How Spam and Chocolate Served American Troops Well in WWII

On this episode of Our American Stories, Anne Claire tells the story of Spam and Hershey, and how those two companies fed the spirit and morale of American G.I.s overseas, becoming part of our "arsenal of Democracy"

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we returned to our American stories. Up next to
the story of how spam an Hersey's chocolate became the
most recognizable pieces of the American soldier's diet during World
War Two. You're to tell the story as writer and
school teacher and Claire take it.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Away an they say, in army marches on its stomach,
and with millions of Americans serving in the Second World War,
there were plenty of stomachs to be kept fed. Now,
of course, there were a number of ways the US
accomplished this, but today I'd like to just take a
minute and look at the really interesting history behind two

(00:52):
very different staples, spam and chocolate. So let's start with
a little bit of history of spam. Spam's history goes
way back to nineteen thirty seven, during the later half

(01:12):
of the Great Depression. The Hormal Meat Company of Austin, Minnesota,
spearheaded by the founder's son Jay, was looking for ways
to expand their fresh meat business into canned goods. Now,
this took some trial and error to make something palatable
that they could also can but eventually he successfully produced

(01:34):
a moist canned meat made from pork shoulder. They did
a little contest to try and figure out a good
name for this new product, and the company VP's brother
won the honor and christened the new product Spam. Now,
the timing really couldn't have been better, because, of course

(01:58):
nineteen thirty seven you have the hostilities of the Second
World War really starting to escalate in Europe, and the
war officially began in nineteen thirty nine. Now around that time,
Frank Lindelano Roosevelt signed the Lend Lease Act, And the
Lend Lease Act was kind of a way for the

(02:20):
US to be involved in the war without really being
involved in the war. FDR promised to support Allied powers
by lending them or leasing them certain supplies for instance
food or shipping and things like that, while still technically

(02:41):
remaining neutral. Now, this meant that there was a lot
of food being shipped overseas, lots of different goods being
sent to Britain and then to the USSR once they
became an Allied country, and it was just it was
a lot a lot to send across that was a challenge.
But what product to send then easily shipped canned meats

(03:04):
like spam. According to the official Spam website, over one
hundred million pounds were shipped to our troops alone once
we officially joined the conflict. Now, of course, even fans
of spam might say that there is too much of
a good thing, and there were certain spamy jokes that

(03:27):
passed around during that time. But whether you love it
or not, the canned meat helped feed millions, which is
not bad for an underutilized cut of pork mixed with
them salt and some starch and sugar and water. It's
still sold in forty four countries according to the museum site,

(03:48):
and in twenty twelve, when it celebrated its seventy fifth anniversary,
the Spam Company produced its eight million can So served
a purpose and it's still going strong. The other items
histora that I'd like to look at today is one
of my favorite ones. And if I'm going to have

(04:09):
sweets chocolates, the first choice it's about the taste, because
why would you ever want a bad tasting bar of chocolate? Aha?
But going back to nineteen thirty seven, with war looming
on the horizon, that's exactly what Captain Paul Logan wanted
the Hershey Company to create. But he had a good

(04:30):
reason because again, though the US wouldn't officially enter the
Second World War until nineteen forty one. The conflict between
Japan and China was ranching up in the Pacific, and
in Europe, the National Socialist German Workers Party commonly known
to history as the Nazis, had begun rearming Germany in

(04:51):
direct violation of the Tree of Versailles. The unrest in
the world spurred the Office of the US Army Quartermaster
General into preparation. They wanted to plan ahead and have
a small, light, high energy emergency ration ready to go,
just you know, in case, and well, what could be

(05:12):
better than a chocolate bar? The problem was that a
traditional hershey bar wouldn't do because if you have kids
like me, or you've ever tried to eat a chocolate
bar on a hot day, you know what happens. It
melts immediately and gets over every piece of furniture imaginable.
Standard chocolate's low melting point wouldn't withstand a soldier's pockets,

(05:34):
and if it really tasted good, it might tempt him
to eat the treat before it was strictly necessary. That
wouldn't work great for an emergency ration. So what, logan
asked the chemistry Hershey to do was come up with
a bar that fit certain specifications. It needed to weigh
four ounces, and it needed to be rich in nutrients

(05:56):
and energy, and according to two reports that I've read,
he asked for it to taste about as good as
a boiled potato. So chemist Sam Hinkle rose to the
task and created the d Ration Bar. This thing included oat, flour,

(06:17):
and vitamins. It had reduced sugar and increased cocoa. It
weighed in at six hundred calories and reportedly had a
consistency that could shatter teeth yum. Now this was a
problem for the factory because their traditional chocolate processing wouldn't
really work. This stuff was really thick and viscous, so

(06:40):
the original batches had to be pressed into molds by hand,
and as war became more imminent, the Hershey Company had
to come up with specialized automation processes to really get
these things going. From different sources I've read, trip reviews
on the chocolate bars were mixed. Some sources record them

(07:02):
being called Hitler's secret weapon because if you overindulge there
were certain unpleasant gastro intestinal consequences, but others also say
that it really wasn't too bad if they were hungry enough.
And having spoken a little bit with some people who
were alive in Europe during this time, you hear stories

(07:25):
of the GI's handing out chocolate bars to locals and
things you know they've said after not having candy for
a long time. It just did wasn't too bad at all.
But I guess as long as you remember not to overindulge,
if it served its purpose. Now, in nineteen forty three,
the Army's Procurrent Division asked Hershey to produce a new

(07:46):
bar which would also be heat resistant, but they wanted
it to have a little bit of a better flavor,
and from that project came the Hershey's Tropical Chocolate Bar.
This one was around a little longer. I have looked
into the d ration bars just to see if it
was something I could still find because I try it.

(08:08):
It's chocolate. They aren't produced anymore. Neither is the Tropical Bar.
But it did last until nineteen seventy one, at least
to go into space into the Moon with the crew
of Apollo fifteen. Whether people loved it or hated it,
the special ration Great Hershey's Bar did serve its purpose
and estimated three billion units were produced and distributed to

(08:32):
troops around the world from nineteen forty to nineteen forty five.
But as I said, we can't find them nowadays, so
I guess we have to just stick with the tasty stuff.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
And a great job on the editing, production and storytelling
by our own Billy Foster. And a special thanks to
Aunt Claire for sharing this story. And what a story
it is. It's not a big story, but my goodness,
what spam did. The number of units served, it's just
it's mind boggling. One hundred million pounds of spam and

(09:06):
then three billion units of Hershe's again. The arsenal democracy
didn't just happen with our plain manufacturing. It was our food,
our oil, and so much more. The story of American
production and Heart told her the story of spam and chocolate.
Here on our American story.