Cheese Lincoln
Originally uploaded by tiffany bridge

Yes, that’s a 6’8 statue of Abraham Lincoln carved out of mild cheddar on Constitution in front of the American Pharmacists Association building. You are not hallucinating.

For each of the past three years, CHEEZ-IT has sponsored a massive cheese carving of some patriotic theme in honor of Independence Day. Cheese sculptor Troy Landwehr has been their go-to-cheesehead, creating a Mount Rushmore and a Signing of the Declaration of Independence in the last two years. The choice to carve Lincoln in pasteurized dairy product is to honor the 14th president’s bicentennial year.

The sculpture took about 40 hours in a near-freezing room to complete, says Landwehr. It started as a 1000-pound round, and the completed sculpture weighs about 700 pounds. Landwehr prefers to work in mild cheddar over other cheeses because it has the right texture and consistency for carving. Even sharp cheddar is too crumbly. (I swear to God I’m not making this up.)

CHEEZ-IT staff assisted passerby with taking photos with Cheese Lincoln, and passed out single-serving bags of CHEEZ-ITs. Unfortunately, American Pharmacists Association staff did NOT pass out leaflets on cholesterol management.

View even more photos of Cheese Lincoln on Flickr.

Tiffany Bridge

Tiffany Baxendell Bridge is an Internet enthusiast and an incurable smartass. When not heckling the neighborhood political scene on Twitter, she can be found goofing off with her ukulele, Bollywood dancing, or obsessing about cult TV. She is That Woman With the Baby In the Bar.

Tiffany lives in Brookland with her husband Tom, son Charlie, and two high-maintenance cats. Read why Tiffany loves DC.