When will it stop? Earlier this summer it was Aunt Jemima that was removed from the grocery
store, quick on her heels was Uncle Ben leaving the shelves. These are characters that most of us knew as
kids, counted on them to deliver great inputs for the meals that Mom put on the table.
Last month I bought a sleeve of Spam, yes it comes in a cardboard sleeve of 3 cans, at least at
Costco. yesterday I decided to have some Spam for supper and removed the first can from the sleeve and
looked for the the little key on the bottom of the can. It was not there, Spam now has a zip top lid for
opening. I don’t know now long ago this change came about but it was new to me.
Surely, you, like me remember the key at the bottom of the can that you inserted in the tab and
twisted around the can trying to wind it up and get the can to open. There would be a bit of the can that
left the top and Mom could stab that neatly shaped mound of meat product with a fork and pull it out of
the can.
To me that was going to be a given, the can had the same picture on it, and while I could not trust
myself to read the ingredients I new it would be just as good as it used to be. It all honesty the product
was as good as I remember but I missed that little key.
I could go on and tell you that I plan to make a roast with on of the remaining cans, not the can
but the Spam. Yes, I remember Mom putting that neatly shaped little rectangular mound of meat in a
casserole and topping it with a bit of brown sugar before it went into the oven in one of those corning
ware casserole dishes.
But I digress, there are things that we remember from our childhood and want to be there to
count on. Aunt Jemima pancake syrup was one of them and the key on the Spam can is another.
While I don’t agree with the reason for punting Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben I understand that it
was done for political correctness and it makes me wonder will Green Giant be next. I am sure that image
offends some tall people and then it will be gone, and what about his sidekick the little Sprout? I am sure
that he offended someone in his short but illustrious career.
There are just some things that I would like to count on when it comes to supper time, but it
seems nothing is sacred anymore.
I will not mentioned the monocaled Mr Peanut who took his leave this year as well. You want a
product you can count on – Cheez Whiz, I bought a jar at the beginning of hot dog season and it was the
same shape with the same lable as I remember from 50 years ago. That is a comfort food