During World War II, Millie Bowers and friends went to Austin to take a course in architectural drawing and riveting to prepare them for work in the defense industry. One friend opted to quit the course and went to work at the Geo. A. Hormel & Company meat packing plant in Austin, beginning what would be a thirty-year career with the company.
Wartime workers at Hormel would have been kept very busy. The company introduced SPAM, a canned luncheon meat, in 1937, which became an important staple for the military during World War II. The company sent 15 million cans of SPAM to overseas troops each week.
This photograph shows how the Hormel plant looked in 1941, the year of the company's 50th anniversary.
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
Date: 1941
Identifer: location MM8.9 AU3.1 p1
