In the first decade of the 20th Century, the phrase "wafer-sliced dried beef" appeared most often as a capitalized description of a product of the Libby, McNeill & Libby packing plant in Chicago. But eventually, other meatpackers (such as Swift & Company, Mickelberry's, Council, and United Packers' Red Crown brands) used that phrase too. It appeared in a Georgia Court of Appeals description of the contaminated product sold by Armour & Company to a plaintiff named Roberts, in a 1940 appellate decision upholding a judgment in favor of Roberts.

Wafer-sliced dried beef sounds like the stuff that's served in a cream sauce over toast slices. It became famous in WWII as "s--- on a shingle". It was a quick supper favorite when I was a kid and I still love it.