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
Category Archives: Media by Topic
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 early 2025, the lawsuit is awaiting an Oregon Supreme Court ruling… 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 area’s many 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… READ MORE
Two Groups, One Roof
During most of the Cheese War, Cheese & Dairy and County Creamery co-existed at the large Tillamook cheese factory. A judge had ordered that each cooperative could use the space so they shared equipment and production rooms. This schematic, developed for use in a later lawsuit, noted that an area marked with jagged lines was… READ MORE
The End: County Creamery Buys Out Cheese & Dairy
In the largest sale in Tillamook County through 1968, County Creamery bought out Cheese & Dairy. The deal, worth more than $9,260,000 today, ended Cheese & Dairy’s operations. READ MORE
Bombing at Dixon Home
On May 19, 1960, Beale Dixon’s home and car were bombed with dynamite. He told The Oregonian, “I just have no idea who would be wanting to do such a thing….” but many wondered if it was connected to a labor strike at the Tillamook cheese factory a year earlier that didn’t conclude until Oregon’s… READ MORE
Cheese & Dairy Loses Agriculture Dept. Lawsuit
The Oregon Department of Agriculture sued Cheese & Dairy to force payment to members of the Tillamook Fluid Milk Shippers Association, or Shiveley Shippers. That group had withdrawn from Cheese & Dairy in 1963 to ship milk to County Creamery. After numerous appeals, Judge Combs ruled that Cheese & Dairy had to pay. Cheese &… READ MORE
