It’s National Ham Day, so we’ve got the story of a ham that’s stood the test of time for over 120 years.
It is known as the World’s Oldest Ham, and it’s on display at the Isle of Wight County Museum in Smithfield, Virginia.
That community has been known for its hams since the 1770s, when Captain Mallory Todd started salting and smoking hams for curing.
This particular ham came about in 1902, from P.D. Gwaltney Jr. and Company.
It was meant for somebody’s table, not for a display case in a museum.
But when it was put in storage, it just sat here for two decades.
Pembroke D. Gwaltney, Jr. discovered the very well-cured meat; rather than throw it out or put it back in rotation, he gave it a brass collar and started showing it off as his “pet ham”!
It was a pretty useful way to get publicity for the company and for its hams.
The Gwaltney family hung onto the ham until 1985, when they donated it to the museum.
One of the challenges the museum staff faced in accepting the donation: the companies that make display cases are used to preserving documents, photographs and artifacts, but not hams.
They eventually got the case they wanted; it not only holds the oldest ham but several others, plus a peanut dating back to 1890.
The peanut has almost certainly gone bad, but the museum is convinced that if you cut into that dried and cured ham, it would probably still be technically edible.
Though I don’t see a lot of people volunteering to find out.
LEGO has plenty of sets where you can build world landmarks, but one stands out from the others, at least for our pets.
Quite a few people who have built the LEGO Colosseum have posted photos on social media showing how the set is just the right size to serve as a cat bed.
Aand the cats have definitely noticed this too.
Isle of Wight Museum adds a new historic ham to the collection (WTKR)
LEGO’s Colosseum Becomes a Regal Nap Spot for Cats Everywhere (My Modern Met)
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