Mainly composed of pork and ham, Spam is a delicious cooked canned meat. First introduced in 1937, it gained popularity during World War II and continues to be delicious and consumed by millions of Americans today. In fact, 33,000 pounds of Spam are consumed every hour worldwide.
During World War II, Spam reached as far as England and the Asian Pacific. Having a canned meat that could be stored for weeks was extremely important during the war. In fact, Spam was often called "miracle meat" of the day. As mentioned earlier, shipments of Spam were sent worldwide
through Lend-Lease. Even Nikita Khrushchev claimed that "Without Spam, we wouldn't have been able to feed our armies". While Spam was essential to the war and kept soldiers fed because of how easy it was to transport, Spam was served to soldier every day. Three meals a day of Spam. Spam wasn't the only meat being purchased for the soldiers, but at some point, it all became Spam. It all looked the same. Funny enough, Hormel kept a file of hate mail from the GIs. During World War II alone, up to 100 million pounds of Spam was sent to American and Allied soldiers. At one point Spam even had a mascot named Slammin' Spammy. An angry bomb carrying pig, Spammy was created by Hormel in order to support the war effort.
As Spam grew in popularity, it wasn't long before different varieties were produced. Some
examples include Spam Spread, Spam with Black Pepper, Spam Garlic and even Spam Oven Roasted Turkey. Essential to millions of soldiers during World War II, Spam became an American Icon. Today, Spam still exists prevalently within our culture. We even have our own Spam museum!
https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/war-won-spam-things/
https://www.eater.com/2014/7/9/6191681/a-brief-history-of-spam-an-american-meat-icon
https://www.thedailymeal.com/11-things-you-didn-t-know-about-spam/31714
I found your post really interesting and learned a lot about Spam's involvement in the war as a whole. When I looked further into the topic, I found out that this year, Spam is 80 years old. It's amazing how something that rose to popularity during the war is still prominent now. The company used the popularity of specific singers during the period to promote the product and it continued to be consumed by the American public. To think that something so simple had such a large impact in the war to the extent that it was the only food that some soldiers had access to is mind boggling.
ReplyDeleteSource : http://time.com/4827451/spam-history-80th-anniversary/
This was a really interesting post about one of the main food supplements that kept the American troops well fed and ready for combat. Despite its popularity, Spam did get a lot of complaints after soldiers have eaten it repeatedly for months. It is understandable that one would get tired of eating the same thing over and over again, but if it successfully fed the war cause, it was a positive addition. It does get a bit overwhelming when you start to consider the rest of the world. While American soldiers complained about eating the same things, other soldiers would complain about receiving very little to no food. The American war effort was much more "comfortable" than that of the other countries involved. The American troops received more and better supplies than others, keeping them able bodied and ready to fight.
ReplyDeleteI read a different post about the increased efforts to have food available for the soldiers. Such efforts came as a result from learning from the previous World War. The rationing system was also discussed in that post. However, that post did not discuss the prominence of Spam. In an effort to put the rationing system and Spam together, I found an article that covers just that.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.skylighters.org/encyclopedia/spam.html
It's interesting that spam was valued for it's long shelf life and protein, yet soldiers seemed to have no complaints against eating the same thing every day. Maybe they were just thankful for having something to eat? I read another article regarding nutrition during the war, specifically the diet of soldiers. After WWI, it seemed that the government understood what proper nutrition on the battlefields meant: stronger soldiers and higher morale. The introduction of K ration packs during WWII meant that every US soldier was given different "units" of food for each meal, as well as other supplies like cigarettes and toilet paper. A breakfast unit would typically contain chopped ham and eggs, dried fruit, oatmeal, chewing gum, water purification tablets, among other items. A dinner (aka lunch) unit would contain spam, cheese, sugar and salt, matches, and a powdered beverage packet. A supper unit would contain spam, biscuits, chocolate, and other items. These packs were designed so that every soldier could have around 2,830-3,000 calories per meal, and they were produced by several major food production companies such as H. J. Heinz and the Cracker Jack Company.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.quora.com/What-food-did-American-soldiers-eat-during-the-Second-World-War