Well, I'll be hammed! Words by Ben Cost.
No, it doesn’t stand for junk mail.
It’s not just tomato sauce preservation methods that are blowing people’s minds online. Foodies have had their world turned upside down after they learned just what the acronym SPAM – referring to the ubiquitous, canned pork patty – stands for.
First released in 1937 by Minnesota-based food firm Hormel Foods, the infamous meat rectangle has become synonymous in culinary circles with the ultimate mystery meat, the New York Post reports.
Fortunately, the ingredients of the product are not an enigma: they entail a rather simple (especially in today’s additive-saturated supermarket aisles) assemblage of pork, water, salt, potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrate.
However, the acronym has continued to frazzle minds, with food-unsavvy social media users conjuring up their own theories for what the letters represent. “On a whim I purchased canned meat,” one said. “With the first taste I understood SPAM was an acronym for Salt Preserves Any Meat.”
“What does SPAM stand for? Salty Piece A’Meat?” theorised another. “I often conjectured that ‘Spam’ was an acronym for ‘Spoiled Ham’,” another said, while someone else wrote, “I just learned that SPAM is an acronym for Sizzle Pork And Mmm.”
On a whim I purchased canned meat. With the first taste I understood SPAM was an acronym for Salt Preserves Any Meat.
— ⛲ Susan ⛲ (@onascaleof1210) January 24, 2021
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Others invoked the old Bill Engvall joke that SPAM stands for “stuff posing as meat”.
Other pervasive misconceptions included “scientifically processed animal matter” and “shoulder of pork and ham”. Some flabbergasted commenters weren’t aware that SPAM stood for anything.
“I was today years old when I learned that SPAM is an acronym,” one said.
As it turns out, they’re all wrong. SPAM is actually a portmanteau of “spiced ham” that actor Ken Daigneau, the brother of a Hormel executive, dreamt up during a naming contest, Time reported.
Daigneau spit out “Spam” as if “it were nothing at all”, company founder Jay Hormel told New Yorker writer Brendan Gill in 1945, according to Eater. “I knew then and there that the name was perfect.”
SPAM hit shelves on July 5, 1937, helping fill the much-needed cheap eats void created during the Great Depression, per the Hormel Foods website. Its popularity skyrocketed during WWII due to its seemingly endless shelf life, which allowed the pork to be shipped anywhere in the world. SPAM is now available in 44 different countries.
Originally devised as an affordable canned food, this upwardly mobile block of meat has since been baptised into haute cuisine. The culinary hipsterisation hit New York City with the arrival of Hawaiian and Japanese-inflected dishes such as SPAM fried rice with seared ahi tuna at Sushi Ko in 2014.
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This article originally appeared on the New York Post via news.com.au and was reproduced with permission.
FAQs
They mentioned that SPAM stands for "Specially Processed American Meat". To the residents of the UK during the war, I reckon that's what SPAM meant to them, which is a very accurate description, and there's nothing wrong with that.
What does Spam stand for in Hormel? ›
The Hormel Foods Corporation once said that it means "Shoulder of Pork and Ham", but in some dictionaries "Spam" means "spiced ham". Members of staff at the SPAM museum say it stands for Specially Produced American Meat. In 2019, Spam began making advertisem*nts containing the definition “Sizzle Pork And Mmmm”.
Where did Spam get its name? ›
SPAM, usually rendered as Spam, was introduced to the market in 1937, its name a portmanteau for spiced ham. The brand name was coined by a New York actor named Ken Daigneau, whose brother was an executive at Hormel Foods, the manufacturer.
What does Spam have in it? ›
Spam contains six ingredients: a mixture of pork and ham meat, salt, water, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite, a food preservative added to bacon, hot dogs, cured meats, sausage, and smoked fish.
What is the full meaning of spam? ›
ˈspam. : unsolicited usually commercial messages (such as emails, text messages, or Internet postings) sent to a large number of recipients or posted in a large number of places.
What does internet spam stand for? ›
Some say SPAM stands for Specially Processed American Meat, others believe it is a portmanteau for spiced ham, while others say it stands for Shoulder of Pork and Ham. As it relates to email, spam is not an acronym. What does the term spam refer to? Spam refers to unwanted, unsolicited junk emails.
Why do we call it spam? ›
Email spam, also referred to as junk email, spam mail, or simply spam, is unsolicited messages sent in bulk by email (spamming). The name comes from a Monty Python sketch in which the name of the canned pork product Spam is ubiquitous, unavoidable, and repetitive.
What does spam stand for on your phone? ›
Spam refers to messages which are unsolicited and unwanted. Usually, spam texts are not coming from another phone. They mainly originate from a computer and are sent to your phone via an email address or instant messaging account. Because they are sent online, they are cheap and easy for scammers to send.
Who owns Spam? ›
Spam (stylized as SPAM) is a brand of processed canned pork and ham made by Hormel Foods Corporation. It was introduced in 1937 and gained popularity worldwide after its use during World War II.
What is the most common Spam? ›
Phishing
Phishing is the most common form of spam. It's typically delivered through an email, chat, web ad or website that has been designed to impersonate a real person or organization. Phishing messages deliver a sense of urgency or fear to persuade the user to give up their data.
The name comes from a Monty Python sketch in which the name of the canned pork product Spam is ubiquitous, unavoidable, and repetitive. Email spam has steadily grown since the early 1990s, and by 2014 was estimated to account for around 90% of total email traffic.
Does spam use real meat? ›
Spam is a canned cooked meat product made from ground pork and processed ham. The meat mixture is combined with preservatives and flavoring agents, such as sugar, salt, potato starch and sodium nitrite, and then canned, closed and vacuum-sealed.
Why is spam so popular in Hawaii? ›
The true root of the island's love for SPAM® products goes back to World War II, when the luncheon meat was served to GIs. By the end of the war, SPAM® products were adopted into local culture, with Fried SPAM® Classic and rice becoming a popular meal.
How much did spam cost in 1937? ›
"Spam" is a Monty Python sketch, first televised in 1970 (series 2, episode 12) and written by Terry Jones and Michael… A canned pork product that Hormel Foods, headquartered in Austin, Minnesota, has produced since 1937, SPAM originally sold for 25 cents.
