Escapees March/April 2016

SKP Stops

A mosaic in the lobby of the SPAM® Museum is made up of small photos of Hormel employees and Hormel products. Photo by Richard Bauman.

• The ¿ rst state fair best SPAM® recipe contest was held in 1991. Today no less than 40 state fairs hold such contests. • Austin is the location for ¿ nal judging in the national SPAM® recipe competition. As you exit the museum, you’re led, not surprisingly, into the gift shop where you can purchase mementos of your visit to the world of SPAM®. Whether you love SPAM® or you have strong feelings in the opposite direction, visiting the SPAM® Museum is entertaining and educational, and this meat’s place in histo- ry will certainly surprise you. (The SPAM® museum is reinventing itself and moving to a new location in downtown Austin, Minnesota. The museum will be returning in spring of 2016, so be sure to visit the Website or call for more details.) Richard Bauman, Guest Contributor Continued ›››

1947 to travel and perform across the U.S. It was an elabo- rate way to raise awareness about SPAM® and other Hormel products. The ensemble was disbanded in 1953. As you tour the museum, from time to time you’ll meet up with Hormel employees offering little samples of the various À avors of SPAM® speared with a pretzel stick. A lot of handwork goes into preparing the meat that goes into SPAM®, and there are displays of the tools of the trade, including knives, hooks, saws and steel mesh gloves used to protect a worker’s hand. Though it’s called the SPAM® Museum, it’s also about the history of other Hormel products, including Dinty Moore Beef Stew, Hormel Chili and Hormel Hams. The company has also acquired or created other products, in- cluding Jennie-O Turkey and Skippy Peanut Butter. In some parts of the museum, you’ll see an overhead conveyor with a never-ending stream of moving SPAM®

cans. They depict SPAM® moving from the production À oor to the pack- aging area to be boxed and shipped around the world. The question you’ve no doubt been asking while reading this is: what does SPAM® mean? Here’s the answer—sort of. Hormel says it stands for “spiced ham.” On the other hand, in times past, Hormel has stated SPAM® stands for “shoulder of pork and ham.” So, take your choice of what it really means. There are numerous other things about SPAM® that you’ll discover at the museum, including: • In 2007, the seven billionth can of SPAM® was sold. • SPAM® is sold in 41 countries on six continents. • There is an of ¿ cial SPAM® Fan Club.

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