Food - Drink
The Unique Hobby Of Cheese-Label Collecting
By STEPHANIE FRIEDMAN
Collecting objects has been a fun hobby for many people over the years, whether they like to collect mugs, seashells, stickers, or stamps. However, one item that some people are passionate about tracking down is cheese labels — specifically, the ones from wooden boxes of French Camembert.
Per the Oxford Dictionary Press, a tyrosemiophile is “a person who collects the round, colorful labels affixed to wooden boxes of Camembert cheese.” These labels, no bigger than beverage coasters, are highly sought-after, true works of art, featuring a Bambi-esque deer munching on tree leaves, a maid in front of a castle, and a Swiss chalet in the mountains, among others.
Many tyrosemiophiles are a part of the Club Tyrosémiophile de France where they attend annual conferences, trade labels, and hold membership cards featuring a cheese label. Duke University Library, too, has a collection of 400 labels, but the title for the most cheese labels procured goes to Ladislav Likler, who has a collection of 253,393 labels from 125 countries.