Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) of dogs, a mongrel; of humans, a mixture.

1927		(con. WW1) D.W. King L.M. 8046 19: Most of us Americans were in the same section, 57 varieties [...] Phil, the elephant hunter, Denny Dowd, a lawyer from New York, Fritz —, an engineer, Stuart—, an artist, and Alan —, our dreamy, but martial, poet.
1950		WELS.
1965–70		in DARE.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxv 6/2: heinz: (57 varieties) A very mongrel dog.
1981		S. King Cujo (1982) 343: ‘Is he a breed?’ ‘Yes,’ she said [...] ‘He’s a Heinz. Fifty-seven Varieties.’.
1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 545: since ca. 1925.
1987		Weekly World News 21 July 30: Jasper is of the collie variety with some Heinz 57 thrown in [DARE].

2. in bingo, the number 57.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 545: since 1955.

3. (gambling) any combination bet.

1983

J. Evans in Weekend 16 Mar. n.p.: Heinz: six selections in every combination of doubles, trebles, fourfolds, fivefolds and sixfolds. A total of 57 bets [DSUE].

4. anything, e.g. a concert, that combines a variety of disparate items; also attrib.

1958		(con. 1940s) B. Behan Borstal Boy 219: It was described as a ‘Heinz’ concert of fifty-seven varieties.
1994		D. Lehane A Drink Before the War 58: I looked at the patrons of this bar — a Heinz 57 mix of eastern rednecks, white trash, mill workers only recently immigrated from the Third World, Portuguese, a couple of black guys.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 214: Some of its many detractors have dubbed it [i.e. Hackney] Heinzland, a snide reference to the fifty-seven varieties it’s supposed to contain.