Reading the Little House in the big woods book, I wondered how hams could hang from the rafters, and not spoil.
It really doesn't spoil unless it gets wet. It can get moldy, but you wash that off with vinegar. Other than that, it could get too dry for your taste, but it wouldn't be inedible, you'd just have to re-hydrate it as you cut pieces off.
I don't know how anybody could resist it long enough to prove this, but I imagine that like pemmican, ham would still be good 50 years later.
