I suspect the SPiced hAM explanation is the correct one. However, during the "1940 House" program on PBS last week, at one point they had the grocer explaining to the ladies that when they first started getting shippments of the stuff, they thought it meant Specially Processed American Meat.
I also read somewhere that during the difficult days of food shortages during the war, some British wag remarked that if spiced ham was SPAM, then that must mean that Dried Eggs were DREGS.
"However, during the "1940 House" program on PBS last week, at one point they had the grocer explaining to the ladies that when they first started getting shippments of the stuff, they thought it meant Specially Processed American Meat."Bravo!!! Mrs. Wasp is the one that got me goin on this. She was tellin me that it was "Specially Prepared American Meat." Tonite I asked her where she got her info from and she said she seen a PBS program on WW2 and that's what they said it was.
All you FReepers have really got this Wasp's head a buzzin with alla this here information.