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This Minnesota Museum Draws in SPAM Lovers from Around the World

by Mia McGill

A large yellow sign reading, "SPAM brand," with a conveyor belt of SPAM cans above it.
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
The SPAM museum's conveyor belt holds 780 cans and does a continuous 18-minute loop above the museum's exhibits.

Did you know that this SPAM-tastic museum is free to visit and less than two hours from the Twin Cities?

Love it or hate it, SPAM is kind of iconic. First introduced in 1937, the canned meat grew in popularity after its use as a diet staple in World War II. Now, it’s ubiquitous in the native cuisine of countries around the world, appearing in such dishes as Hawaiian spam musubi, British spam fritters, Korean army stew, and beyond. However, for all its international fame, the humble can of SPAM has its origins right here in the Midwest—in the small city of Austin, Minnesota, home to the one and only SPAM Museum.

Inside the museum, there are interactive stations where you can do everything from a personality quiz to find out what kind of SPAM you are, to a timed game where you can find out how quickly you could package a can of SPAM yourself.

Two smiling people standing in front of a building with big yellow signage reading, "SPAM Museum"
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
The 14,000 sq ft SPAM Museum is in the heart of downtown Austin, Minnesota. Having gone through several different iterations and locations over the past 33 years, the museum has been at its current location since 2016.
A wall of SPAM cans of various flavors, with a sign reading, "There are over 10 SPAM varieties."
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
That’s right—there are 11! Flavors include classic, chorizo, teriyaki, and more—SPAM’s newest flavor, Maple SPAM, was just introduced in 2023.
A tablet screen showing a personality result reading, "You're SPAM Hot and Spicy!"
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
Inside the museum, the first of many interactive exhibits was a personality quiz to find out which variety of SPAM you are—I, of course, was SPAM Hot and Spicy!
A photo op with images of SPAM cans stacked on top of one another, with large text reading, "How many SPAM cans tall are you?"
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
Photo ops all around provide plenty of Instagrammable (Insta-SPAM-able?) moments, and can answer the age-old question of “how many SPAM cans tall are you?” (I personally was 20 cans tall!)
A person sliding a label onto a toy SPAM can, at a game with signage reading, "You CAN make SPAM!"
Photo Credit: Ben Weiner
Unfortunately, a job at Hormel isn’t in the cards for me anytime soon—packing those cans is harder than it looks!

The museum and its exhibits draw around 100,000 visitors per year, and since opening in its new location in 2016, the museum has seen visitors from all 50 states and over 70 countries. Some lucky international visitors can even see their countries represented in the museum’s Global Marketplace exhibit, where SPAM history, recipes, and customs from around the world are highlighted at different stalls.

A pub sign with a winged pig, with the word "SPAM" above it.
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
The museum’s Global Marketplace features information on SPAM history and customs across Australia, the UK, Asia, and more!
A sign reading, “SPAM was introduced to Japan following World War 2 and gained popularity outside of the mainland, as well as to other islands in the Pacific. During the launch of SPAM into the mainland Japan market, the SPAMMY character was introduced in 2010 with his "COOK IT AS YOU WANT" TV Commercial that stole the hearts of moms and children. The most popular SPAM meal in Okinawa is SPAM Champuru, a stir fry dish. SPAM Musubi is now sold in all 16,000+ FamilyMart convenience stores throughout Japan.”
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
Informational displays at each of the stalls at the Global Marketplace tell about the history, usage, and spread of SPAM in different countries all over the world.
A small display with several cans of Hawaiian SPAM, with a miniature surfboard engraved with the words, "SPAM brand"
Photo Credit: Ben Weiner
The Hawaii section at the Global Marketplace shows off some of the different collector’s edition Hawaiian SPAM can designs from over the years. The 2024 collector’s can was designed by Hawaiian artist Kamea Hadar.
A display labelled "South Korea" with cans of SPAM, ramen boxes, and additional signage in Korean.
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
Like in many Asian cultures, SPAM is huge with Koreans—we eat it in army step, kimbap, and bibimbap, among other dishes!

Usually, the museum’s employees (known affectionately as SPAMbassadors) will hand out samples in the museum itself, but I happened to visit the day before the 87th anniversary of SPAM’s release—so to celebrate the weekend, the mobile Tiny House of Sizzle was on-site giving out free SPAM sliders!

A person in a black raincoat receiving a slider from a person inside a tiny house through a yellow window.
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
SPAMbassador Gary hooked us up with some delicious sliders from the Tiny House of Sizzle’s mobile kitchen.
Two people in blue shirts stand in front of a tiny house with signs reading "SPAM Gift Shop" and "SPAM Tiny House of Sizzle"
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
SPAMbassadors Erika and Jessica were holding down the fort at the condiment table, where you could dress your slider to your heart’s content.
The side of a blue tiny house, with signage reading, "sizzle, pork, and mmm"
Photo Credit: Mia McGill
There’s been speculation that SPAM stands for “shoulder of pork and ham,” “specially processed American meat,” or simply, “spiced ham,” but the good folks at the SPAM Museum want us to know that it really just stands for “sizzle, pork, and mmm.”

The museum also offers free tours—they do about 70-80 virtual tours a year, and 200-250 in-person. One of my personal favorite things there was the 780-can-long conveyor belt running throughout the museum’s exhibits—on their Facebook page, you can even see a short tour of the museum from a can’s perspective!