Male cheesemakers created the cheese, and women packaged it. In this photo from an early 1950s publication, “Home of Tillamook Cheese,” the packaging department employees are working on the newly popular rindless one- and half-pound packages of medium and sharp cheese as well as wedges an snack bars – the products we are familiar with… READ MORE
Reporter Dorothy Neighbors visited the large Tillamook cheese factory in 1958 and wrote about the experience for The Seattle Times. (Photo credit: The Seattle Times, Nov. 18, 1958) READ MORE
This 1893 photo shows two cheesemakers at the Beaver Cheese Factory. Ike Heiner (left) was the cheesemaker; Elizabeth Foland (right) was a rare woman assisting in the factory. According to “The Tillamook Way,” Ike worked at Beaver for 30 years after the cooperative was formed by Merriman Foland, Joe Bixby, Walter West, Al Bunn, William… READ MORE
Cheese War Timeline 1963 Event Date Event Source (See key below.) 1-1963 and 2-1963 A dairy stabilization law for the Portland milkshed was drafted by an Oregon Dairymen’s Association committee headed by George Milne, president of Tillamook Cheese & Dairy. The… READ MORE
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
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
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
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
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
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
