1727 "…weighed into pounds, and rolled into long rolls of a yard or three quarters long, then in hot weather ‘tis put into a basket and hung all night in the well, within a yard, or yard and half of the water, which will make it stiff: and in these long rolls ‘tis carried to Cambridge market for to be cut into a size (half-peny-worth) or a qu. (the third part of a farthing.)"
Houghton, John. Husbandry and Trade Improv'd. Revised… by Richard Bradley. London: 1727
1900 SELLING BUTTER BY THE YARD An English Town in Which the Product Is Sold by Lineal Measure
Probably Cambridge, England, is the only place In the world where one would be likely to find butter sold by lineal measure, but here, in accordance with the old custom, it is sold by the yard. For generations it has been the practice of Cambridgeshire dairy folk to roll their butter into lengths, each length measuring a yard and weighing a pound. Deftly wrapped in strips of clean white cloth, the cylindrical rolls are packed in long and narrow baskets made for the purpose, and thus conveyed to market. The butter women that in white linen aprons and sleeves preside over the stalls in the mart have no need of weights or scales for dispensing their wares. Constant practice and an experienced eye enable them with a stroke of the knife to divide a yard of butter into halves or quarters with almost mathematical exactness. The university people are the chief buyers of this curiously shaped article. In addition to being famed for its purity and sweetness, Cambridge "yard butter" is eminently adapted for serving out to the university students in the daily commons. Cut in conveniently sized pieces and accompanied by a loaf of the best wheaten bread a stated portion is sent round every morning to the rooms of the undergraduates for use at the daily breakfast and tea. —Southern Agriculturist.
Los Angeles Herald. p. 7. August 19, 1900
1853 The mode of preparing fresh butter for the market is either by making it into rolls of two pounds, or into flat round cakes of one pound or half a pound each, which are impressed with some figure cut in a round piece of wood like a large seal, hence called prints. The rolls are made oblong with four sides slightly flattened by throwing the lump on a stone or board successively on each of the four sides, and then on the two ends. This requires some dexterity. Which is soon acquired, and it is done to avoid unnecessary handling.
Rham, Rev. William Lewis. Dictionary of the Farm. London: 1853 p82
1873 Epping and Cambridge Butters have long been famous. … The Cambridgeshire butter is produced from cows that feed one part of the year on chalky uplands, and the other on rich meadows or fens, which alternation is thought to explain its excellence. … In Cambridgeshire butter is made up into rolls a yard long, and passed through a ring, for the convenience of dividing it into small portions without the trouble of weighing; hence the butter is said to be sold by the yard.
Cassell’s Household Guide. v.3. London: 1873. p290-1
Photo of Cambridgeshire butter roll and basket from Inns of Cambridge blog HERE or capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk. photo 56 HERE
UPCOMING TALKS
May 1 Fri 12 Plant Science Conversations: Conservation Seed Banking. Dr. Jassamine Finch, Dr. Susan Pell. USBG U.S. Botanic Garden Online HERE
May 3 Sun 2 My Culinary Writing Career. Nevin Martell. CHoW Culinary Historians of Washington DC. $10 for non-members HERE Info on talk HERE
May 5 Tue 12:30 ‘Private dinners, tavern suppers, convivial meetings and perhaps intemperance itself’: the role of political sociability in establishing and maintaining political friendship and alliances in late-Hanoverian Britain, 1760-1837. Brendan Tam. Institute of Historical Research. HERE IHR TAPE maybe HERE
May 5 Tue 7 The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution. During the Little Ice Age… Benjamin Franklin believed that his stove could provide snug indoor comfort despite another, related crisis: a shortage of wood caused by widespread deforestation. Joyce E. Chaplin. American Antiquarian Society. Hybrid HERE. TAPE may be HERE
May 7 Thu 3 The Four Corners Potato: Indigenous Subsistence and Agricultural Legacy on the Colorado Plateau. “The Four Corners Potato (Solanum Jamesii), a 10,900-year-old native potato, is strongly associated with the archaeological complexity and ecological diversity of the Bears Ears region on the Colorado Plateau.” Cynthia Wilson and Alastair Bitsoi. American Philosophical Society. HERE. TAPE maybe HERE
May 12 Tue 12:30 Feeding the Nation’s Children: School Meals, Inequality, and the Politics of Care in Modern Britain. Heather Ellis. Institute of Historical Research. HERE IHR TAPE maybe HERE
May 13 Wed 6:30 The Pierogi Problem. authors Fabio Parasecoli, Agata Bachorz, and Mateusz Halawa. Culinary Historians of New York $10 HERE TAPE may be HERE
May 13 Wed 6:30 Blooks: the Quirky World of Culinary Objects in Book Form. From the Collection of and presented by Mindell Dubansky. The International Museum of Dinnerware Design IMoDD HERE TAPE maybe HERE or at website.
May 13 Wed 8 The Dining Room. John Ota. Culinary Historians of Chicago HERE TAPE maybe HERE
May 14 Thu 12:30 Medieval/Early Modern Cookbooks. Adriana Sohodoleanu, Daniela Gutiérrez Flores. Institute of Historical Research. HERE IHR TAPE maybe HERE
May 18 Mon 6 Revolutionary Narratives: From Broadsides to Hollywood. “how disinformation and shifting ideologies influenced understanding of the American Revolution.” Jordan Taylor, Michael D. Hattem. Massachusetts Historical Society. Hybrid HERE
May 21 Thur 7 The 10 Most Influential Cookbooks in American History. Dr. Leslie Goddard. Hicksville Public Library HERE
May 24 Sun 8-9:30 SPAM! A Global History. Kelly Spring. Bay Area Culinary Historians BACH HERE
May 27 Wed 12 Caring for Your Family's Personal Archives. $5 Historic New England HERE
May 28 Thur 12:30 Indian Food. Tarana Husain Khan, Aditi Das. Institute of Historical Research. HERE IHR TAPE maybe HERE
May 28 Thu 7:30 Stewarding with Stories: Sustaining Fish and Community on Lewis Island. “Lewis Fishery— the last remaining commercial traditional haul-seine fishery on the non-tidal Delaware River.” Dr. Charlie Groth. Delaware River Greenway Partnership HERE. TAPE maybe HERE
CALENDAR OF VIRTUAL FOOD HISTORY TALKS HERE
©2026 Patricia Bixler Reber
Researching Food History HOME
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