William Underwood Company
Encyclopedia
The William Underwood Company, founded in 1822, was an American
food company best known for its flagship product, Underwood Deviled Ham, a canned meat spread. The company also had a key role in time
-temperature
research done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) from 1895 to 1896, which would lead to the development of food science
and technology
as a profession.
company using glass packing
techniques. Among the condiments and other items glass packed were mustard
, ketchup
of various kinds, many types of pickled vegetables, and cranberries
, primarily focusing on mustards and pickling. By 1836, Underwood shifted his packing from glass to steel cans coated with tin on the inside because glass
makers in the Boston area could not keep up with product demands from the canning company.
Underwood's canned foods proved valuable to settlers during the Manifest Destiny
period of 1840–60. Additionally, Underwood sold numerous canned
foods to Union
troops during the American Civil War
of 1861–65. The amount of products canned increased to include seafood
products like lobster
, oyster
, and mackerel
. William Underwood died in 1864, the same year that William Lyman Underwood
, one of his three grandsons, was born. Underwood's son, William James Underwood, would head the business as new retort
technology continued to be developed for use.
, a grandson of the founder, asked MIT for assistance on this.
Underwood approached William Thompson Sedgwick
, the chair of the Biology
department at MIT about the concerns he had with product swells and explosion of cans of clams
. Sedgwick conferred with his assistant, Samuel Cate Prescott
, and from late 1895 to late 1896, Prescott and Underwood worked on the problem every afternoon, focusing on canned clams. They discovered that the clams contained heat-resistant bacterial spore
s that were able to survive the processing; then they learned that these spores' presence depended on the clams' living environment, and finally that these spores would be killed if processed at 250°F (121°C) for 10 minutes in a retort
.
These studies prompted the similar research of canned lobster
, sardines, peas
, tomatoes, corn
, and spinach
. Prescott and Underwood's work was first published in late 1897. This research, while never patented, proved beneficial to the William Underwood Company, the canning industry, the food industry, and food technology itself.
In the mid 1950s, outgoing company president W. Durant brought new president George Seybolt to MIT to meet Prescott. At the Institute of Food Technologists
Northeast Section (Maine
, Massachusetts
, New Hampshire
, Rhode Island
, and Vermont
) meeting at Watertown, Massachusetts, in April 1961, the William Underwood Company dedicated a new laboratory
in honor of both Prescott and William Lyman Underwood. Following Prescott's death in 1962, the William Underwood Company created the Underwood Prescott Memorial Lectureship in memory of both Underwood and Prescott. This Lectureship would run until 1982. In 1969, Seybolt donated USD 600,000 to MIT to create the Underwood Professorship, followed up with an Underwood Prescott Professorship in 1972. Three MIT faculty have held this professorship since its inception: Samuel A. Goldblith, Gerald N. Wogan, and since 1996, Steven R. Tannenbaum.
, in 1965. B&M had actually purchased canned clams and tomatoes from Underwood in the late 1860s for resale before producing these products on its own. Baked beans
were the best known product that B&M started producing, which it started doing in the 1920s with its Brick Oven Baked Beans. Piermont Foods, a food company in Montreal
, Canada
, was acquired in 1968 in order for Underwood to sell its products north of the border.
in 1982, and B&M's Westwood, Massachusetts
, facility was closed. Included in this was B&M Foods as part of the sale. Thirteen years later, the Pillsbury Company acquired PET Inc. and began a modernization process that included warehousing, production, and processing. B&G Foods of New York, New York, acquired the Underwood foods, including Underwood's canned meat line, sardines, B&M, and Accent, in 1999.
Deviled ham was created in 1868 as a mixture of ground ham
with seasoning
s, and deviling would also be done with other meat and seafood products. This included turkey
, lobster
, chicken
, and tongue. Deviling consists of adding such spices as hot sauce
, cayenne pepper
, Dijon mustard
, or chopped hot peppers. Deviled eggs are one well-known example of this process. The devil logo was trademarked in 1870 and it is the oldest food trademark still in use in the United States. The red devil
that debuted in 1895 and started as a demonic figure evolved into a much friendlier version when compared to the original.
The older version, in use during the first half of the 20th century, can be seen in many old magazine advertisements, such as this advertisement from Woman's Home Companion
, August 1921. It lacks the pitchfork and smile of the modern version, but has long fingernails not found in the modern version. The barbed tail is in the shape of the letter W, and along with the lower-case M to the right of the devil forms the abbreviation "Wm.", for William, as in William Underwood. The lettering in the logo and on the can are also spouting small flames, reinforcing the spicy devil concept. In 2008, B&G Foods updated the devil logo by adding color to the previously all-red image. The pitchfork became black, and small amounts of yellow were added in the tail and horns, along with shading to add depth.
The devil logo has appeared on Underwood products that are not deviled as part of the overall brand identity, such as sardines and chicken spread.
Other companies have made deviled ham products. In 1895, at least seven other companies produced their own versions of a deviled ham, among them Armour and Company
, and in 1900 Libby's
entered the market with its own deviled ham product.
In 1906, the Massachusetts
Board of Health banned all deviled meats, except Underwood's, from sale in Massachusetts. The National Billposters' Association, based in Chicago
, center of America's meat packing industry
at the time, then banned its members from posting bills with devil images on them.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
food company best known for its flagship product, Underwood Deviled Ham, a canned meat spread. The company also had a key role in time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
-temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
research done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) from 1895 to 1896, which would lead to the development of food science
Food science
Food science is a study concerned with all technical aspects of foods, beginning with harvesting or slaughtering, and ending with its cooking and consumption, an ideology commonly referred to as "from field to fork"...
and technology
Food technology
Food technology, is a branch of food science which deals with the actual production processes to make foods.-Early history of food technology:...
as a profession.
Founding and growth
The company was established by its founder William Underwood (1787–1864) in 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts, as a condimentCondiment
A condiment is an edible substance, such as sauce or seasoning, added to food to impart a particular flavor, enhance its flavor, or in some cultures, to complement the dish. Many condiments are available packaged in single-serving sachets , like mustard or ketchup, particularly when supplied with...
company using glass packing
Vacuum packing
Vacuum packing or vacuum packaging is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing. It can involve both rigid and flexible types of packaging...
techniques. Among the condiments and other items glass packed were mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
, ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
of various kinds, many types of pickled vegetables, and cranberries
Cranberry
Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...
, primarily focusing on mustards and pickling. By 1836, Underwood shifted his packing from glass to steel cans coated with tin on the inside because glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
makers in the Boston area could not keep up with product demands from the canning company.
Underwood's canned foods proved valuable to settlers during the Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
period of 1840–60. Additionally, Underwood sold numerous canned
Canning
Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...
foods to Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
troops during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
of 1861–65. The amount of products canned increased to include seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
products like lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
, oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
, and mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
. William Underwood died in 1864, the same year that William Lyman Underwood
William Lyman Underwood
William Lyman Underwood was an American photographer who was also involved in the research of time-temperature canning research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 1895-96.-Biography:...
, one of his three grandsons, was born. Underwood's son, William James Underwood, would head the business as new retort
Pressure cooking
Pressure cooking is a method of cooking in a sealed vessel that does not permit air or liquids to escape below a preset pressure. Because the boiling point of water increases as the pressure increases, the pressure built up inside the cooker allows the liquid in the pot to rise to a higher...
technology continued to be developed for use.
Involvement with MIT
From its beginning, the company encountered the problem of cans swelling, causing a great deal of product loss. In late 1895, William Lyman UnderwoodWilliam Lyman Underwood
William Lyman Underwood was an American photographer who was also involved in the research of time-temperature canning research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 1895-96.-Biography:...
, a grandson of the founder, asked MIT for assistance on this.
Underwood approached William Thompson Sedgwick
William Thompson Sedgwick
William Thompson Sedgwick was a key figure in shaping public health in the United States.William T...
, the chair of the Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
department at MIT about the concerns he had with product swells and explosion of cans of clams
CLaMS
CLaMS is a modular chemistry transport model system developed at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. CLaMS was first described by McKenna et al. and was expanded into three dimensions by Konopka et al....
. Sedgwick conferred with his assistant, Samuel Cate Prescott
Samuel Cate Prescott
Samuel Cate Prescott was an American food scientist and microbiologist who was involved in the development of food safety, food science, public health, and industrial microbiology.-Early life:...
, and from late 1895 to late 1896, Prescott and Underwood worked on the problem every afternoon, focusing on canned clams. They discovered that the clams contained heat-resistant bacterial spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s that were able to survive the processing; then they learned that these spores' presence depended on the clams' living environment, and finally that these spores would be killed if processed at 250°F (121°C) for 10 minutes in a retort
Pressure cooking
Pressure cooking is a method of cooking in a sealed vessel that does not permit air or liquids to escape below a preset pressure. Because the boiling point of water increases as the pressure increases, the pressure built up inside the cooker allows the liquid in the pot to rise to a higher...
.
These studies prompted the similar research of canned lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
, sardines, peas
PEAS
P.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Performance:Performance is a function that measures the quality of the actions the agent did....
, tomatoes, corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, and spinach
Spinach
Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
. Prescott and Underwood's work was first published in late 1897. This research, while never patented, proved beneficial to the William Underwood Company, the canning industry, the food industry, and food technology itself.
In the mid 1950s, outgoing company president W. Durant brought new president George Seybolt to MIT to meet Prescott. At the Institute of Food Technologists
Institute of Food Technologists
The Institute of Food Technologists or IFT is an international, non-profit professional organization for the advancement of food science and technology. It is the largest of food science organizations in the world, encompassing 22,000 members worldwide as of 2006. It is referred to as "THE Society...
Northeast Section (Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
) meeting at Watertown, Massachusetts, in April 1961, the William Underwood Company dedicated a new laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
in honor of both Prescott and William Lyman Underwood. Following Prescott's death in 1962, the William Underwood Company created the Underwood Prescott Memorial Lectureship in memory of both Underwood and Prescott. This Lectureship would run until 1982. In 1969, Seybolt donated USD 600,000 to MIT to create the Underwood Professorship, followed up with an Underwood Prescott Professorship in 1972. Three MIT faculty have held this professorship since its inception: Samuel A. Goldblith, Gerald N. Wogan, and since 1996, Steven R. Tannenbaum.
Expansion in 1960s
Underwood acquired the Burnham & Morrill (B&M) Company of Portland, MainePortland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, in 1965. B&M had actually purchased canned clams and tomatoes from Underwood in the late 1860s for resale before producing these products on its own. Baked beans
Baked beans
Baked beans is a dish containing beans, sometimes baked but, despite the name, usually stewed, in a sauce. Most commercial canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans – a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris – in a sauce. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, a tomato...
were the best known product that B&M started producing, which it started doing in the 1920s with its Brick Oven Baked Beans. Piermont Foods, a food company in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, was acquired in 1968 in order for Underwood to sell its products north of the border.
Sale of Underwood to PET
Underwood, which up to this point had been privately owned by the Underwood family, was sold to PETPet, Inc.
Pet, Inc., was an American company that was the first to commercially produce evaporated milk as a shelf-stable consumer product and later became a multi-brand food products conglomerate. Its signature product, PET Evaporated Milk, is now a product of The J.M. Smucker Co...
in 1982, and B&M's Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood, Massachusetts
Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,618 at the 2010 census. In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Westwood 13th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. Boston Magazine listed Gay Street in Westwood on its...
, facility was closed. Included in this was B&M Foods as part of the sale. Thirteen years later, the Pillsbury Company acquired PET Inc. and began a modernization process that included warehousing, production, and processing. B&G Foods of New York, New York, acquired the Underwood foods, including Underwood's canned meat line, sardines, B&M, and Accent, in 1999.
Deviled ham and devil logo
Ham
Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...
with seasoning
Seasoning
Seasoning is the process of imparting flavor to, or improving the flavor of, food.- General meaning :Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings"...
s, and deviling would also be done with other meat and seafood products. This included turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, and tongue. Deviling consists of adding such spices as hot sauce
Hot sauce
Hot sauce, chili sauce or pepper sauce refers to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients.-Ingredients:There are many recipes for hot sauces - the common ingredient being any kind of peppers. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chili peppers...
, cayenne pepper
Cayenne pepper
The cayenne pepper—also known as the Guinea spice,cow-horn pepper, aleva, bird pepper,or, especially in its powdered form, red pepper—is a red, hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes and for medicinal purposes. Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum...
, Dijon mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
, or chopped hot peppers. Deviled eggs are one well-known example of this process. The devil logo was trademarked in 1870 and it is the oldest food trademark still in use in the United States. The red devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
that debuted in 1895 and started as a demonic figure evolved into a much friendlier version when compared to the original.
The older version, in use during the first half of the 20th century, can be seen in many old magazine advertisements, such as this advertisement from Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion was an American monthly publication, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s....
, August 1921. It lacks the pitchfork and smile of the modern version, but has long fingernails not found in the modern version. The barbed tail is in the shape of the letter W, and along with the lower-case M to the right of the devil forms the abbreviation "Wm.", for William, as in William Underwood. The lettering in the logo and on the can are also spouting small flames, reinforcing the spicy devil concept. In 2008, B&G Foods updated the devil logo by adding color to the previously all-red image. The pitchfork became black, and small amounts of yellow were added in the tail and horns, along with shading to add depth.
The devil logo has appeared on Underwood products that are not deviled as part of the overall brand identity, such as sardines and chicken spread.
Other companies have made deviled ham products. In 1895, at least seven other companies produced their own versions of a deviled ham, among them Armour and Company
Armour and Company
Armour & Company was an American slaughterhouse and meatpacking company founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1867 by the Armour brothers, led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company was Chicago's most important business and helped make the city and its Union Stock Yards the center of the...
, and in 1900 Libby's
Libby's
Libby's is a U.S.-based food company known for its canned food.The company was founded as Libby, McNeill & Libby in Chicago, Illinois, by Archibald McNeill and the brothers Arthur and Charles Libby. The business began with a canned meat product, beef in brine, or corned beef...
entered the market with its own deviled ham product.
In 1906, the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Board of Health banned all deviled meats, except Underwood's, from sale in Massachusetts. The National Billposters' Association, based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, center of America's meat packing industry
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
at the time, then banned its members from posting bills with devil images on them.
In popular culture
Underwood deviled ham, although not one of the most well-known food products, does appear in American popular culture from time to time. By doing so, this shows that Underwood's most well-known product remains in people's minds, and beyond that these cultural references remind the consumers of these cultural products of deviled ham.Literature
- Deviled ham plays a small role in The Poisonwood BibleThe Poisonwood BibleThe Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver isa bestselling novel about a missionary family, the Prices, who in 1959 move from Georgia to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo, close to the Kwilu River...
by Barbara KingsolverBarbara KingsolverBarbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
, appearing in the beginning (p. 13), middle, and end, as an example of a completely inappropriate item that the family thought they would need in Africa. - One of the main characters, Davy, in Peace Like a RiverPeace Like a RiverThis article is about the novel by Leif Enger. For the song written by Paul Simon, see Paul Simon Peace Like a River is a best-selling novel by Leif Enger, who took the title from the lyrics of the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul", which was performed at his wedding...
by Leif EngerLeif EngerLeif Enger is an American author who wrote the novel Peace Like a River.Enger was born in 1961 and raised in Osakis, Minnesota. Since his teens, he wanted to write fiction. He worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio from 1984 until the sale of Peace Like a River to publisher...
, steals "tins of sardines and deviled ham" from a store near the end of the story (p. 296). - In "The VirginianThe Virginian (novel)This page is about the novel, for other uses see The Virginian .The Virginian is a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister...
" (Owen WisterOwen WisterOwen Wister was an American writer and "father" of western fiction.-Early life:Owen Wister was born on July 14, 1860, in Germantown, a well-known neighborhood in the northwestern part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Owen Jones Wister, was a wealthy physician, one of a long line of...
, 1902) there is this reference at the opening of chapter 4: "Sardines were called for, and potted chicken, and devilled ham.... So through my eyes half closed I watched the sale of these tins, and grew familiar with the ham's inevitable trademark--that label with the devil and his horns and hoofs and tail very pronounced, all colored a sultry prodigious scarlet." - In William FaulknerWilliam FaulknerWilliam Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's Barn BurningBarn Burning"Barn Burning" is a short story by the American author William Faulkner which first appeared in Harper's in 1939 and has since been widely anthologized. The story deals with class conflicts, the influence of fathers, and vengeance as viewed through the third-person perspective of a young,...
the protagonist "from where he sat he could see the ranked shelves close-packed with the solid, squat, dynamic shapes of tin cans whose labels his stomach read, not from the lettering which meant nothing to his mind but from the scarlet devils and the silver curve of fish".
Television
- The William Underwood Company is mentioned in the "Civil War Tech" episode (#342) of the TV series Modern MarvelsModern MarvelsModern Marvels is a documentary television series that premiered on January 1, 1995 on History. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in today's society....
, near the end of the episode during the segment on canned food. - Marge Simpson of The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
buys a can in Episode 2F21 (#623), "The Springfield ConnectionThe Springfield Connection"The Springfield Connection" is the 23rd episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons, and originally aired May 7, 1995. After watching Snake Jailbird cheat Homer out of US$20 in a Three-card Monte con game, Marge successfully chases Snake and knocks him out with the lid of a garbage can. The...
", where she is rebelling against her boring housewife existence. When grocery shopping, she says, "Strange, regular ham doesn't thrill me anymore. Hmmph. I'm crossing over to deviled ham." - In another animated series, The OblongsThe OblongsThe Oblongs is an American animated television program aimed at teenagers and adults. It is loosely based on a series of characters introduced in creator Angus Oblong's picture book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children...
, it is used in episode 7 (season 1) by the mother as cake frosting, much to her son's dismay. - In 2007, Food TV chef Rachel Ray and Ritz CrackersRitz CrackersRitz Crackers are a brand of snack cracker introduced by Nabisco in 1934. Outside of the United States, the Ritz Cracker brand is made by a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. They are circular in shape, salted lightly on one side, and have a small scalloped edge...
published several recipes, one of which calls for deviled ham. Although Ray is making deviled ham and not using the Underwood version, Underwood deviled ham is clearly the inspiration. - Underwood's TV advertisements in the 1970s featured then child-star Mason ReeseMason ReeseMason Reese is a former child actor who appeared in numerous television commercials in the 1970s, particularly for Underwood Deviled Ham, Post Raisin Bran, and Dunkin' Donuts' Dunkin' Munchkins-brand "donut holes"...
, who said it tasted like a "borgasmord". - In the Real Ghostbusters episode, "The Devil To Pay", upon beating a minor demon's game show challenges, the team is sent to Tahiti, all expenses paid, and the prize package includes three tons of deviled ham.
- In the episode The Devil is in the Details... and in the Upstairs Bedroom of the USA NetworkUSA NetworkUSA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
show PsychPsychPsych is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks and broadcast on USA Network. It stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observational skills" and impressive detective instincts...
, when a dead character is claimed to have been possessed by the devil, Shawn shows Gus a sketch of the William Underwood Company devil logo, claiming it is a police sketch of the suspect, "last seen at the local canned ham factory." - In the TV series White CollarWhite Collar (TV series)White Collar is a USA Network television series created by Jeff Eastin, starring Matt Bomer as con-man Neal Caffrey and Tim DeKay as Special Agent Peter Burke. It premiered on October 23, 2009. In December 2009, White Collar was renewed for a second season that began on July 13, 2010...
, FBI agent Peter Burke eats a deviled ham sandwich during a stakeout, and in a later episode, with his wife. - In the 1996 film, Down PeriscopeDown PeriscopeDown Periscope is a 1996 comedy film starring Kelsey Grammer as the captain of a rust-bucket Navy submarine, the USS Stingray, who is fighting for his career....
, the character Executive Officer Martin T. 'Marty' Pascal (played by Rob SchneiderRob SchneiderRobert Michael "Rob" Schneider is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch-comedy series Saturday Night Live, Schneider has gone on to a successful career in feature films, including starring roles in the comedy films Deuce Bigalow:...
) notes that a can of deviled ham from 1966 has turned into a substance resembling creamed corn.
Video games
- Underwood deviled ham makes an appearance in the video game Pikmin 2Pikmin 2is a real-time strategy video game developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube. It was released in Japan on April 29, 2004, in North America on August 30, 2004, in Europe on October 8, 2004, and in Australia on November 4, 2004....
as a treasure item. It is only in the NTSCNTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
version.
Further reading
- Diablitos Underwood, a Venezuelan blog entry about Underwood Deviled Ham in Venezuela from the blog Cuando Era Chamo.
- The Encyclopedia Americana. (1918). pp. 506 – 509. "Canning and Preserving History"
- Powers, J.J. "The Food Industry Contribution: Preeminence in Science and in Application." A Century of Food Science. (2000). Institute of Food Technologists: Chicago. pp. 17–18.
- Wanucha, Genevieve. "Two Happy Clams: The Friendship that Forged Food Science". Food Technology. November 2009. p. 88.