Philadelphia Cream Cheese Comes From Philadelphia New York

If you enjoy Philadelphia Cream Cheese, you can enjoy it even more than normal. Apparently Philadelphia Cream Cheese isn't from Philly, but from Philadelphia New York.

Ready to get your mind blown?

Philadelphia Cream Cheese is not from Philadelphia. It’s not made there now, nor was it at any point in its 138-year history. It all comes from Upstate New York:

In 1880, when New York cheese broker Alvah Reynolds pitched New York dairyman William Lawrence on creating better branding for his new product — which was richer, creamier and fresher than the more common Neufchatel cheese — Philly was widely considered the country’s top spot for high-quality dairy.

Thanks to location dissonance, myths about the brand abound. “It was invented by someone in Philly and then stolen,” or “It’s actually from Philadelphia, N.Y. (Pop. 1,947),” read histories in various reputable cookbooks and culinary magazines."

This isn't the Mandela Effect, this is the real deal.

Back in the 1880s, Philadelphia Cream Cheese sold so well that other people began producing cheese to vend under the label at multiple locations. All of these locations were in Upstate. (all of which were in upstate New York). In 1903, he sold the rights to the flourishing brand to Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Phenix Cheese Co. In 1928, Phenix merged with Chicago’s Kraft Cheese Company, which had become a household name due to the success of its processed cheese sold in tins (aka Velveeta). The combined company, now called Kraft-Phenix, supplied around 40 percent of all cheese consumed in America."

So, it comes from Upstate, not Philly. Cream cheese is as native to Upstate New York as Chicken Riggies and tomato pie.

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, I must be the last person on the Big Frog staff to not know this.

I may be the only New Yorker who didn't realize Philadelphia cream cheese didn't come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It actually came from Philadelphia, New York; a place I didn't even know existed."

No Polly, Wheeler didn't know either.

BONUS VIDEO