HORMEL
Hormel was founded by George Hormel in Austin, Minnesota in 1891, and is one of the leading processors of pork in the U.S.
The Hormel Company of Austin, Minnesota sold its first canned ham in 1926. Hormel introduced the world to Spam in 1937.
During WW II, Hormel sold more than half of its output to the U.S. government, which supplied Spam to the armed forces of the U.S., and also to the U.S.S.R. under the lend-lease program.
Austin, Minnesota, is home to the Hormel Company's plant that produces Spam, a canned meat product popular with Americans. Created in 1937, some of the first commercials aired on TV were for Spam.
Spam even has a mascot -- Spammy, the miniature pig. In 1991, for its 100th anniversary, Hormel Foods opened the First Century Museum. The exhibit of Spam memorabilia quickly became the most popular. In the United States alone, 3.6 cans of Spam are consumed every second, making it the number one product in its category (canned meat) by far. On the island of Guam, more than eight cans of Spam are consumed by every person each year.
More than 60 years after it was first produced, Spam is still enormously popular. More than 5 billion cans have been sold!
Library of Congress Local Legacies Project
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