1960 – A dairy farmers’ committee worked on a milk audit bill to present to the 1961 legislature.1961 – Delegates to the Oregon Dairymen’s convention in January supported Fair Trade legislation that would prevent distributors from giving or loaning equipment to stores.1961- HB 1194 was introduced. The bill would regulate prices paid to farmers.1961 –… READ MORE
Category Archives: History by Year
Timeline, 1960 and 1961
1960 – A dairy farmers’ committee worked on a milk audit bill to present to the 1961 legislature.1961 – Delegates to the Oregon Dairymen’s convention in January supported Fair Trade legislation that would prevent distributors from giving or loaning equipment to stores.1961- HB 1194 was introduced. The bill would regulate prices paid to farmers.1961 –… READ MORE
Timeline, Pre-1960s
1850s – David Wilson brought the first domesticated cows into the area1889 – Merriman Foland and Bob Richards became Tillamook’s first commercial cheesemakers1894 – Peter McIntosh, a Canadian, brought his full-cream cheddar recipe to Tillamook and shared it with the cheesemakers1909 – 10 factories formed a marketing cooperative and named it Tillamook County Creamery Association1919… READ MORE
Beale Dixon Dies
Beale Dixon died in 1989, and The Headlight Herald ran this obituary. READ MORE
Memories of the Early Days
Use this link to access a 1991 interview with Dorothy Thornton, the daughter of Carl Haberlach. He was hired when 10 of the cooperative factories formed a marketing group and named it Tillamook County Creamery Association. She says he ran the organization “with an iron hand,” and he put the factories on a path to… READ MORE
Co-op Sued for Deceptive Advertising Practices
Tillamook Cheese was sued in 2019 for deceptive advertising practices. The alleged deception is in the advertising, which features Tillamook farm scenes and farmers, even though most of the milk for the cooperative’s products comes from a huge dairy in Eastern Oregon. As of 2022, the lawsuit has not progressed through the courts. For more… READ MORE
Early Cheese Factory in Tillamook
The first Tillamook Cheese Factory, or “cheese kitchen,” was located at the south end of the town of Tillamook. It was one of four factories that agreed to consolidate if a new factory were built. When that facility was completed in 1949, this factory closed and, along with other factories near town (Maple Leaf, Clover… READ MORE
Awards
Tillamook Cheese gained consistent quality at its numerous member factories and won awards. Here is a photo from June 1952 showing some of its honors. READ MORE
Tillamook Factory Opens in 1949
Several small factories near the town of Tillamook agreed to consolidate if they could use a new, larger facility. Clover Leaf, Maple Leaf and Holstein factories joined forces with Tillamook Cheese Factory to build the factory north of Tillamook that we know today. The new cooperative was named Tillamook Cheese Association. (Photo Credit: The Oregonian,… READ MORE
Boxes for Shipping Cheese
In the early days of Tillamook’s cheese production, wood from the many area forests was used to make boxes that protected the cheese while it was shipped to groceries. Usually, the task of making boxes fell to the most junior worker in the cheese factories, who made boxes while observing the other workers and the head… READ MORE
