This Is SPAM

Holly Biggins
6 min readMay 19, 2023

This Quirky, Historical Chunk of Canned Meat, Made in Minnesota, Originated in 1937 And Still Sells Amazingly Well

Photo by Wesual Click on Unsplash

The rectangular protein pieces in this delicious-looking dish, as likely as not, are SPAM.

SPAM sells exceedingly well in the U.S. today, as well as in Hawaii, the Asia-Pacific region, and South Korea, where SPAM was introduced with the presence of American GIs stationed there during World War II and the Korean War.

According to the Hormel Foods Corporation website, there are 12.8 cans of SPAM products eaten every second, and SPAM products are sold in 48 different countries around the world.

In the UK, some dip SPAM in batter and deep-fry it for a dish akin to fish and chips, with a side of vinegar. And it is presented and eaten there, and in all its locations, in practically countless variations as well.

This is indellibly depicted in a famous (or infamous) sketch by the Monty Python British television comedy series…

The SPAM sketch premiered on 15 December 1970 as the final sketch of the 25th show of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and the end credits for the episode were changed so every member of the crew has either Spam or some other food item from the menu added to their names. (Spam Terry Jones, Michael Spam Palin, John Spam John Spam John Spam Cleese, Graham Spam Spam Spam

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Holly Biggins

Writing about current issues, places, people, mental health, wellness, neurodiversity, aging, relationships. Twin Cities metro area, Minnesota.