The Great Depression of 1929 was highly correlated with the return of the middle class to poverty, the bankruptcy of the rich, and the lack of food and clothing for the poor.
It is not difficult for ordinary people to live, be thick-skinned, have fewer desires, and stock up on luncheon meat......
Wait!
Why Luncheon Meat?
Because this thing is tailor-made for the "Great Depression", a product that has been tested by history, and of course the most reliable, the story of luncheon meat, you must know.
After World War I, when the soldiers triumphed and Europe was reduced to a scorched earth, the United States made war money, and with money, the economy prospered, and at that time, people did not need luncheon meat.
During the decade of Coolidge's boom, Americans were busy borrowing money to buy houses, cars, and new clothes, movie theaters were full of people, and radios and record players became household norms.
Because at that time, the monetary system was loosened and the number of small and medium-sized banks expanded, what was the most profitable for this group of bloodthirsty people? Loans, of course!
At first, the federal top did not realize the importance of financial supervision, and even connived at small and medium-sized banks to issue all kinds of loans, which laid the root cause!
Lending is a profitable business, and advanced consumption has made prosperity blossom, gamblers rushed into the stock market to open an account when they had loans, so that the US stock market skyrocketed for seven years, and the middle class bought houses and cars with loans, resulting in factories that could not stop, and regulated finance? Who wants to be a bad guy?
In the twenties, Americans were cool, and if they could have been so cool, there would be no story of luncheon meat, but the Americans in the dream have not yet realized that danger is approaching.
"The borrowed money will be repaid after all! And pay interest! ”
1929 was the year of the end of the boom, and after reaping the fruits of affluence, people's ability to go into debt finally reached its limit.
In the past decade, in addition to prosperity, the gap between rich and poor has widened, the leverage of the American middle class has also come to an end, more and more loans are overdue, there is no money to spend, and capitalists are startled by commodity inventories.
Inventories of all goods are frighteningly high, and high inventories have led to the almost depletion of corporate liquidity, while on Wall Street, smart capital has smelled blood.
The New York Stock Exchange must have been the first to run away, and on October 24, the pressure value finally reached a critical point!
A day ago, a large number of institutions began to pile up empty orders, and all the brokerage companies in the United States were waiting for it the night before, because something big was going to happen the next day!
October 24 was nailed to the pillar of shame of financial history, crowned with the evil scorn of "Black Thursday"!
"On October 24, the U.S. stock market crashed, and at the close of the day, many investors jumped off the building, and the Dow Jones and the New York Times index all collapsed!"
Brokers are still trying to recoup their losses, but they can't imagine that Black Thursday is just the beginning of the suffering.
Five days later, the U.S. stock market was given birth to the epic "Black Monday" and "Black Tuesday", evaporating $500 billion in market value, nearly five times the GDP of the United States in 1929, and the stock market crash triggered other crises.
Banks went bankrupt after a run, depositors went bankrupt, then businesses went bankrupt, great unemployment came unexpectedly, the sea receded, and all strata of society were left without pants, and Americans suddenly woke up:
"It turns out that prosperity is fake, borrowed from banks, an American dream concocted by capitalists!"
Americans who wake up from a dream are destitute, eating has become a problem, and the story of luncheon meat has just begun.
Beginning in 1930, poor Americans no longer expected Wellington steaks, chocolates, and delicate pastries, but found what to eat, and with no money in their pockets, they developed the wisdom of survival to the limit.
In order to meet the food needs of the poor class, American companies developed "canned tumbleweed" and "Roosevelt noodles", and the people at the bottom were also self-sufficient, inventing "dandelion salad", "tobacco stew", "peanut butter stuffed onions", and even began to snatch food from coyotes and make rabbit stews from hares.
Animal sewerage used to be discarded, and now it is also fully developed to make "pig liver buns", but this cannot completely solve the lack of food, and the public is crying:
"We need a smart American to step up and invent a cheap, long-term meat alternative that doesn't taste bad!"
By 1932, this American on a mission finally appeared.
"I'm going to give Americans a taste of meat again!"
The man who shouted the bold words was Hormel, the president of the Minnesota Hormel Food Company, who decided to save Americans' taste buds in the face of people's declining food purchasing power.
"Meat products are too expensive, but can we develop an alternative that is cheap, has a meaty taste, and can be stored for a long time?"
So under the leadership of Hormel, a product called "Hormel Spiced Ham" was born, and as soon as it appeared, Americans were shocked!
"Isn't this a fool, it's too unpalatable!"
"It's not as good as the rotten tomatoes I picked up in the trash."
Hormel couldn't have imagined that his idea would be slapped at the beginning, the price of 20 cents, the 12-ounce portion, or the can, what kind of bike do you want?
Just look at what the "Hormel Spiced Ham" contains, and you'll understand.
"Ham and pork are so small that meat is more of a condiment than meat, and the main ingredients are potato starch, salt and spices, with a small amount of sodium nitrite added."
The definition of this product was vegetarian meat at the beginning, but Hormel miscalculated, even if he was extremely hungry, Americans still did not catch a cold, and the name was five-spiced ham, and the relationship with ham was less than 1%, and "Hormel five-spiced ham" was just thrown in the warehouse, waiting for its dawn.
In the blink of an eye, in 1937, Hormel's spiced ham suddenly became popular, and it was first popular in high society, which is strange.
It turned out that Mr. Hormel pondered for five years and finally understood that the key to product marketing is to tell a story, and the protagonist of the story, "Hormel Five-spiced Ham", does not match the name and is naturally not pleasing, so what name should be changed?
Hormel invited the company's employees to dinner and spent a lot of money to solicit a new name for "canned spiced beef", and in the end, the word "Spam" won, and the canned Spam was the name that would later become known to Americans.
What exactly does "Spam" mean? It should be explained that it is composed of Spices + Ham ham, and at first, the name "luncheon meat" had nothing to do with the name, but it was people's dining habits that changed it.
Because you are poor, you can't be extravagant, and American public agencies and large companies have become popular to use canned spam instead of steak and other meat products at luncheon, so some people call it "meat eaten at lunch parties", and the English name is Luncheon Meat.
By the forties, Spam canned food came to China, and in order to call it grounded, the underwriting trading company simply used the word Luncheon Meat to literally translate, and there was a well-known "luncheon meat" in Chinese, in fact, Americans do not call it that.
Beginning in 1937, poor Americans at the bottom were also forced to start trying canned luncheon meat, and it was great to smell some meat if they couldn't eat meat for a long time! And in order to save costs, Hormel also secretly began to change the recipe.
The cost of ham is high, chicken is much cheaper, canned luncheon meat gradually cut corners, no ham, switch to cheap chicken and minced pork mix, even so, the content is still minimal, but canned food is better in hygiene, the storage time is long, only 20-40 cents (the price fluctuates).
A 12-ounce can can provide 170 calories, and adults need to consume a minimum of 1800-2400 calories a day, so luncheon meat is basically useless as a staple food, and it is perfect as a side dish.
As 1937 approached the end of the Great Depression, the fuses of World War II were ready, and Americans were about to prepare for large-scale military production, so the mission of luncheon meat should also be over, right?
No, no, no, luncheon meat, which was specially born for the Great Depression, is about to show its might in World War II, and the most unforgettable thing for the U.S. military is luncheon meat, everyone says:
"When we see luncheon meat, we hate the Germans less and now we hate quartermasters even more."
In the trenches, after scolding, the American soldiers reluctantly put luncheon meat into their mouths, which was really unpalatable.
However, the quartermaster department also suffers, and millions of soldiers are fighting overseas, and the daily expenses are very huge.
Canned luncheon meat is very suitable for transportation and preservation, not afraid of heat and bitter cold, can provide soldiers with 30% of the daily salt, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of protein, with it, bread can be swallowed, is the most ideal military food.
The soldiers didn't care about that, they were tired of frying luncheon meat, roasting luncheon meat, stewing luncheon meat, and the feeling of being chewy and doughy was disgusting, but the Japanese and Koreans didn't see it that way.
Post-war Japan was also short of food, and it was very rare for ordinary people to get surplus supplies from the US military.
Luncheon meat stewed with vegetables is a rare delicacy, and although the Japanese people are accustomed to less oil and less salt, luncheon meat makes up for the hunger caused by the long war, and Koreans actually think so.
Many years later, the morale of the South Korean army was low and it was almost a touch of collapse, but the US army was very interesting enough to give them luncheon meat, which was the soul of the later "army hot pot", and decades later, the people still liked the army hot pot and liked luncheon meat.
It is the Great Depression that gave birth to luncheon meat, and luncheon meat is also a life-saving artifact for the people at the bottom under extreme conditions, it is cheap, salty enough, and can be used as a main dish, side dishes, and even eaten directly, as canned food, the legal shelf life is 3 years, which is the legal limit, but not the limit of luncheon meat.
A foreign blogger once opened luncheon meat from 40 years ago and tasted it, and the person is still alive and well.
Therefore, foreigners like to stock up on luncheon meat, and that sense of security cannot be given by other foods.