No, Cream Cheese Was Not ‘Accidentally Invented’
In a letter to the editor of the Forward, writer Jeffrey Marx sets the record straight surrounding the myth of cream cheese being an accidental invention. Marx claims that while Lawrence was indeed the first man in America to sell and manufacture cream cheese on a large scale, “directions for making cream cheese can be found in a Pennsylvania newspaper as early as 1769” (per Forward). Marx expands upon the history of cream cheese for Food, Culture & Society with his 2012 essay, “The Days Had Come of Curd and Cream.”
So while cream cheese wasn’t accidentally invented by Lawrence, he did play a key role in its rise to dominance with clever marketing. Cream cheese has nothing to do with Philadelphia, and as for the date on the Philadelphia packaging that says “since 1872,” Marx also thinks this is wrong. According to Mashable, Marx states that the year of Lawrence’s entrepreneurial push was likely between 1875-77, and the backdating was another marketing ploy.
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