SPAMtown, USA

SPAMtown, USA

When George Hormel established Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in Austin, Minn., 112 years ago, he dreamed of building a successful business by following his father’s mantra to “originate, not imitate.” Forty-six years later, in 1937, George’s son Jay followed that command and introduced the world to SPAM, short for spiced ham.

In Austin today, the canned luncheon meat is more than just a household name, it’s a major part of the town’s identity.

“Many, many people have a relationship to SPAM,” says Jeanne Sheehan, former director of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They may love it. They may hate it. But they have a relationship to it.”

Some residents of Austin (pop. 23,314)—nicknamed SPAMTown USA—have a personal relationship with SPAM; they make the product for Hormel, which employs 2,300 workers at its Austin plant and headquarters.

“Hormel is in every aspect of our lives here,” says Tom Purcell, a retired Hormel employee and resident of Austin for more than 50 years. “We couldn’t have had the new library without them and they put an awful lot of money into downtown revitalization.”

Austin’s largest employer also is the force behind its nearly 300-acre J.C. Hormel Nature Center on the north side of town. The nature center got its start when Jay Hormel bequeathed his home and some of his land to establish an arboretum. Now, it offers an opportunity to visit a restored prairie and woodland inhabited by white-tail deer, beaver, gray and red foxes, and coyotes.

SPAM has even provided the impetus for scientific research. The Hormel Institute, which originated on the Hormel farm in the 1940s, now is a world-renowned research center that studies the relationship between fat in the human diet and health concerns.

While there are serious aspects to living in Austin, there’s also a lighter side, which peaks during the town’s annual SPAMTown USA festival. This year’s event, scheduled July 3-5, will be a patriotic salute featuring a parade, musical entertainment, sporting events, and fireworks. Plus, free admission to the new 16,500-square-foot SPAM Museum, which opened in 2001.

Who’d have thought a canned meat product could ignite such passions?

“It’s just a curiosity,” Sheehan says. Like many, she finds SPAM’s allure evident, though difficult to explain.

One thing’s for sure: Austin’s prosperity is attributable, in part, to the success of Hormel Foods Co., and—to a lesser extent—the unwaning popularity of SPAM.

Case in point: New Austin residents, hailing from Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America, are attracted to the town by the security of a Hormel job; the Hormel Foundation, in turn, funds projects such as a multilingual welcome center and a 24-hour child care center to serve its employees.

Furthermore, the 1995 adoption of the nickname “SPAMTown USA” has proven attractive to international tourists, who think of SPAM as a literal lifesaver. During World War II, 65 percent of all Hormel products were sent to the Pacific and European theaters. Everyone from Allied soldiers to civilians relied on SPAM to get them through the tight war years.

Nowadays, SPAM is still a treat to its fans, who buy 90 millions of cans of the luncheon meat every year in the United States alone. Among its fans is Sonia Larson, who performs with the Spamettes, a seven-member musical group.

“I like it a lot better than McDonald’s,” says Larson, who doesn’t boast about her gourmet SPAM recipes (unless she’s pressed). “And no where else in the world could be SPAMTown USA.”

Elisabeth Deffner is a freelance writer in Orange, Calif.

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