The Men Who Carry Cheese
by It’s one of the most unusual jobs you will find on the planet and a spectacle tourists travel thousands of miles to see.
It’s a profession with a four-hundred year past. A profession that requires a two-year apprenticeship. A profession that does one very special thing. Carry cheese.
There is a tradition in one town in the Netherlands. Since the Middle Ages, men in Alkmaar have been carrying cheese. Professionally. Specifically they are carrying wheels of cheese from their marketplace to a weigh station, then back out to be hauled away. And as I mentioned above, if you want to be a Cheese Carrier, you must undertake a 2-year apprenticeship.
Why all the fuss for what sounds like just a dairy delivery boy? Well, it’s all about tradition. The Cheese Carriers Guild was formally founded all the way back in 1619. So far its members have only been men. They dress in immaculate white uniforms and are separated into 4 companies, each led by a foreman called overman. This is a pretty important job considering the only thing up for sale at the Alkmaar marketplace is cheese – 66,000 pounds of it!
Up until World War I this cheese market was a necessary business for the town of Alkmaar. Now it’s mostly just a tourist attraction. On Friday mornings at 9:00am the square begins to fill with tourists. At 10:00am the bell sounds to start the market, and the place is packed.
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Post CommentK.Reshma
On December 5, 2009 at 10:41 am
Wow! Great article
Yovita Siswati
On December 5, 2009 at 11:05 am
Interesting! I never knew this before.
speckledlily
On December 5, 2009 at 11:37 am
I never knew this. I was amazed that to become a cheese carrier, one must undergo 2-year apprenticeship?
Interesting! Thanks.
diamondpoet
On December 5, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Great and interesting story. thanks for sharing.
johnnydod
On December 7, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I remember once I watched this, it is quite a spectacle. lovely interesting read thank you for sharing.