"Pineapple Cheese" was available in Akron during the holidays in the 1950s.
True: Pineapple cheese, cheddar cheese in a pineapple-shaped crocheted net, was probably made available in Akron via mail order. See the following from a Chenango County, New York Board of Supervisors meeting in 2002.
"It originated in the late 1700’s in England. It was English Cheshire Cheese pressed curds in the shape of a cone, and they called it Pineapple Cheese because of its shape. In 1808 Lewis Norton, a minister and cheese maker, started a factory in Goshen, Connecticut, patented this specialty cheese and called it Pineapple Cheese. His was the first curd cheese factory in the United States. Around 1850, Lewis’ son, Robert Norton, moved the factory to Rusford, New York to take advantage of the railroad system. C.J. Elmer took over in the 1860’s and in 1858 Peleg Pendleton, of Norwich, won a prize for Pineapple Cheese at the New York State Fair.
In 1866 C.J. Elmer took over the factory, and he went to England to learn better cheese making secrets. He brought ideas back with him. In 1883 Eugene Norton, nephew of Robert, bought the factory and moved it to Attica
where they produced 45,000 to 60,000 cheeses per year ranging in weight from one to six pounds. In 1904 Wilbert Norton, grandson of Lewis, moved the Goshen, Ct. plant to Delta, New York. Then in 1918 Kraft bought the patent from Eugene Norton.
Mr. Hettig doesn’t know where that patent is today. It is further known that in 1874 George McNitt of Greene was manfuacturing Pineapple Cheese on his farm, and in the late 1800’s George Boyd, Alpheus Smith and William Feehan began manufacturing Pineapple Cheese in Norwich. In 1896 Oscar A. Weatherly founded a Pineapple Cheese in Norwich, and in 1900 moved the factory to Milford where Stuart Haight, his son-in-law ran the firm, followed by his son, W. Kenneth Haight. That business flourished and they were selling it all over the world. In 1945 the Haights sold the company to Dairymen’s League Cooperative and production moved to Wisconsin.
In 1955 Pineapple Cheese came to an end due to rising costs because of the amount of hand work necessary for its production. In 1996 four businessmen began to look at the possibility of making Cheese in Chenango County. They were Robert Huot, Dan Marshman, John Mitchell and Mr. Hettig, himself. Since then the ADC, Yellow Wood Associates, the AG Summit, and Cornell have all been involved in developing a formula to again produce Pineapple Cheese in Chenango County. They finally have a Pineapple Cheese formula which was successful at Cornell and samples are available for the Supervisors to try today. Molds are being drawn and produced for final prototype. Marketing and a business plan for Chenango Cheese Company are in the process at this time. Mr. Hettig said the various milks available in Chenango County are up to the task of producing fine cheese. Cheeses that are noteworthy usually come from Jerseys due to their high fat content."
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