"just how American that love [for peanut butter] was."
I am a 76 yo "border-line" American (Canadian), and I have had peanut butter on toast EVERY MORNING since I remember.
For forty years now, I have had the same breakfast:
-Peanut butter and toast
-a mix of healthy cereals (no sugar) with 1/3 banana and pieces of two other fruits. (seasoned with two TBS of IRISH CREAM coffee-mix (essential)
-with instant black coffee (I have tried percolated along the way, but it is too much work for the difference in taste)