The Book of Spam: A Most Glorious and Definitive Compendium of the World's Favorite Canned Meat

By Dan Armstrong and Dustin Black

What luncheon meat is found in over forty-five countries, available in ninety-nine percent of supemarkets and corner shops, and sells nearly eighty million pounds every year? It's SPAM. From the 20,000-member SPAM Fan Club to Monty Python's Broadway sensation SPAMalot, after seventy years of canned-meat greatness, SPAM has become a pop-culture sensation with a devout following, and The Book of Spam is its Bible. What's in it? People have been asking that question since 1937. Written and beautifully packaged by Dan Armstrong and Dustin Black, the creative team behind recent SPAM advertising, The Book of Spam is a lavishly illustrated love affair with America's favourite miracle meat. Just in time for SPAM's spectacular 70th anniversary, The Book of Spam celebrates everything SPAM, offering SPAM fans a behind-the-scenes tell-all with the inside scoop on the wide world of SPAM: its role in history, advertising, art, fashion, the food industry, global unification, and much more. SPAM's reach has truly spanned the globe - across time and across many cultures. Filled with full colour vintage advertisements, astonishing trivia, and retro recipes for everything from SPAM Upside-Down Pie to Baked Bean SPAMwiches, The Book of SPAM finally gives SPAM the full attention it deserves. SPAM fanatics, pop-culture aficionados, history buffs, and lovers of authentic Americana will flip for The Book of SPAM. It's nothing less than SPAM-tastic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Release date: Jun 30, 2008
• ISBN: 9781416545248

Dan Armstrong

Dan Armstrong and Dustin Black have been the creative team on SPAM advertising for the past four years. During this time, being in constant contact with the SPAM universe, they have gained intimate knowledge of SPAM. In fact, they have fallen in love with the brand. Using the skills they have developed in the advertising game, they are perfectly suited to bring the true nature of SPAM to the world.

Book preview

The Book of SPAM®

ATRIA BOOKS

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright © 2007 by Dan Armstrong and Dustin Black

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Atria Books hardcover edition August 2007

ATRIA BOOKS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

SPAM and all SPAM-derived terms are registered trademarks of Hormel Foods, LLC, and are used with permission from Hormel Food Corporation.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-800-456-6798 or [e-mail].

Manufactured in the United States of America

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ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-9192-7

ISBN-10:   0-7432-9192-1

eISBN-13: 978-1-416-54524-8

WHAT’S INSIDE: the Table of Contents

Chapter 1 WHY IS SPAM® SO UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME?

You already know why. Look deep in your heart.

Chapter 2 WHAT IS SPAM®?

The secrets to the ingredients & manufacture of the SPAM® Family of Products.

Chapter 3 QUEST FOR SHELF LIFE

Through historical analysis we discovered that SPAM was inevitable.

Chapter 4 A SPAM IS BORN

There’s many creation theories out there, but ours is the One True version.

Chapter 5 THE MEAT THAT WON THE WAR

How SPAM® may have saved the world and given us the gift of freedom.

Chapter 6 SPAM™ FAMILY TREE

A family reunion has never been this delicious or frightening to pigs.

Chapter 7 SPAM™ ADVERTISING

Without advertising, we wouldn’t know anything about nothing.

Chapter 8 IT’S A SPAM™ WORLD AFTER ALL

When we say SPAM® is loved around the world, we mean it.

Chapter 9 TAKING IT TO THE STREETS: SPAMMOBILE™ VEHICLE

This is where the rubber meets the road and the SPAM® is free for all.

Chapter 10 SPAM JAM®: THE GREATEST SPAM SHOW ON EARTH

SPAM™ fans getting together to celebrate what really matters in life.

Chapter 11 THE SPAM® MUSEUM

Referred to as The Sum of All Human Knowledge.

Why is SPAM so lovable?

Sure, it’s freaking delicious. That goes without saying. There are countless, amazing ways you can serve SPAM. It lasts forever, on your shelf and in your soul. There is the simple fact that SPAM is fun. It is a product that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still delivers when it counts. It represents all things American and patriotic. It’s a fun word to say. It’s even a fun word to look at.

All of these things add up to something bigger. Something that truly inspires people. The SPAM world is growing every day. Eventually it will be bigger than the universe. Get used to it. It’s going to be meat-tastical.

THE CAN OF SPAM.

Do you think it is easy to find the SPAM? Do not kid yourself. Do you see SPAM now, over there, by the tree? What you don’t know is that SPAM was there only for an instant. You see, this is a photograph taken in the past. Only a photograph from the future could truly reveal where SPAM is now.

What is SPAM?

Whatever it is, it’s not meat. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hormel Foods is filled with honest, hardworking men and women who would never short-shrift the SPAM-loving public. Those kinds of shenanigans don’t get past the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA makes sure that

Reviews for The Book of Spam

[terris-7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This very funny book tells of the beginnings of SPAM, it's history, how & what it's made of, and how it saved the world!! With lots of facts and figures as proof ;)
Very cute and, actually, fairly educational!