Dogman
13th August 2011, 08:42 AM
DREAM COME TRUE: The World's Oldest Edible Cured Ham
What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to drive five and a half hours through grueling post-snowstorm I95 traffic to a sparse and desolate village in southern Virginia to visit a museum dedicated to a ham? But not just any ham. THE WORLD'S OLDEST EDIBLE CURED HAM (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1348). And, as it turns out, the World's Largest Cured Ham, The World's Oldest Peanut, The World's Largest Ham Biscuit* (the asterisk means "just pictures, because we ate it several years ago"), and several other peanuts and hams that are not notable but are there because you can't create a museum out of just two hams and a peanut.
Those of you who know me will know that a pilgrimage to the Isle of Wight County Museum in Smithfield, Virginia--town motto: "hams, history, hospitality, and heart"--has been my wildest dream since I read about it on Roadside America (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1348) nine months ago. I finally succeeded in convincing Matt to go this weekend (it was my Valentine's Day present to him! Kind of like the bowling ball Homer Simpson gave to Marge with his own name on it). And it. Was. Awesome.
A little back story:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5vhartKI/AAAAAAAAAjM/_a3Xoeq03iM/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+026.jpg
This is Pembroke Decatur Gwaltney, Jr., scion of the Gwaltney Foods Empire. One hundred and eight years ago, he discovered and befriended a ham that his factory's shippers had accidentally left behind. He saved it, wanting to see how long the Gwaltney curing process would keep it "alive."
As the decades went by, he and the ham grew closer. He called it his pet. He bought it a brass collar. He insured it for $5,000. He took it to state fairs. Not a joke.
The ham lasted longer than he did. But the people of Smithfield have carried the torch of his devotion through the ages. Today, it's kept in the reverential silence of the three-room county museum, with veritable handfuls of people paying homage every month. A bored-looking seventy-year-old woman reading a book stands solitary guard, and also sells T-shirts and will take a picture of you with the ham if you ask nicely.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5vKJPNnI/AAAAAAAAAjE/TLl4CnOtQrM/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+023.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5vKJPNnI/AAAAAAAAAjE/TLl4CnOtQrM/s1600-h/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+023.jpg)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i_qU7aCZI/AAAAAAAAAjc/hMZrEYebXRQ/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+011.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5v4nn7BI/AAAAAAAAAjU/8yApXf3AeN0/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+031.jpg
When you're done gazing at the ham, there's so much more to see. We had to pack it all into thirty minutes thanks to all the traffic jams on the way down. There's a peanut cured in 1890 by by Pembroke Decatur Gwaltney, père!
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3jBnNwbwkI/AAAAAAAAAjk/knj0nnkEpU4/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+016.jpg
http://www.nomofomo.com/2010/02/dream-come-true-worlds-oldest-edible.html
What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to drive five and a half hours through grueling post-snowstorm I95 traffic to a sparse and desolate village in southern Virginia to visit a museum dedicated to a ham? But not just any ham. THE WORLD'S OLDEST EDIBLE CURED HAM (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1348). And, as it turns out, the World's Largest Cured Ham, The World's Oldest Peanut, The World's Largest Ham Biscuit* (the asterisk means "just pictures, because we ate it several years ago"), and several other peanuts and hams that are not notable but are there because you can't create a museum out of just two hams and a peanut.
Those of you who know me will know that a pilgrimage to the Isle of Wight County Museum in Smithfield, Virginia--town motto: "hams, history, hospitality, and heart"--has been my wildest dream since I read about it on Roadside America (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1348) nine months ago. I finally succeeded in convincing Matt to go this weekend (it was my Valentine's Day present to him! Kind of like the bowling ball Homer Simpson gave to Marge with his own name on it). And it. Was. Awesome.
A little back story:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5vhartKI/AAAAAAAAAjM/_a3Xoeq03iM/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+026.jpg
This is Pembroke Decatur Gwaltney, Jr., scion of the Gwaltney Foods Empire. One hundred and eight years ago, he discovered and befriended a ham that his factory's shippers had accidentally left behind. He saved it, wanting to see how long the Gwaltney curing process would keep it "alive."
As the decades went by, he and the ham grew closer. He called it his pet. He bought it a brass collar. He insured it for $5,000. He took it to state fairs. Not a joke.
The ham lasted longer than he did. But the people of Smithfield have carried the torch of his devotion through the ages. Today, it's kept in the reverential silence of the three-room county museum, with veritable handfuls of people paying homage every month. A bored-looking seventy-year-old woman reading a book stands solitary guard, and also sells T-shirts and will take a picture of you with the ham if you ask nicely.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5vKJPNnI/AAAAAAAAAjE/TLl4CnOtQrM/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+023.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5vKJPNnI/AAAAAAAAAjE/TLl4CnOtQrM/s1600-h/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+023.jpg)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i_qU7aCZI/AAAAAAAAAjc/hMZrEYebXRQ/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+011.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3i5v4nn7BI/AAAAAAAAAjU/8yApXf3AeN0/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+031.jpg
When you're done gazing at the ham, there's so much more to see. We had to pack it all into thirty minutes thanks to all the traffic jams on the way down. There's a peanut cured in 1890 by by Pembroke Decatur Gwaltney, père!
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gE_qI7Y3cR8/S3jBnNwbwkI/AAAAAAAAAjk/knj0nnkEpU4/s400/The+World%27s+Oldest+Edible+Cured+Ham+016.jpg
http://www.nomofomo.com/2010/02/dream-come-true-worlds-oldest-edible.html