Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 June 1896 — Cheese and Courtship. [ARTICLE]

Cheese and Courtship.

Aristocracies In different places and ages have prided themselves on many different things. One of the queerest, perhaps, is the aristocracy according to cheeses, which, according to the Neue Zuricher Zeitung, prevails among the .patricians of Zermatt. The aristocracy of families is valued by the number and age of the cheesos they possess. There are families who possess cheeses made at the time of the French Revolution. When a child is bom, a cheese is manufactured, which is then called by the name of the child. It is partly eaten when its namesake gets married, each wedding-guest tasting a portion. The cheese is then put away again, and finally cut into and finished at the funeral of the person whose name it bears. When a young man woos a maiden, he begs to be allowed to dine with her family on a Sunday. His offer being accepted, the lovers wait anxiously to see whether the girl’s father will cause the cheese to be set on the table. At the end of the long meal, if all goes well, the master of the house solemnly fetches the cheese bearing the would-be bride’s name, sets it on the table, cuts it, and gives a piece to the young couple. When they have eaten it, they are a betrothed pair. The others at the table partake of the cheese and drink to the eternal friendship of the two families. —London News.