Feeling 122: World’s Oldest Ham celebrates ‘birthday’

The World’s Oldest Ham is feeling 22 – 122, that is.

The Isle of Wight County Museum hosted a Taylor Swift-themed 122nd birthday party for the ham on July 13, which included singing along to Swift’s “22” song.

The celebration, held annually in July but not always on the same day, marks the date when Smithfield hams were traditionally ready for consumption after a curing process that would begin in the fall or winter.

In 1902, one of P.D. Gwaltney Jr.’s Smithfield hams went overlooked and for 20 years hung from a rafter inside a packing house. When Gwaltney found it in the 1920s, he fashioned a brass collar for it, calling it his “pet,” and took it on a nationwide tour touting it as the world’s oldest and evidence of the preservative powers of his curing method. The museum gained custody of the ham in 1985. Earlier this year, the museum gained custody of the last Genuine Smithfield Ham after Smithfield Foods discontinued the brand. It joined the world’s oldest, the world’s largest, and a 1930s-branded ham.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story had misspelled Ben LoPresti’s last name.