The Philadelphia-Brand Cream Cheese We All Know And Love Was Never Actually Made In Philly

Nothing beats the feeling of slapping a chunk of cream cheese onto a fresh bagel on a Saturday morning or cranking up the KitchenAid to turn that brick of cream cheese into a tasty cheesecake for Sunday dinner. That is, of course, unless you prefer butter on your toast or bagels and fruit in your cakes instead — but we're not here to argue that inclination. It'd be impossible to speak about cream cheese without bringing up the OG brand, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but it's also worth noting that this brand's name is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy.

That's right, even though the brand is named after an actual Pennsylvanian city, the cream cheese is not and has never been created in Philadelphia — it's actually from New York. In 1872, a New Yorker named William Lawrence added too much cream to his recipe for Neufchâtel cheese, thus practically inventing cream cheese (even though variations had existed in America for centuries). In 1880, Lawrence was approached by cheese broker Alvah Reynolds, who suggested that he name his new cheese "Philadelphia," to reflect an air of luxury associated with Philadelphia at the time. The product took off, and Philadelphia cream cheese quickly became a hit, but the now-infamous Philadelphia brick didn't hit shelves until 1939.

Back in the day, it was much harder to transport dairy products across long distances due to the fact that they would easily spoil. Philadelphia was rich with farmlands and cows, which made the city a hotspot for luxury dairy items. This included Europe's Neufchâtel cheese — yes, there is a difference between Neufchâtel and cream cheese — and other delicate cheeses in the late 1800s. It was this well-known reputation for high-quality dairy that inspired Reynolds to employ the marketing trick of the century and let people's assumptions about the brand sell the product, which it did.

The Philadelphia cream cheese brand went through several ownership changes throughout the years, but it's still alive, thriving, and releasing first-of-its-kind items in the freezer aisle. In 1903, the brand was sold to the Phenix Cheese Company of New York, only to later merge with Kraft Foods (which eventually became Kraft Heinz) in 1928. About 50 years after its invention, Philadelphia Cream Cheese utilized shelf-stabilizing products, which meant distribution expanded nationwide, and Philadelphia became a household name — even if it technically originated in New York.