The soft elk skin, deerskin or buffalo skin slippers worn by Native Americans and known widely as moccasins were a fashion of shoe shared by many different tribes over time. The seemingly simple design of moccasins, however, was actually so nuanced that Native Americans could attribute moccasin footprints to different tribes and identify one another accordingly. Subtle variations in stitching or fringe detailing or the finishing of the heel could distinguish one pair of footprints from another. Beyond this, the decorative detailing in beadwork or quill design on the front tab, or vamp, of the moccasin would also signal origins or affiliation.
The shoes are remarkably efficient in design and would have been well-suited to different geographical and climate conditions. They were also extremely well crafted in supple leather with careful stitching to allow for ease of wear as much as for sensitivity to the landscape, something that would have been essential to Native Americans so skilled at traversing the land and tracking things on foot. Those tribes to the west that lived in drier, more rugged terrain would have had shoes made of tougher leather with soles to match and would be constructed of two or more pieces of leather for sole and upper. Tribes further east would have relied on soft-soled moccasins, typically constructed of one piece of hide and sewn with seams at the sides or at the top.
The word moccasin in association with Native American footwear has been adopted by the greater American public but it was never a universally understood word within the different Native American tribes. Moccasin was the word for shoe in the Virginia Algonquian language and was passed into English as a generalization through the encounters early English settlers had with the native community. Captain John Smith of the Jamestown settlement is attributed with noting the translation in his 1612 glossary, ‘mockasins: shoes.’ In actuality, each tribe used words in their own language or dialect to signify shoe/slipper and it is coincidence that has made ‘moccasin’ the lasting word in English. It is more than coincidence and surely a tribute to the beauty of the design and image of the moccasin that it has been preserved as a style of shoe until today and continues to permeate the broader fashion market.
To many of us SPAM refers to junk emails or unwanted communication. Many people are more familiar with this connotation than the canned meat for which it was named that was developed in 1926 by Jay Hormel, son of company founder George Hormel. His first canned ham was Hormel Flavor-Sealed Ham and eleven years later he further developed the product so it did not need refrigeration. It was a chopped pork shoulder and ham combination and was marketed as Hormel Spiced Ham which was not a catchy name, especially for a product that would be integral in the worlds diets and wars.
The Spiced Ham got a lot of competition from other companies who introduced their own canned meats. Hormel devised a plan to give their product a catchy name and offered a cash prize to the best name and the winner was SPAM. It was promoted heavily during 1937 and was offered as an anytime product not just for lunch. They were a sponsor of the George Burns and Gracie Allen radio program and created the character Spammy the Pig. But sales really took off during WWII since it was great for the military because it required no refrigeration. It also was not rationed as beef products were so it became a popular meal staple. Russian Premier Nikita Kruschev actually credited SPAM with helping his armies survive during WWII.
During the 1950s SPAM was marketed by a group of Hormel Girls who distributed the product door to door and performed on the radio as well and as at events around the country. SPAM was sold in 12 ounce cans but was introduced as a smaller 7 ounce can in 1960 and they began to offer a variety of different flavors. In 1970 they introduced Smoke Flavored SPAM and offered a low sodium version in the mid-1980s. Other versions include SPAM-lite, SPAM Breakfast Strips, and Turkey SPAM.
The next time you receive an email or unwanted internet pop-up and refer to it as spam, remember that it was named after one of the most versatile canned meat products in the world that was instrumental in American life as we know it.
| Visit the History Store for a wide selection of historical gifts and reenactment gear. Our new product lines include: Pirate Clothing and Pirate Costumes: Relive the Pirate age with our new line of Pirate Clothes. Great for Reenactment, film, movies, stage or a costume party. We now also carry Historical Scale Model Kits: Recreate your own historical dioramas with our new scale model kits. |
Tags: 1926, 1937, 1950s canned meat, 1960 canned meat, 1970 canned meat, Classic Television Commercials of the 1940s-1960s Film Library DVD, Early Mardi Gras History Films on DV, George Burns, George Hormel, Gracie Allen, History CDs & History DVDs, History of Canned Meat, history of military rations, History of SPAM, Hormel Flavor-Sealed Ham, Hormel Spiced Ham, Jay Hormel, military rations, Nikita Kruschev, Smoke Flavored SPAM, Spammy the Pig, Vintage Advertising Animations Volume 1, Vintage Food Canning Film Collection DVD, world war 2, World War II, World War two, WWII
