Reconstruction
On February 22, 1837, George Washington’s birthday and less than two weeks before Andrew Jackson left office, the White House opened for the president’s last public reception. The attraction was an enormous cheese weighing about 1,400 pounds, a gift from Colonel Thomas S. Meacham and dairymen around Sandy Creek in Oswego County, New York. Jackson’s own letter of February 4 says he intended to have the cheese eaten on the twenty-second and invited friends to partake in what he called a feast.
Meacham had produced the cheese in 1835 as both a patriotic presentation and an advertisement for northern New York’s dairy economy. A contemporary newspaper report described milk collected from 150 cows over four days; later local histories say curd accumulated for five days, so the precise production schedule remains uncertain. An exceptionally large hoop and press were required to consolidate the curd. The completed wheel was inscribed for Jackson and wrapped with a decorated “National Belt” representing the states then in the Union. Its journey by wagon and water displayed the agricultural productivity and improving transport connections of upstate New York.
After reaching Washington around the turn of 1836, the cheese remained in the White House entrance area through much of 1836 and into 1837. It was eventually moved into the East Room for the reception. Its exact recipe is not preserved. Later accounts frequently call it cheddar, but the safest identification is a large, pressed, aged cow’s-milk cheese made in the American farmstead tradition.
Newspaper notices and Jackson’s correspondence firmly establish the reception, although reported crowd totals are less secure. Thousands are said to have entered, mixing officeholders and diplomats with ordinary residents. Official and retrospective accounts report that the cheese disappeared in about two hours. Crumbs and grease were trampled into the carpets, and stories of a lingering odor became part of White House folklore. The event was therefore both hospitality and political theater: a monumental product of rural labor was shared in the executive mansion during an open public reception.
That democratic symbolism had strict historical limits. Jacksonian politics enlarged participation principally for white men while slavery continued and Indigenous peoples endured federal removal policies. The reception nevertheless became an enduring image of the White House as the “people’s house.” In the twenty-first century, the Obama administration explicitly invoked it for online “Big Block of Cheese Day” question-and-answer events—without recreating the cheese itself.
Historical context
The United States was expanding rapidly: its population rose from about 12.9 million in 1830 to roughly 17.1 million in 1840, and Michigan’s admission in January 1837 brought the Union to 26 states. The 363-mile Erie Canal had been open since 1825, while connecting waterways linked the Oswego region with the Hudson River and Atlantic markets. Jackson’s presidency ended on March 4, 1837; within months, the Panic of 1837 brought bank failures and a severe economic downturn. The era’s language of popular democracy coexisted with slavery, restricted political rights for women and most nonwhite people, and the forced removal of Indigenous nations.
Evidence
Written sources
StrongJackson’s February 4, 1837 letter directly confirms his intention to have the New York cheese eaten on February 22 and identifies the occasion as his last public day. Contemporary newspaper notices and reports independently document the reception.
Food identification
StrongContemporary and near-contemporary accounts consistently identify the object as a roughly 1,400-pound cheese presented by Thomas S. Meacham and New York dairymen. Identification specifically as cheddar is common in later accounts but is less securely documented.
Dating
StrongJackson’s dated letter and newspaper coverage securely place the public reception on February 22, 1837.
Preparation method
ModerateA contemporary report attributes the cheese to the milk of 150 cows collected over four days, and later histories describe a purpose-built hoop and press. Later accounts differ over whether curd was accumulated for four or five days, and no complete recipe survives.
Geographic attribution
StrongSources consistently attribute production to Thomas S. Meacham’s dairy near Sandy Creek in Oswego County, New York, and consumption to the White House in Washington, D.C.
Historical interpretation
ModerateInterpreting the reception as political theater and an expression of Jacksonian public accessibility is supported by the established tradition of open White House receptions, but the intentions and experiences of individual participants are not directly recoverable.
Visual reconstruction
InterpretiveFamiliar images of the crowded reception, including Peter Waddell’s painting and late nineteenth-century illustrations, are retrospective artistic reconstructions rather than eyewitness depictions.
Sources
- 1.Andrew Jackson (1837). Autograph Letter Signed to Henry Toland, February 4, 1837. Shapell Manuscript Collection, SMC 399. www.shapell.org/manuscript/president-andrew-jackHistorical primary source
- 2.National Intelligencer (1837). Public Notice: The Jackson Cheese. National Intelligencer, February 22, 1837.Historical primary source
- 3.National Intelligencer (1837). The Presidents At Home. National Intelligencer, February 25, 1837.Historical primary source
- 4.New-Hampshire Sentinel (1835). Mammoth Cheese. New-Hampshire Sentinel, December 10, 1835.Historical primary source
- 5.William Seale (n.d.). An Essay on “The Great Cheese”: Jacksonian Democracy Enjoys a Special Treat, 1837. White House Historical Association. www.whitehousehistory.org/the-great-cheese-jacksModern synthesis
- 6.United States Census Bureau (2023). Facts by Decade: 1840. United States Census Bureau. www.census.gov/about/history/historical-censusesModern synthesis
- 7.Chris Evans (2015). Big Block of Cheese Day: Answering the Nation’s Questions. Archived White House website. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/01/21/bigModern synthesis
