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On this date in 1937, the Geo. A. Hormel Company of Chicago introduced one of the twentieth century's defining products:
A chopped, pressed, and spiced combination of ham and pork shoulder meat, Spam was introduced with a barrage of publicity intended to hide the fact that it was a revised version of a canned meat product introduced the previous year under the name "Hormel Spiced Ham." The addition of shoulder meat reduced the manufacturing cost of the product, and made a new name necessary.
Under any name, there was nothing particularly new or unusual in 1937 about canned processed meat -- canned corned beef had been popular since the early nineteenth century, and Hormel had long had a prominent line of such products, including such delights as canned whole chickens. But the name "Spam" was a marketing breakthru for the company -- and turned a pretty generic product into something Exciting and Modern, a concept that appealed to convenience-minded 1930s housewives. Spam was heavily advertised in print, on billboards, and on radio -- and by the early 1940s it was close to becoming America's National Dish. It also attracted imitators -- within a few years, rival meatpackers Armour and Swift introduced their own versions: Armour Treet and Swift's Prem. But neither became the legend, the global phenomenon, that is Spam.
Which is for the best. You can't imagine referring to an unwanted commercial e-mail as a "treet."
I used to come coated in a gooey gel. I miss that, and the way you used to open it with the little key you peeled off the bottom of the can.
Since college, there has always been a can of Spam on my shelf, now pantry. Spam, eggs, and grits - now that's some good eatin'!
