Editing Spam (food) (section)

== History ==
[[File:1936canHormelSpicedHam.jpg|thumb|left|1936 can of Hormel "Spiced Ham" at the Spam Museum. It was a precursor to Spam released a year later.]]
Hormel introduced Spam on July 5, 1937.<ref name="FAQ" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=1937-07-23 |title=Hormel Announces Spam |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/183264364/?match=1&terms=Spam |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=[[Minneapolis Star Tribune]] |language=en |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America'' states that the product was intended to increase the sale of [[Boston butt|pork shoulder]], a cut which did not sell well.<ref name="FAQ">{{cite web |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |url=https://time.com/4827451/spam-history-80th-anniversary/ |title=Spam Turns 80: History and Origins of Canned Meat |publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 5, 2017 |access-date=October 30, 2017 |archive-date=February 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211220758/http://time.com/4827451/spam-history-80th-anniversary/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ken Daigneau, the brother of a company executive, won a $100 prize that year in a competition to name the new item.<ref name = "FAQ" /> Hormel states that the meaning of the name "is known by only a small circle of former Hormel Foods executives," but a popular belief is that the name is a [[contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of "spiced ham".<ref name="FAQ"/><ref>{{Citation | contribution-url = https://www.spam.com/faq | title = SPAM Brand FAQ | contribution = What does the SPAM brand name mean? | publisher = Hormel Foods | access-date = February 7, 2022 | archive-date = March 19, 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220319040110/https://www.spam.com/faq | url-status = live }}</ref> It has also been speculated to be an acronym for "<u>'''s'''</u>houlder of <u>'''p'''</u>ork '''<u>a</u>'''nd ha'''<u>m</u>'''".<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeJesus |first=Erin |date=2014-07-09 |title=A Brief History of Spam, an American Meat Icon |url=https://www.eater.com/2014/7/9/6191681/a-brief-history-of-spam-an-american-meat-icon |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=Eater |language=en |archive-date=November 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128213812/https://www.eater.com/2014/7/9/6191681/a-brief-history-of-spam-an-american-meat-icon |url-status=live }}</ref>

The difficulty of delivering fresh meat to the front during [[World War II]] saw Spam become a ubiquitous part of the U.S. soldier's diet.  It became variously referred to as "ham that didn't pass its physical", "meatloaf without basic training",<ref name = "SeriousSpam" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zimmerman |first=Dwight |date=July 8, 2021 |title=A War Won With Spam (and a Few Other Things) |url=https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/war-won-spam-things/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220508201634/https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/war-won-spam-things/?msclkid=dacca755cf0a11ec849c8885e1dccdc3 |archive-date=May 8, 2022 |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=Defense Media Network |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref> and "Special Army Meat". Over {{convert|150|e6lb|shtn|abbr=off}} of Spam were purchased by the military before the war's end.<ref name = "OxfordSpam" /> However, several troops grew tired of the product. They expressed their frustrations in written letters to Mr. Hormel about the presence of Spam at every meal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeJesus |first=Erin |date=2014-07-09 |title=A Brief History of Spam, an American Meat Icon |url=https://www.eater.com/2014/7/9/6191681/a-brief-history-of-spam-an-american-meat-icon |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Eater |language=en}}</ref> Despite this disparagement, throughout the war, countries ravaged by the conflict and faced with strict food rations came to appreciate Spam.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Heydt |first=Bruce |title=Spam Again |magazine=America in WWII magazine |date=June 2006 |publisher=310 Publishing LLC |issn=1554-5296 |url=http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/spam-again/ }}</ref>

During World War II and the occupations that followed, Spam was introduced into [[Guam]], [[Hawaii]], [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], the [[Philippines]], and other islands in the Pacific. Immediately absorbed into native diets, it has become a unique part of the history and effects of U.S. influence in the Pacific islands.<ref name="BurgerKingSpam" /> As a consequence of [[Rationing in the United Kingdom|World War II rationing]] and the [[Lend-Lease Act]], Spam was sold in the United Kingdom. British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] later referred to it as a "wartime delicacy".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Yoon|first1=Howard|title=Spam: More than Junk Mail or Junk Meat|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11714236|issue=npr.org|date=July 4, 2007|access-date=April 5, 2018|archive-date=August 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823123350/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11714236|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Stranska|first1=Hana|title=About Spam|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/24/magazine/l-about-spam-740128.html|access-date=October 1, 2014|work=The New York Times|date=July 24, 1994|archive-date=October 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006213956/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/24/magazine/l-about-spam-740128.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to increasing production for the U.K., Hormel expanded Spam output as part of Allied aid to the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book|title=Creating Minnesota: A History From the Inside Out|last=Atkins|first=Annette|year=2007|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|location=Minnesota|isbn=978-0-87351-633-4|page=194|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BUP6lBSdlrwC|access-date=December 13, 2010|archive-date=May 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524041621/https://books.google.com/books?id=BUP6lBSdlrwC|url-status=live}}</ref> In his memoir ''Khrushchev Remembers'', [[Nikita Khrushchev]] declared: "Without Spam, we wouldn't have been able to feed our army."<ref name="FAQ" /><ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=Andrew F.|year=2012|title=The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Food and Drink in America|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=343|isbn=978-0199734962}}</ref>

[[File:Sliced Spam.JPG|thumb|Sliced Spam (straight from the can)]]

The billionth can of Spam was sold in 1959,<ref>{{Citation |title=Spam Is Turning 80. Here's How the Canned Meat Took Over the World |last=Waxman |first=Olivia B. |date=July 5, 2017 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://time.com/4827451/spam-history-80th-anniversary/ |access-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-date=February 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211220758/http://time.com/4827451/spam-history-80th-anniversary/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  and the eight billionth can was sold in 2012.<ref>{{Citation |title=For Spam's 80th anniversary, ten outrageous retro recipes by the Minnesota meat maker |first=Sharyn |last=Jackson |date=July 5, 2017 |work=startribune.com |url=http://www.startribune.com/for-spam-s-80th-anniversary-10-outrageous-retro-recipes-by-the-minn-meat-maker/432686623/ |access-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-date=March 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314042958/http://www.startribune.com/for-spam-s-80th-anniversary-10-outrageous-retro-recipes-by-the-minn-meat-maker/432686623/ |url-status=live }}</ref>