The SPAM Museum in Austin, MN

Wednesday, August 20

Austin, MN is only 20 miles down the road, so we decided we could not live with ourselves if we did not go to the SPAM Museum.

What a grand looking museum.  We were chuckling to ourselves all the way in. 

Farmer Hormel and his pigs.

Spammy greeted us at the door.  :-) BTW  Spammy is a registered trademark.

Well we got a little education at this display.  We had no idea that SPAM had created several flavors and even turkey SPAM.

Look at the list of brands that Hormel owns.  We had no idea some of these brands were owned by Hormel.  Did you?

Here are the ads from the 1930's.

Here are the ads from the 1940's.

Here are the ads from the 1950's. I remember this can with the key. 

Here are the ads from the 1960's.  Now they have changed the can to open on the side.

Here are the ads from the 1970's. I don't remember these ads.  By this time I ignored SPAM.

We did learn that from the beginning, Spam is put into the can, vacuum sealed, then cooked for 2.5 hrs.  We also learned that George A Hormel, the founder, had a passion for cleanliness in the productions areas.  Also SPAM products were a staple during WWII.  We actually learned a lot about Hormel and SPAM.  It turned out to be very interesting.  And Hormel stock just keeps going up!
We happen to like tex-mex foods.  While we were there, they were giving out samples of a new flavor of SPAM; Chorizo.  It was very tasty, so we bought a can at the gift shop and had scrambled eggs with chorizo for breakfast.  Very tasty!

SPAM is worldwide.  See all the countries and locations? See picture below also.

Of course the tour ends in the gift shop.  There was everything you can imagine with SPAM on it.  This T-shirt had one of the cutest sayings.

Even though this is a little blurry, I thought this saying was the cutest.  In case you cannot read it, it says, "STURGIS ISN'T THE ONLY HOG HEAVEN".  
We saw products that we would be interested in purchasing, but have never seen them in any store.  Marketing is a tough job.

Thursday, August 21
The day started with rain until about 11 am.  We both needed haircuts so decided to get haircuts.  We decided to try Great Clips.

After showering, this is how Tic's haircut looks.  It is the worst haircut I have ever seen on him.

After my shower this is how my haircut looks.  I think I got the better cut. Wow don't I look great without any makeup.  I can't believe I'm posting this.  Oh well.

We are off to Welcome, MN tomorrow for a couple of nights.  Sleep well all.