Cheesehead is a nickname in the United States for a person from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

or for a fan of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Background

Wisconsin is associated with cheese because the state historically produced more

dairy product Dairy products or milk products are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, goat, nanny goat, and Sheep, ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food around the world such as y ...

s than other American states, giving it the nickname "America's Dairyland". The use of the term "Cheesehead" as a derogatory word for Wisconsinites originated with

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

fans to refer to opposing Wisconsin sports fans. The term, however, was quickly embraced by Wisconsinites and is now a point of pride.

Other uses

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, German soldiers mockingly referred to the Dutch as cheeseheads because of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

' extensive dairy farming industry. The Dutch term ''kaaskop'', literally "cheese head", is considered a

profanity Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally word taboo, offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such a ...

to refer to a person as stupid or dense. In the 1969 novel '' Papillon'', the term was used to describe the unsophisticated jurors who voted to convict the main character.

Cheesehead hat

Rose Bruno first saw a cardboard "Cheesehead" hat at a

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

vs.

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

game in Chicago in 1987 worn by fellow Milwaukeean Amerik Wojciechowski.. Ralph Bruno later made the first one out of foam while he was cutting up his mother's couch. It was made popular by centerfielder Rick Manning, who saw the hat while playing. Bruno started a multi-million-dollar business to sell the hats as novelties. The "Cheesehead" trademark is owned by Foamation, Inc. of St. Francis, Wisconsin, which began manufacture of the wearable, foam "Cheesehead" in 1987. Along with the original Cheesehead "wedge", Foamation has made other similar "cheese" apparel, including baseball caps, cowboy hats, and earrings. In 2023, Bruno sold Foamation to the Green Bay Packers, making the Cheesehead official Packers merchandise. The Cheesehead gained attention in 1995, when Packers fan Frank Emmert Jr. was flying on a private plane back to Wisconsin after attending a Packers game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and the plane crashed due to ice accumulation. Emmert suffered a broken ankle and other minor injuries but was saved from further serious injury when he used his Cheesehead for protection in the crash. In 2013, sports fans of Chicago replied to their rivals by wearing cheese graters. Cheesehead hats have evolved beyond sports to become a cultural and political symbol of Wisconsin. Notably, Wisconsin delegates wore Cheesehead hats at both the

2024 Republican National Convention The 2024 Republican National Convention was an event in which delegates of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for President of the United States, president and Vice President of ...

and the

2024 Democratic National Convention The 2024 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention in which delegates of the Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party voted on their party ...

to represent their state.

References

{{Green Bay Packers, state=collapsed 1987 neologisms American regional nicknames Pejorative demonyms History of the Green Bay Packers Spectators of American football Symbols of Wisconsin Wisconsin culture Novelty items Hats Sports memorabilia Cheese in culture

Background

Other uses

Cheesehead hat

See also

References