Sub Subs

When Donald, Marcus, and Victor Ham founded Hamville in 1944, each provided a restaurant to go along with it. Donald started the Hamville Diner, Marcus opened Ham's Deli, and Victor gave us Ham's Creamery. The Creamery was the first to close, in 1966, three years after the death of Victor. It sort of reappered in 1974 as the You Scream Ice Cream Parlor, though in a completely different format and now run by ghosts. The Diner went under in 1977, three years after Donald's death, and never reopened as a restaurant, though a museum of Hamville history now occupies the premises. The Deli enjoyed the longest success of the three, though it did finally shut down in 1983, two year after Marcus' death.

When Marcus died, he was planning a renovation for the restaurant, one that would emphasize the historical significance of the Deli. His son, Leonard Ham, inherited the restaurant, but decided the renovation would be too expensive and did not follow the plans. In 1983, however, an opportunity arose, and Leonard shut down Ham's Deli.

Hamville residents were outraged. Here was the last remaining restaurant of the three Ham brothers, and Leonard Ham had the gall to shut the place because of some other secret opportunity. Protests mounted around Leonard's home, and the man had to devise other ways of getting to his office downtown to continue with his plans. Within three months, Leonard Ham had become the most hated man in Hamville.

On June 27, 1984, Hamville residents heard the sound of low flying helicopters approaching Hamville. What they saw was four military choppers carrying what a ppeared to be a large submarine. They placed it in Hamville Harbor, and flew away, leaving no explanation.

Obviously, the government officials of Hamville were assaulted with questions, and quickly a press conference was announced. The submarine had been purchased by a local restaurateur looking to open a new restaurant in Hamville. There was nothing sinister about it. They refused to offer any further explanations, but it didn't take long for apprehension to give way to gossip, with people clamoring to try and figure out what the new eatery would be.

On August 17, 1984, a press conference was called to announce the opening of Sub Subs, owned and operated by none other than Leonard Ham. He apologized to the residents of Hamville for the secrecy, but explained that Marcus had wanted it this way. The plans were not exactly what the middle Ham brother had been working on at the time of his death, but in a way, those plans had led to the opening of this brand new version of Ham's Deli. The sandwiches would be the same, but the eating environment would not. Patrons could pass through the sub, pick up their food, and proceed to the deck or the dock to eat. Unfortunately, there was no room on board for the diners. The sub, Leonard explained, was a decommissioned military sub. An anonymous naval official who had been working with Marcus on the new restaurant plans had pulled the right strings to get it delivered to Hamville for a relatively inexpensive price tag.

Sub Subs officially opened on August 24, 1984. There was still a considerable amount of resentment towards Leonard Ham around town, but it gradually wore away. Today, Sub Subs is still going strong, with Leonard Ham still in charge. The sandwiches are exactly what Marcus Ham always provided, and it's a great pleasure to see his legacy live on through his son.