Making SPAM Taste Good by Peggy Scholberg

Love it or hate it, nearly everyone has an opinion on SPAM.

In 1937, the Hormel Foods Corporation in Minnesota began producing blocks of a ready-to-eat meat, a combination of pork and ham. It was called “SPAM” from “Spiced Ham.” In a convenient can, this high-calorie, high-protein food was a valuable food for soldiers at war. The US military bought 75,000 tons of Spam during World War Two. Today SPAM is currently sold in over forty countries, with 15 different flavors. Over eight billion cans have been sold. 

My mother had her own most unusual reason for joining the war effort. At age 23, she had graduated from Iowa State, and had completed a dietician internship at Cook County Hospital in the slums of Chicago. In 1944 she joined the Army as an officer. In Girls in a World at War, read about how five women, including three dieticians, worked together in a renovated horse barn and provided meals using dehydrated and canned foods, and SPAM, amidst scarcity and rationing,

Book Excerpt

Kathy opened her alligator-skin purse. No young girl could join the Army without first combing her hair. It was not proper to comb her hair in public, but neither could she walk the length of the car full of soldiers to the washroom. No civilians, no other women, just Kathy and twenty-four soldiers.

The train was due in Camp McCoy, and still she saw only the backwoods of Wisconsin. She combed her short brown hair. She powdered her generous nose the dark shade of powder to minimize its size. Carefully, with modest touches of lipstick, she outlined her very ordinary mouth. Her thickly lashed eyes were her only good feature. What she lacked in beauty she would make up for with her caring personality. She’d be an angel.

The train slowed in the thick woods. Kathy stood up to get her overnight case from the baggage rack. This case held the few things that could be brought from home into the Army. She was short, so she stepped up onto the green plush seat, hurrying to grab the case down before one of the watching soldiers might offer to help.

When the train lurched around a curve, she lost her balance. She grasped at the hanging strap and was able find her footing. A soldier whistled, and another and another, until she was surrounded by wolf whistles. She clutched her bag and sunk down onto the seat. She could not keep a smile from twitching on the corners of her mouth. After all, she was single and hoping for romance.

Maybe the soldiers could tell how she felt about them. These soldiers so bravely fighting for their country. She must serve their sick and wounded. She would bring food to the starved prisoners of war. She would carry nourishing hot meals to heal wounds and knit bones. She would make Spam taste good.

Girls in a World at War by Peggy Scholberg is available online wherever books are sold.