My experience with canned ham is poor. My wife and I were sailing (on my own boat for a change) in the Bahamas and had planned ham for Christmas dinner. It was horrid. Tossed it over the side. I don’t think even the fish would eat it.
We had omelets.
No canned ham in our stocking up. grin
I love spam musubi! It’s one of the reasons I always have can or two tucked in my pantry too (and for spam fried rice).
I tried a small shelf-stable ham not so long ago - maybe 4 years? - out of curiosity (and on sale, of course 
). It was pretty nasty (I forced myself to taste it before tossing it, but I did toss it). Despite a complete lack of any wording that would even have implied this, that one turned out to be some sort of “reconstituted ham product”. Very Spam-like as I remember Spam all these years later. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was a little - as well as annoyed - since nothing in the labeling even hinted that it was “reconstituted”…
But while I haven’t seen this stuff in years (and years), I do remember “canned” ham from my childhood that had a relatively long shelf at fridge/meat-case temperature (and which had to be kept refrigerated or it would go bad quickly.) In hindsight, I think it was the same general idea as cold-cuts “boiled ham”, just sold whole, and in a can… (Maybe before cryovac-ing became common at the consumer level?) Iirc, the earliest versions came from Denmark, but I think I remember Polish exports, too…
I remember eating it too, and even reading canned ham reviews since the internet. I think it was in the context of "ham salad " on Chowhound.
Since I’ve never cooked for a family (on any sort of regular basis, as an adult), it pretty much fell of my radar a long time ago, except for very sporadic and random glances in the meat section of the supermarkets I’ve shopped at, wondering if it “still exists” (when I haven’t seen it). But it wouldn’t surprise me if it still existed somewhere, even if it’s less popular/common than it once was. I don’t recall seeing it any of the Russian/former Soviet-owned grocery stores in my neighborhood, but maybe it still exists at the Polish places? If any of them still exist by the time things get back to normal-enough for my erstwhile random browsing adventures sigh, I’ll have to try to remember to check on that…
Meanwhile, I’m off to see what Google and/or DuckDuckDo have to say about it… 
OK, so… at least I’m not the only person (or one of only two people ) who remember it…
apparently Krakus (Polish) canned ham does still exist, but so far I haven’t been able to come up with a US source for it in an actual can…
Found this discussion of it (echoing my own Q and I suspect the CH thread you mentioned) on a not-ancient Google Groups archive of the rec.food.cooking USENET group (and yes, the one I threw away was DAK brand…):
And an older column from a Minnesota newspaper which says, among other things:
Apparently Krakus does still sell a “fully cooked dinner ham”, but it’s no longer canned - which given current consumer preferences, doesn’t really surprise me… And while I haven’t seen a Krakus brand version of that, I have seen brands at my supermarket, especially around the various “big dinner holidays” like Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas…
Last - and realistically least, I did manage to dig up one seemingly-current source of actual canned Krakus ham, but (a) it’s not at all clear whether it’s the refrigerated kind or shelf-stable, and (b) the seller is located in Switzerland…
Interesting! I don’t remember canned hams being refrigerated, but it’s a pretty distant memory. I DO remember, the keys to open them, and maybe some related injuries.
I remember the tear-drop sized hams with a key from my youth. The ones I see now in the Bahamas and Leeward Islands (Eastern Caribbean) are rectangular and shelf-stable although still with the attached key. After my one bad experience in the Bahamas I don’t buy them.
Most recent sighting was in Riteway in Road Town, Tortola, BVI.
Frankly if I have to dedicate freezer space to something at sea it will be chicken or ground beef. At home we do have a couple of cryo-vacced ham steaks buried in our chest freezer.
The references to the little keys for opening cans, entertaining as they were/are, does cause me to reflect on how far can openers have come.
Which now makes me ask - if part of your coronavirus provisioning is canned goods do you have a good sharp can opener? Do you have a back-up? Do you know how to open a can with a church key? How about a screwdriver? A rock?
Here in my little corner of the world, SE Michigan, I would stock up on Tonic Water (if I could!).
The shortage of Tonic Water here is maddening! No Canada Dry. No Schwepps. More often than not, no generic store brand. Ya want Diet Tonic Water? You’ll be able to buy it by the case! Club Soda, yup, every beverage purveyor I’ve shopped has Club Soda. Is everyone of my thousands of neighbors drinking Martinis? Gin & Tonic? Vodka & Tonic?
To continue my mini rant, late last week I drove over 11 miles in my neighborhood and stopped at six stores before finding any Tonic Water. That would be two Kroger, a Rite Aid, a CVS, and two party stores!
I’ve read a few explanations for these shortages. I call Bull Sh*t on all of them. This is managed shortage. And it’s got to stop!
Ouch, no tonic water in summer. And diet tonic water Is the worst. I bought it by mistake once.
Tonic water in a martini? Is that a SE Michigan thing?
I’m trying to imagine a tear drop sized ham. It would certainly eliminate the need for chopping. I’m thinking you might mean tear drop shaped, which sounds familiar.
sigh shaped. Multi-tasking.
Good catch. My mistake. I’m buying Tonic Water for others in my household. I drink dry Gin Martinis. They don’t.
Jimmy, buddy, please. Work the phones. One stop. Limit exposure.
Next time, do what I do and claim it was just the bottle typing.
Dave’s comment was pretty funny. Otoh, if we wear masks, sanitize our hands before going in and out of the store, social distancing at 6 feet apart and washing our hands when we get home, I don’t see a problem with that many stops if you need something. We went through a scary couple of months but are more lax now. With proper precautions we can all be safe. I’m sure you feel the same way and are doing the same thing. We can’t stay locked up forever.
