19 Comments

Hats off to your dad for his service, Lois! Crazy about those Sunday breakfasts. We lived on Maui and Spam is a big deal there. There's even Spam sushi called—Musubi. I could never bring myself to eat it. But the locals love it.

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Loved this story! My uncle may have been in a ship with your Dad’s convoy! Well done!

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If you can find out the name of his ship it will be easy enough to track down. The internet has a lot more information now than it used to.

One thing for sure… your uncle knew what “red lead and spoof” was!

Best to you, David!

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I loved reading this, Lois. My father was in the navy in the U.S. and some of the food that was standard fare in the service, and in the country during the war, found its way onto our kitchen table. Spam and tongue were two of the dishes I hated the most. My mom tried various ways to disguise the tongue and spam. She was more successful with the spam than with the tongue. Years later I read the wonderful Beverly Cleary "Ramona" books. When their dad was between jobs they had to economize and so their mother servied "mystery meat." What was it? Tongue, of course. Ramona and her sister Beezus hated it!!!

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Tongue! Ugh! That one is new to me! Spoof I didn’t mind, but I’m sure I would have drawn the line with tongue. I’ve seen them in the grocery stores and they look gross. I would have to be VERY HUNGRY to eat that.

These days I’m strictly a poultry person. Over the years I’ve gradually developed a distaste for meat. I eat it sometimes, but I don’t enjoy it like I did when I was younger. I don’t plan on trying an Spoof soon - although after doing the research on it, I’d rather eat that than a hot dog or sausage.

Best to you, Sandy! Thanks for reading my substack and commenting on it.

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Great article!! Always learn something from you and it is a pleasure to remember your dad! Keep them coming 😉

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Thanks, Girl! Glad you enjoyed it.

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A perfect post for Veteran's Day! I loved SPAM as a kid; and never minded the gelatine either. Thanks to your dad and all the other veterans for their service. The North Atlantic was a difficult place to be throughout the war.

I'm glad to be a boomer, too. The war had only ended 15 years before I was born, so I heard a lot of stories from living veterans. The "greatest generation" is a fitting description of their service and achievements.

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I liked spoof when I was a kid. In fact, we probably ate it in our early marriage years as well. I haven’t eaten it for a long time now. I mostly eat poultry now, so spoof would be a bit of a stretch for me. However, from the research I did, it would be preferable to a lot of other processed meats.

I got a real appreciation for the North Atlantic when I went to Iceland. It wasn’t even cold by North Atlantic standards, but the wind chill made it ice cold! I am amazed at what our Veterans have endured. They really gave up a lot for our freedom.

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Thanks to your dad and all veterans indeed!

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Absolutely, Joe. Our veterans have given a lot for our freedom. I have the utmost respect and gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

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You dad was a true hero Lois. Thank you for sharing his story with us! Also, I ate some SPAM growing up and didn't realize it was healthier than processed meats like a hotdog. I liked it but it always got a bad wrap, at least where I grew up.

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We never gave it a second thought. I’m not much of a meat eater now, so I’d have a struggle to eat it, but this is a different time and era in my life. I was amazed when I did the research that it is actually better for you than almost all the other luncheon meats and cold meats. Never judge a book by the cover!

Thanks for commenting on my Substack, Daniel. Best to you.

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Exactly! We can’t judge it until we fully know more about it. I know what’s for dinner tonight haha. Best to you too, Lois!

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I’ve never tried Spam, although I’ve eaten other more disgusting things - Scrapple, as an example - it’s a Philly thing - ughh!

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OK… so what is Scrapple. If you say it is disgusting I believe you. I’m not from Philly, so please educate me.

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Wikipedia indicates that scrapple is ". . .typically made of hog offal, such as the head, heart, liver, and other trimmings" - yum, eh?

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Yup, that sounds really awful. Ugh! At least Spoof is regular, ordinary shoulder pork. Wow, Bill, this beats all the stories I’ve heard. I’m looking for a Rule of Three substack about scrapple … I bet there are a few stories around that stuff.

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When I was stationed in Hawaii I discovered the Hawaiians were absolute masters of making fantastic recipes from Spam.

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