We know you’re familiar with Loafy and that cheery orange medium cheddar cheese packaging, but Loafy wasn’t always so dressed up. Tillamook Cheese loafs have come a long way from their paraffin dip shells and wooden crates to the airtight “shrink bags” they come in now. Here’s a look at our Tillamook packaging roots from the archives…

Here is a 2# baby loaf and other cheese sizes from our early days ready to ship in a wooden crate.

Check out these fancy boxes! There were a variety of cartons the paraffin dipped Baby Loaf was sold in.

In 1966, Baby Loaf gets its first Morning Star Ship seal.

In the mid 1980’s the shrink bag replaced the paraffin wax dip on the Baby Loaf and other products.

Here’s Baby Loaf with other 1 lb packages in the 1990’s.

In 2003 all types of Tillamook Cheese packaging got a new look reminiscent of the old style “Tillamook on the rind.”

Happy 100th Anniversary! Tillamook Cheese turned 100 in 2009 with some celebratory packaging.

In 2010 Baby Loaf began wearing its “Word’s Best Medium Cheddar” title proudly.

Now who knows what’s next for our tasty Baby Loaf!

By Scott

Doesn’t a product that is attractively displayed in the store catch your attention? At least enough to make you look twice. Well, we like our products to look nice in the store, too. There are bunches of photos in the archives showing large, small, simple and creative displays of Tillamook cheese in stores throughout the decades.

In this particular photo, the deli department manager, Joe Vellutini, shows off his display of Tillamook Cheese in the Stonestown Supermarket in San Francisco. This photo is from the late 1950s to early 1960s.

By Chandra

Alder Vale Creamery (1940s or 1950s)

In the early days of TCCA, the membership was different. Today, we are a cooperative of family dairy farmers. Back in 1909, when TCCA was organized, it was a cooperative of creameries. The creameries dotted the Tillamook Valley, from north to south and east to west. One such creamery was Alder Vale.

Alder Vale was a tiny little place. It was located in the Nehalem area, which is north of the city of Tillamook. For a period of time, the entire staff at Alder Vale was one cheesemaker, Harold Fogg. Alder Vale received so little milk, cheese sometimes was only made every other day.

Alder Vale existed prior to joining TCCA, but it doesn’t show up on TCCA’s annual report until 1915. This photo of the little creamery was taken later, perhaps late 1940s or early 1950s. You can see that a farmer is delivering his milk. Milk was still being dropped off in cans at that time, although the transportation method was by truck instead of horse and wagon.

By Chandra

For decades, we have been sharing with consumers delicious recipes featuring our Tillamook products. Nowadays it’s as easy as visiting our website to get the recipes. But decades ago, fans of our cheese would send away to the cooperative and wait for a booklet full of Tillamook Cheese recipes to be mailed to them.

According to our archives, we offered the recipe booklets as early as the late 1920s. Themed recipe pamphlets were also offered by mail and could be picked up at in-store sampling events (our pre-Loaf Love Tour days).

Flipping through the booklets takes you back in time to when… well, I’m not really sure since I wasn’t born yet, but I know it wasn’t a time of convenience items and microwaving. Some of the old recipes were family-favorites contributed by “Western homemakers” while others were recipes from “domestic science teachers.” Regardless of where the recipe came from, we knew even then that if you tried Tillamook Cheese you would love it.
Here’s a recipe from the “Streamlined Standbys” recipe pamphlet. It can be dated to the mid to late-1930s. Enjoy!

Individual Ham and Macaroni Loaves

Ingredients:

1 pound ground smoked ham scraps
½ pound ground lean pork
2 cups cooked macaroni
1 egg, beaten
3 cups Tillamook Cheese sauce

Instructions:
Combine ground ham and fresh pork thoroughly, then add macaroni and beaten egg. Pack into greased muffin tins and bake in moderate oven (375°F) for 45 minutes. Serve hot with Tillamook Cheese sauce over each loaf. (Made by adding 1 cup grated Tillamook Cheese to medium white sauce.) Makes 12 small loaves, enough for 6.

By Chandra

We’ve used some very creative advertising to promote Tillamook Cheese directly to our consumers. Do you remember the Swiss Knights who came to steal the cheese? Or how about the Vintage Ladies who “don’t doll up for just any ol’ cheddar.” Today, we’re sharing the Loaf Love.

It all started in 1917 when we decided we were ready to nationally advertise our cheese. Instead of marketing to the trades or the stores that would carry our cheese, we wanted to speak directly to our consumers. “A vigorous plan of advertising… would do wonders in increasing the consumption and distribution of Tillamook Cheese,” wrote our new advertising agency. We were ready. We budgeted $5,000 for an advertising plan that included Los Angeles, Portland, and San Francisco. That’s a pittance compared to what advertising costs nowadays! The first newspaper ads appeared in March 1918. Two years and lots of sales later, we knew we were on the right path and increased the advertising budget to $14,000!

The rest, as they say, is history.

By Chandra