The Cheddar Curtain is a cultural divide between Wisconsin and Illinois, known for its cheese and Green Bay Packers fans. Wisconsin’s dairy industry is heavily promoted and relied upon for tourism and economic success.
The line that separates Wisconsin and Illinois may seem like just a dark line on a map to some, but to many residents of both states, it’s a philosophical and cultural division known as the Cheddar Curtain. Probably not as divisive as the original Iron Curtain, it outlines a shift from the pastoral farmlands of Illinois to the dairy country of Wisconsin. Once visitors have passed through the Cheddar Curtain, their paths are bound to cross with a dairy product.
Wisconsin is world famous for its cheeses, especially Wisconsin cheddar and Swiss varieties. This reputation for producing quality cheese, and the subsequent promotion of its dairy industry, has been known to grate (pun intended) on the nerves of some Illinois residents who are regularly asked for directions out of state and in the Wisconsin. While other states bordering Wisconsin also refer to the Cheddar Curtain, the state of Illinois seems to take more pleasure in the description.
The Cheddar Curtain also refers to another passion of many Wisconsin residents; support the Green Bay Packers, a professional soccer team based in a freezer known as the city of Green Bay. Dedicated fans of the Green Bay Packers are known as “cheese heads,” and many of them choose to wear foam headgear in the shape of a wedge of cheddar cheese.
Because temperatures in Green Bay can drop below 0°F (-18°C) during football season, devoted Packers fans are considered among the most dedicated in the league. This devotion to a football team in the face of frostbite and hypothermia often remains a mystery to those who live outside the Cheddar Curtain.
Life behind the cheddar curtain often centers on the production, promotion, or grudging acceptance of cheese and other dairy products. There is every chance that the economy of a small Wisconsin town depends heavily on the tourist trade, and many tourists who travel to Wisconsin expect to taste and buy authentic Wisconsin cheese, just like visitors to the Wisconsin wine country. California would expect to taste fine domestic wines. While some may view such a devotion to all things cheese as a borderline obsession, those Wisconsin residents whose livelihoods depend on the continued success of the dairy industry might tend to disagree.
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