SPAM Museum — Attraction in Austin

The first “real food” that entered my “mouth gate” in this fortress was Spam!!! I was a chubby rolley polley fat boy!!! All those “meats” Bologna, Devils Food, Hot dogs… etc… I remember from a very young age…4? Being at a wigwam store on West Coast US and getting a slow roasted (heat lamp) hot dog!!! (Roasted for a month?😩😂😏 That imprinted hot dogs for me…. Then after that we moved to Hawaii and we were at a church picnic at Kapi’olani Park and as achild of 6 I got my first Musubi!!! I was hooked!!!! Man.. everyone was poor back then!!! Kalihi Super Meat! First Bologna!!!! We used to get Teriyaki strips for our Hibachi from a sweet very old Japanese woman in Pearl City… named Pearl City because of a German immigrant Ditzler…Ditzy…. who lived along Yellow Creek in a shack… hobo… well folks always shucked shellfish in the creek (clean flowing water) you can eat the cray fish in the streams!!! Well Ditzy Ditzler found 3 pearls in the creek in the 1880’s… And so they built the Pineapple Cannery there on Yellow Creek and named the Company The Pearl Pineapple Company. Dole came in and took everything over!!! Dole was west coast big money!!!! Soon all red clay dirt was filled over with lush pineapple fields as far as the eye could see!!!! I will always remember you my Hawaii!!! Low hanging cloud flat bottomed with the ragged sharp (unclimbable vertical) mountains rising strait up into rain clouds… and Pineapples as far as the eye can see… then helicopters upon helicopters and US troops and Vietnam and my two youth group leaders at my Kapahulu Baptist church went away to Vietnam and then one came back with no legs and the other with one arm missing!!!! I think man is kinda...

The Spam Museum was so fun and quirky! It's been on my to-do list for several years after recommendations from others, and we finally made the two-hour drive down. The town of Austin is super charming, so my hubby and I have already decided we have to return to check it out. There is plenty of parking for the museum in the lots just behind the building or across the street. You may just have to circle the block to find it. Admission was free; the greeter at the front just asks you to provide some basic information about where you're coming from. Donations are also accepted. I heard that there are guided tours, but we arrived about 45 minutes before one started, so we missed that opportunity. You can guide yourself through with ease. There is a lot of information to take in within such a cozy place, and we ended up spending an hour and a half there! Very cool exhibits on the history of Spam and Hormel Foods, Spam around the world, and how Spam is made. Honestly, I am not the biggest fan of Spam, but I found it all very interesting! A couple employees walked around with free samples, and I think they may have converted me! For those with children there is a cute little play area inside just for kids. We visited the gift shop and bought a few things, including one can of Spam, though it was hard to choose because they had so many varieties. Fire those with mobility needs, this place is 100% accessible. All on the first floor, plenty of space. We loved our trip and will be recommending this as a day trip to our family...

I was going to spend the night in Austin Minnesota during a recent vacation. I arrived in town in md-afternoon, and it was too early to check in to my hotel. When I did a quick search of nearby things to do, I found The Spam Museum. I really didn’t know what to expect so off I went. I found free parking near by and enjoy a short walk around downtown Austin before making my way to the Museum. Outside of the entrance is a nice statue of a farmer and two hogs, which was evidently a nice photo spot as several people were stopping to take pictures. The museum is completely free and when you check in you are even offered a free sample of SPAM. this turned out to be a great stop for folks of all ages. There are several interactive exhibits for both kids and adults. The museum is not only dedicated to all things SPAM but also gives you a little history of the Hormel Company and how it was founded here in Austin by George Hormel. I found the exhibits on how SPAM was used during World War II to be particularly interesting. There is also an interesting exhibit on how popular SPAM is in different countries around the world. There is even a gift shop where you can pickup anything from magnets, shirts, hats and just about anything else related to SPAM. All total I spent an enjoyable hour here and found it to not only be fun but informative. This is a great little museum...