Photo courtesy of Duane DeJong
June 30th - the last day of National Dairy Month 2012. Given that Clover Stornetta Farms will be celebrating their 35th anniversary in August I thought perhaps something related to the Clover brand might be called for.
Some people may not be aware that there was a "Clover" before there was a Clover Stornetta Farms and that the Clover brand was actually established in 1916 when the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery filed for and received claim to the trade mark: Clover Brand Butter.
PCC employee, Stan Buckett (in cap) shows an unidentified man a carton of cottage cheese. SCL Photo not yet cataloged.
In 1929 the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery began bottling milk under the Clover name. The first day's bottling was 50 quarts. The trademark for "Clover Brand Products" was established in 1930.
Cottage cheese was added to the Clover Brand line of dairy products in 1933 with a production rate of 150 pounds per day.
Clo the Cow appeared as the official Clover Brand mascot in 1969.
On August 20, 1975, much of what was then known as the California Cooperative Creamery plant was destroyed by fire.
Petaluma Argus Courier August 21, 1975, page 1
On August 1, 1977, Gene Benedetti, the Cooperative's manager, along with other Creamery employees: John Markusen, Bill Van Dam, Paul Ross, Dan Benedetti and Gary Imm purchased the Clover brand name as well as the wholesale and retail distribution business from the Co-op and the Napa based Stornetta brothers and founded Clover-Stornetta Farms.
Photo courtesy of Duane DeJong
Interested in learning more about the history of the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery, Clo the Cow, Clover-Stornetta Farms and other dairy related subjects then be sure to check the holdings of the Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library. Here you will find such materials as:
Petauma Cooperative Creamery Stock Certificates 1916-1917
Petaluma Cooperative Creamery Insurance Records 1925-1960
Wholly Cow: A Forty Year Retrospective of Clo the Cow's Billboards - 2010
North Coast Excellence Certified: Profiles of Clover Stornetta Dairy Farmers - 2009
On DVD - I Moo, Therefore I Am produced by Clover-Stornetta Farms in 2005
Oral History - Gene Benedetti: Founder of Clover Stornetta Farms with an Introduction by Larry Maes; interviews conducted by Judith Dunning in 2001
