Green’s Dictionary of Slang

red mike n.

1. (US milit.) canned salmon.

1906

in C. M’Govern ‘Soldier Sl.’ in Sarjint Larry an’ Frinds.

2. corned beef.

1935

A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Red Mike and violets, corned beef and cabbage.

In phrases

red mike and (a bunch of) violets (n.)

(US) corned beef and cabbage.

1925		N.Y. Times 15 June 1: Corned beef and cabbage is the favorite dinner dish of most New Yorkers, if the poll just completed by the United Restaurant Owners association gave an accurate picture of the metropolitan appetite. Of the 180,000 votes cast, ‘Red Mike and Violets,’ as the succulent dish is known in less ornate caravansaries, led with more than 23,000.
1927		Wash. Post 2 Apr. C6: Alas and alack for all the hymns to ‘red mike and violets’ and ‘Irish turkey,’ corned beef and cabbage is not now and never was an Irish dish. Its origins are as American as apple pie and as Yankee as the clambake.