Canned meat, Spam, is a part of the American heritage. It was the main food during the Second World War and during the tough years of the Depression. The Spam Museum is actually an innovatively renovated K-Mart building. The original K-Mart structure has however been completely run over by Spam renovations. What remains of the K-Mart building is but a shell whose windows, walls, doors, ceilings and the exterior designs have been totally overhauled to form the modern day Spam Museum.
How the museum came to be is a story as amusing as the museum itself. Innovation is the best way to describe this museum. K-Mart had vacated the building located at Main Street, Austin, a decade or so ago. After remaining idle for all those years the location lost value since with the exit of K-Mart slow business resulted. In fact, even a grocery store once thriving across the street also moved shop and left an empty huge box lying idle.
Spam Museum
Mr. Hormel came in with an idea of how the area could be turned around positively. At that time, Hormel’s offices were just half a mile away from the abandoned K-Mart. For one, it was a prime location in Austin and had space for expansion. The price was cheap and the space available. This conveniently located site became the Spam Museum and it opened in September 2001. Besides innovativeness, cost efficiency was a determining factor in choosing to renovate the K-Mart building rather than build it from the ground. Renovating the big box was by far cheaper.
The Spam Museum prominently features a statue of Mr. Hormel, who began the business back in 1891. This was inspired by the recognition that the museum has largely benefited the surrounding businesses and the town in general, from a downward trend to a tourist destination. Just across the street, there is a diner offering an exclusive Spam menu, in the same box abandoned by the grocery a few years before the museum was set up.
Today, the Spam Museum is a classic exemplification of museum fun, unique and very thrilling in appeal. It has become a great attraction, borne out of a unique idea, and masterfully implemented. The museum building spans a whooping 33,000 square feet, which is divided into two; 16,500 for the actual Spam Museum and the next 16,500 for the official Hormel offices. The Spam Museum has a staff of 35 employees in the actual museum, and another 200 employees in the Hormel offices. Over 100,000 visitors come to the Spam Museum each year. Among these, all the 50 states in USA are always represented, as are all the provinces in Canada. Over 53 nations in the world are represented in the last five guest books at the museum. When we talk about museum fun, Spam Museum seems to have learnt the art innovatively and uniquely.
Repeated renovations and improvements have made the Spam Museum even more exotic. The walls of the museum for instance, are made of thousands and thousands of Spam cans and the Cyber Cafe features an interactive Spam exhibit. The Spam Museum also has a decor with a retro flair to reflect on the launch of Spam in 1937. A distinct pig theme is easily seen on the doors to the theater with handles making pig’s nose and the windows functioning as the eyes. There are also cloud impressions that resemble flying pigs.
Austin, Minnesota, is today fondly called the Spam town, given its rich heritage in Spam. Every American worth the name knows the role played by Spam in feeding the United States troops in World War II. That historical role is perhaps what has made the Spam Museum such a hit, given that Americas and Canadians love Spam with a vengeance. Approaching Austin from far, you can see huge billboards alongside the highway specifically advertising the museum. The importance of canned food to Austin where it is produced and packaged even up to today, cannot be overemphasized. Yet locals treat the museum with loving humor, something that gives it a greater appeal.