Monday, May 14, 2007

SPAM!

No doubt about it. I really know how to treat a girl. Mother's Day, right? Kathie and I have just enjoyed a breakfast outing with members of our family in Minneapolis (see blog posting following this one), and we are driving back to Iowa City. Heading south on I35, there is a billboard saying "SPAM Museum, Austin, Minnesota, Exit 178B on I90." What a great idea! Celebrate Mother's Day with your favorite gal at the SPAM Museum! We have seen this before but always passed it up. So, when we reached I90, we exited I35 and headed east toward Austin, home of Hormel Foods and Hormel's SPAM Museum.

Here is the Mother's Day honoree at the entrance to the museum:


Turns out, this is really a fun and well-done place. The company is clearly able to capitalize on a product that has worldwide brand recognition while at the same time playing along with all the fun and ribbing that tends to surround the product. (I'd like to have just one day's revenue from their museum store!!)

Here is the Wall of SPAM that greets you upon entry to the museum. This consists of 3,500 cans of SPAM. As the company says, "At one can per day, this wall could feed you for almost 10 years. Dreamy!"


The facts about SPAM are endless. I strongly encourage you to visit their fun web site, for which I provided a link above. Over 6 billion cans of the stuff have been produced in the lifetime of Hormel. As the lady who greeted us said, "That is enough, if stacked end to end, to go to the moon and back 20+ times." (I asked where all those cans are now. She didn't provide an answer.)

We began with a movie about SPAM. While we waited, Kathie filled her head with volumes of details and trivia about SPAM.



Inside, we learned about the important role SPAM played in feeding the troops in WWII. We saw movies of the Hormel Girls, a 40s-style singing group whose songs all seem to involve SPAM in some way. We learned about the many variations on the original product, with low salt versions, turkey versions, etc. Then there were the dozens of recipes with SPAM as an ingredient. The "SPAM exam" (trivia contest) and a feature on the Monty Python "SPAM moment" were part of the tour, and let's not forget the SPAMMOBILE!

At the end, a visit to the museum store is mandatory--much cool wearing apparel and other must-have stuff. Like I said, I really know how to treat a girl. If you are in the vicinity, you should go. Really! Or maybe you should make time to go. Really!

4 comments:

Betsy said...

Awesome! Happy Mother's day indeed!!

Anonymous said...

Bill, I remember Sunday night Spam sandwiches at Fritz and Honora's farm house! (Wow, that goes back MANY years.) We've seen the signs, too, but have never stopped. Now we just might have to! Lynn B.

Carrie and Rob said...

I know Carrie has been there. Now you guys can share stories about it.

Anonymous said...

yes, indeed, i have been to the spam museum. both rob and i have the t-shirts to prove it. the gift shop is totally irresistable.
i was the only one in my group of friends who would actually try a free sample (a cube of spam on a little pretzel stick), and that was my first (and to this point, last) spam-eating experience. love it in theory, but in reality, not so much.