Sarah Nigbor

As I write this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Rochester, Minn. with my mom and daughter. I have a follow-up appointment at Mayo in the morning following sinus surgery and then hopefully that’s it for medical fun for a very long time.

I am looking forward to what we’re planning to do after the appointment and it sounds completely ridiculous. My mom and I are the queens of visiting weird tourist attractions, and we’re going to drag Carolina to the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minn., a mere stone’s throw from Rochester. I am sure she is completely thrilled. What middle schooler wouldn’t be?

SPAM, in case you don’t know, is pork with ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrate, according to the website. Although the SPAM website does a good job of making the product sound delightful, I am not quite on board with calling it “magical” like they do.

I was surprised to learn that SPAM has been around since 1937, when Hormel Foods introduced it as a luncheon meat. Ken Daigneau, brother of a Hormel Food vice president, won $100 for naming the brand SPAM during a contest.

When I was young, my grandma would serve SPAM every once in a while, fried up with scrambled eggs and toast. We usually stuck with the classic kind, but apparently there are several flavors, including maple, teriyaki or jalapeno. Who knew?

SPAM is extremely popular in Hawaii, but do you know why? Apparently the canned meat was served to GIs during World War II and by the end of the war, SPAM had been adopted into the local culture there. It’s commonly served with rice but has also made its way into other Hawaiian cuisine, such as wontons and Musubi, which is similar to sushi. SPAM is found in convenience stores and restaurants all over Hawaii.

Here are some other SPAM fun facts that you can file away in your worthless knowledge treasure box.

• As of 2020, more than 8 billion cans of SPAM had been sold worldwide.
• 8 cans of SPAM are eaten in the world every second, according to Hormel.
• SPAM is sold in 44 countries.
• The biggest consumer of SPAM, besides the United States, is South Korea.
• During World War II, Spam became a vital source of protein for soldiers due to its long shelf life and easy transportation.
• A SPAM brand plant can produce 350 cans per minute.
• It would take 415,469,599 cans of SPAM to stretch around the world.
• In Hawaii, 7 million cans of SPAM are consumed per year.
• SPAM does have an expiration date, contrary to urban legend.
• SPAM is popular in the Philippines, where it was consumed by American GIs. SpamSiLog is a popular breakfast food there, which is SPAM, fried rice and egg.
• The British comedy group Monty Python featured Spam in a sketch, where the word “Spam” was repeatedly mentioned, leading to the term “spam” being used for unsolicited emails.
• After World War II, Hormel launched a huge campaign in the hopes of keeping the meat alive post-war. They put together a troupe of female performers called the “Hormel Girls,” who traveled the country promoting the product. At its peak, this group featured over 60 women accompanied by a live orchestra and their own radio show.

Now that you’ve learned more about SPAM than you ever wanted to know, maybe you’ll look at that square tin of canned meat a bit differently. I know I will.