Cheese War
| Timeline | ||
| 1966 | ||
| Event Date | Event | Source (See key below.) |
| 2-20-1966 | Annual meetings of competing Tillamook dairy cooperatives were held on the third Saturday in February. Gathering at the Fairview Grange were about 125 members of Cheese and Dairy, which had merged with Red Clover at the beginning of the year. Producers heard their manager, A. J. Swett, report that cheese production had increased, and that several new shippers, in addition to the ones from Red Clover, had joined the cooperative. Elected to the board was Albert Sanders. Harley Christensen and Glen Koehler were re-elected. Clem Hurliman was appointed to the seat vacated by Ralph Redberg when he sold his farm. Across town, at the Tillamook High School cafeteria, the annual meeting of the Fluid Milk Shippers was attended by about 140 members. Total value of milk produced by the cooperative during the year exceeded $3 million, members were told. Gaylord Shiveley and Howard Owens were re-elected to the board. Board members elected previously were Otto Schild, Frank Jud, Fritz Vermilyea, and Bill Tippen. At a later meeting, Otto Schild was named president and representative to the board of County Creamery. | H-H, 2-27-1966 |
| 3-17-1966 | A federal court in San Francisco ruled that Cheese & Dairy could go to trial with its antitrust suit. The court also ruled that Warren McMinimee, who has represented County Creamery, would continue as a defendant in the conspiracy and restraint of trade suit. The judges wrote, “We have examined the materials relied upon by the plaintiff and defendants concerning the role played by McMinimee which, if resolved one way, would exculpate him from liability, and if decided the other way, might subject him to liability.” | H-H, 3-27-1966 |
| 4-4-1966 to 4-9-1966 | Judge Avery Combs ruled in favor of the Oregon Department of Agriculture in its suit against Cheese & Dairy. The suit was an effort to require Cheese & Dairy to pay a group of producers for milk shipped in August 1963. Cheese & Dairy said that it could not pay its shippers because County Creamery refused to pay for a quantity of milk it received from Cheese & Dairy in August 1963. | H-H, 4-10-1966 |
| 5-1966 | A price increase for milk was approved by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Dairy farmers in the market area that includes Tillamook County will receive a 30-cents increase per hundredweight on Class 2 milk. | 5-22-1966 |
| 9-1966 | At the Los Angeles County Fair, Fritz Baumgartner and M. Dean Daggett won gold medals for cheddar cheese, while Lloyd Wright won a silver medal. The three Cheese & Dairy cheesemakers also won medals in 1965. | H-H, 9-18-1966 |
| 10-13-1966 | Judge Avery Combs, age 51, was killed when his car collided with a log truck near Vernonia as he was driving to the courthouse in St. Helens. He was a circuit court judge for Tillamook, Clatsop, and Columbia Counties. | H-H, 10-16-1966 |
| 10-25-1966 | County Creamery changed the labels on its cheese, adding the word “original” and the image of a sailing ship. Judge Bruce Thompson reviewed the trademark judgment issued by Judge East and then ruled that County Creamery was not allowed to label its cheese as the “original” Tillamook cheese. Use of the sailing ship was allowed. The judge also allowed County Creamery to continue to use the word “genuine” as long as the label did not imply that Creamery was the only producer of genuine Tillamook cheese. | H-H, 10-30-1966 |
| 10-1966 to 11-1966 | Cheese & Dairy was one of the Oregon cooperatives testifying in favor of increased milk payments. In response to the testimony, the Oregon Department of Agriculture approved a small increase for butterfat. | H-H, 11-27-1966 |
| Key to sources: H-H: Headlight-Herald, a weekly newspaper published in Tillamook, Oregon. Northwest Dairy News: a farm newspaper published twice a month in Seattle, Washington by Northwest Farm News, Inc. Journal: Oregon Journal, a daily newspaper published in Portland, Oregon. Oregonian: a daily newspaper published in Portland, Oregon. Portland Reporter: a daily newspaper published in Portland, Oregon from 1960 to 1964. Satterfield: The Tillamook Way: A History of the Tillamook County Creamery Association, a Farmer-owned Cooperative; written by Archie Satterfield; published by Tillamook County Creamery Association; Tillamook, Oregon; 2000. Shopping Smiles: Shopping Smiles, a sister newspaper to the Headlight-Herald, was published weekly in Tillamook, Oregon. |
