1. This is a great story, but alas factually wrong. The giant cheese gifted to Jefferson was from another Baptist church -- Cheshire Baptist Church of Cheshire, Massachusetts. But also of real historical interest & good example of how cheese runs through North American history. https://twitter.com/Scoinadlo/status/1280698158071328768 …
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3. There were giant cheeses sent to Andrew Jackson (a 1400 pound wheel in 1835) and Barack Obama memorialized event with 2 Big Block of Cheese Day. But role of giant cheese in Canadian history should not be forgotten or ignored.
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4. In 1866 dairy farmers in Ontario produced a block of cheese weighing 7,300 pounds. This inspired James McIntyre to issue two poems, widely regarded as the worst verse in Canadian history: “Prophecy of a Ten Ton Cheese” & "Ode To a Mammoth Chesse"
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5. From McIntyre's "Ode": We have seen the Queen of cheese, Laying quietly at your ease, Gently fanned by evening breeze -- Thy fair form no flies dare seize. All gaily dressed soon you'll go To the great Provincial Show, To be admired by many a beau In the city of Toronto.
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6. McIntyre's entire awful poem can be found here. I think it had a strong effect on Canadian literature with a negative reaction, a literary lactose intolerance.https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poems/ode-mammoth-cheese-weighing-over-7000-pounds …
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7. In 1893, Ontario created another giant cheese (or maybe added to the earlier one?) sending it to the Chicago World's Fair, where it was seen by Alice Munro's mother. Is it possible the cheese & McIntyre's poem shape Munro's efforts to push Canadian literature beyond kitsch?
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