06/02/03’s illustrious band:

The Key to Happiness

This month's reading from the Book of Spam:

Spam was not always the easy-opening convenience food we know and love today. Oh no. Originally, you had to open it with a key that was attached to the top of the can, winding the metal around the key. However, during the metal rationing of WWII, Hormel stopped making the keys and asked people to save the ones they had. This allowed for some unique promotional opportunities, like when Hormel sales teams gave prizes to anyone they found with a used key.

In 1967, the RingSide side-opening (side-splitting?) can provided a short-lived solution. Unfortunately, this can cost more and would sometimes open on its own during shipping, making it even more problematic than the original model. Can you imagine receiving a shipment of spontaneously erupting Spam on a nice, warm July day?

The permanent solution arrived in 1989 with the advent of the top pull tab. The pull tab was perfected, and ultimately made gold colored, in 1998. And that's the Spam we know and love today.

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