Swift Ham, It's the Ovenized Kind!

I'm not so sure about this ovenized ham.  Is this anything like parkerizing or vulcanizing?  Sounds like my ham is going to be given an indestructible plastic surface.  Better yet no parboiling is needed!  This ad makes little sense unless you know a little food history.  Prior to this time, hams were "country style" in that they were salted and cured in a smokehouse yielding a very salty, dry ham.  You had to soak the ham in simmering water (parboiling) to basically reconstitute it and remove the excess salt before you could eat it.  The ham in this ad however is ovenized which was Swifts early name for a ham being smokehouse cooked after watercuring.  It's exactly how hams are treated today before sale unless you buy country ham or Virginia ham.  Of course hams don't have that lovely rind of fat anymore thanks to the prevalent anti-fat mood championed by the food Nazis.  The cooking instructions on the bottom right suggest serving with spicy cauliflower.  What is spicy cauliflower you might ask?  I'm glad you did because apparently it's cauliflower topped with tartar sauce.  Oh my we're really in the culinary fast lane now, maybe next month we can try 1 drop of Tabasco in a soup?  Maybe after eating all that spicy cauliflower mom and dad will feel a little frisky and do it with the lights on.


Take note on the right side of the ad and you'll see the NRA eagle.  The NRA was the National Recovery Act (or Administration) formed by President Roosevelt to help America start digging out of the Great Depression.  It was only active for 2 years, being shot down by the Supreme Court in 1935 for "Infringing on the separation of power under the United States Constitution."  The NRA lived on as parts of it continued to live and eventually coalesced into the New Deal and gave rise to the Unions.¹  Due to the short lived nature of the NRA, it's rare to see the eagle mark on anything, especially advertising.

Sources:
1) The National Recovery Administration on EH.net

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