdoch and Dr. Ogden go on their picnic, they have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Recipes for making peanut butter sandwiches were first published in 1896 in "Good Housekeeping" and "Table Talk" magazines in 1896, the same year the story is supposed to take place. However, the first mention of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches did not appear until 1901 in a recipe by Julia Davis published in "Boston Cooking-School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics." However, Murdoch could have come up with the sandwich himself, as he did so many other things that appeared "officially" later in time.