The 115-year-old ham, which is reportedly the oldest in the world, was originally cured in 1902 by the Gwaltney Foods meat company before it was was lost in storage. On its rediscovery two decades later, Pembroke D. Gwaltney Jr. made the piece of pork his “pet ham.” He put a brass collar on it and paraded it around various expositions to prove to customers his meat could be kept without being refrigerated.
The ham was donated to the Isle of Wight County Museum by one of Pembroke's grandchildren. It occupies a climate-controlled display case with two other hams, one of which is purportedly the largest ham in the world. A nonstop, live-streamed “ham cam” allows anyone to keep up to date with the preserved pork, as does the ham’s Twitter account. One of the jobs of the curator of the Isle of Wight County Museuem is to keep the ham edible by keeping it free of bugs and mold.
The ham looks like a shriveled human arm, but it isn't lonely since it shares its special climate-controlled case with two other famous hams, one of them said to be the worlds largest. In case you are wondering, the museum assures everyone that microbiologists say the ham is technically still edible. The museum is also home to the world’s oldest peanut. It was picked and dated "1890" by Pembroke's father, P.D. Gwaltney Sr., known in his time as "The Peanut King." Unlike the ham, the museum makes no claim that it is edible!
The town of Smithfield, Virginia is well-known across the United States for its cured hams. Smithfield hams are a very special kind of ham that is VERY salty. The dry curing process used to create the ham involved salting the meat and draining the blood, which allows for a longer shelf life and a richer flavor. Then when you want to serve a ham you have to soak it for several days, then boil it for several hours, and then bake it to set the glaze! I cook a Smithfield ham every year for Christmas, so I loved visiting the museum and following the ham on its "ham cam." It is really a hoot!
Smithfield Foods, a large pork producer, is headquartered in the town, and is the company of which Gwaltney Foods is an antecedent. Smithfield is a lovely little town in Wight County along the James River. There is so much to do there, besides visiting the Isle of Wight County Museum. It has great restaurants that offer lots of ways to eat Smithfield ham. It is also a wonderful place to stay while you are visiting the James River Plantations.
There are so many great parts of Virginia to visit and make a great weekend trip from Washington DC and Montgomery County. It is just another reason that living in the DC metro area is wonderful. If you are thinking of relocating to the DC area, be assured you will love living here. If you are looking for a home in the DC area, give the Lise Howe Group a call at 240-401-5577 and ask for our relocation guide.
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