Underwood Deviled Ham Cans (U.S. National Park Service) (2024)
Sharp-eyed visitors to the John F. Kennedy National Historic Site might spot this object displayed in the kitchen. Stacked on the small kitchen table and the counter are several cans of Underwood deviled ham.
Deviled ham is ground ham mixed with spicy seasonings, such as chili peppers, cayenne peppers, or mustard. The William Underwood Company, founded in Boston in 1822, found success providing canned foods to the U.S. Army during the Civil War and to settlers who needed long-lasting food products for their trip west.
Underwood started producing deviled ham in 1868. In 1870 the company trademarked the devil logo used on the can, and it is now the oldest trademark for a food product still in use in the United States. The design of the devil has undergone significant change since the cans pictured above were made. As seen here, the original devil featured long black claws, one cloven hoof, and a fierce expression on his mustachioed face. The current incarnation presents a more congenial image replete with a happy grin and depicted in the act of giving a friendly wave.
These antique (empty) cans were provided for Mrs. Rose Kennedy by the William Underwood Company in the late 1960s to aid in her project to refurnish the house to reflect the year of President John F. Kennedy's birth, 1917.
You can still buy Underwood Deviled Ham, which has been around since 1868. Like so many processed food companies, though, Underwood now belongs to a multinational food conglomerate. But throughout its independent existence, the William Underwood Company made food history.
Today the Underwood family of products (now part of B&G Foods, which also owns that other New England canned favorite, B&M Brown Bread in a Can) includes canned meat spreads in other flavors like chicken, roast beef, liverwurst, and corned beef, but their star player is without a doubt the deviled ham.
Deviled ham is ground ham mixed with spicy seasonings, such as chili peppers, cayenne peppers, or mustard. The William Underwood Company, founded in Boston in 1822, found success providing canned foods to the U.S. Army during the Civil War and to settlers who needed long-lasting food products for their trip west.
According to the Oxford Companion to Food, the term means "to cook something with fiery hot spices or condiments... The term was presumably adopted because of the connection between the devil and the excessive heat in Hell...".
Canned hams are fully cooked and may be served cold right from the can. Lift handle straight up, then pull back. Remove cover by bending back and forth. Leftover ham may be stored, wrapped and kept in the refrigerated in plastic can for up to 7 days.
The next time you are in your grocery's canned meat and fish section, take notice of the white-labeled can with the bright red devil on it. That's Underwood. Unlike deviled ham's canned meat brother, Spam, which is a solid meat brick, deviled ham has a consistency closer to pâté.
Corn was an alternative as a readily accessible and local crop, and cornbread replaced fresh or hard bread for the soldiers. Other rations, such as coffee, were affected by the Union blockade, and chicory roots were used instead.
In 1817, William Underwood, a canner from England, immigrated to the United States. The William Underwood Company of Boston became prominent, supplying canned food to expeditions and Civil War combatants.
Breakfast typically consisted of cornmeal mush with cream and maple syrup, cornmeal griddle cakes, doughnuts and tea. Lunch, which was called dinner, was the largest meal of the day and often consisted of boiled potatoes, ham, fresh pork or corned beef served with apple, rhubarb or a berry pie, depending on the season.
Ham and other salty meats and foods are very dangerous to pets. In addition to being high in fat, they are also very salty which can cause serious stomach ache or pancreatitis.
Country hams are dry-cured and may also be smoked. Country hams are not as common as city hams in the U.S., especially in more urban areas. Country hams can be eaten just as they are since they are preserved. They have a very salty taste and a drier texture compared to city hams.
For example, ''deviled ham'' is not a pork product, but the intestines and other waste products from the cows all ground up and dyed a pink color to resemble ham. Workers are worked so hard that they get tired and cut off fingers or get wounds that become infected because they are not paid enough to see a doctor.
Dak Canned Ham brings you a quality flavor you can rely on quickly. "Membership is required to complete an in-club or curbside pickup purchase at Sam's Club."
Deviled eggs are one well-known example of this process. The devil logo was trademarked in 1870. The company claims that it is the oldest food trademark still in use in the United States.
Introduction: My name is Francesca Jacobs Ret, I am a innocent, super, beautiful, charming, lucky, gentle, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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