What is exactly in SPAM? Is it bad for you? Is it good for you? How is it made? When was it invented?
All these questions and more are found in none other than…
…The SPAM Museum!
Located in the tiny town of Austin, MN, just a hop-skip-jump away from the factory where SPAM is made, is the official SPAM museum. After all, SPAMophiles the world-over all need a geographic center of the Universe to converge when making their pilgrimage to revel in their mania for spiced ham and pork shoulder. And if food brands like Dr. Pepper, M&Ms, and Jell-O can have their own museums, why not SPAM?
Located in downtown, off the corner of Main St. and Spam Blvd, lies the museum, next door to the corporate headquarters of Hormel Foods.
Admission is free.
Inside you’ll find lots and lots of SPAM. You buy it, you can slice it, fry it, or bake it, in all of their 18 different varieties. In addition there’s a movie theater that plays a SPAM documentary chronicling its history, its wartime influence, and its contributions to society. Yes, it’s contributions to society.
Further into the museum, there’s a large section devoted to its use as a military ration. Just about every form of SPAM advertising campaign is illustrated there, and of course of history of SPAM from when it was invented to how it progressed into all of its many flavors and forms.
There’s even a section of the museum devoted to Monty Python and its famous SPAM skit.
Along the way, SPAMbassadors will guide you through the museum, answer your questions, and take photos for you.
The gift shop has everything you need in SPAM, including the old die-hards like t-shirts, hats, and coozies, but also SPAM recipe books, SPAM bumper stickers, and SPAM air fresheners for your car.
When visiting the SPAM museum, we recommend dining at Piggy Blues Bar-B-Que in downtown Austin, where you can get SPAM burgers and SPAM Po’ Boy sandwiches.
SPAM Museum
1101 N Main Street
Austin, MN 55912
(507) 437-5100
http://www.spam.com/spam-101/the-spam-museum
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