I recently happened to think about "The Whiffenpoof Song" (don't ask why!), and it occurred to me to wonder what some of the words referred to. So I went to that wonder of the modern, on-line world, Wikipedia. I found there some info on the song and also on "The Whiffenpoofs," who were (and still are!) a Yale singing society.
The Wikipedia entry immortalized (in infamy) a man who was a contestant on Jeopardy! Here is the quote from Wikipedia:
"On one episode of Jeopardy!, aired July 23, 2009, contestant Stefan Goodreau responded to the Final Jeopardy! clue of 'This cheese was created in 1892 by Emil Frey & named for a New York singing society whose members loved the cheese' with 'What is Whiffenpoof cheese?' He was incorrect (the correct response was 'What is Liederkranz?') and lost $20,065 but still won the game."
Even if Mr. Goodreau did not know that Liederkranz means "circle of song" (and probably he does not know German), it seems to me he still might have known that the "Whiffs" whom he was thinking of are not a "New York singing society" but a Yale (and thus New Haven) singing society.
Anyway, of course there is no such thing as "Whiffenpoof cheese," but this got me thinking about Liederkranz, and wanting some. I happen to like ripe cheeses. I didn't find any Liederkranz in my local supermarket (I know another store at which I could be pretty sure of finding it), but I merely bought Limburger, instead, because I think it's similar. They both are, shall we say, odiferous, and that no doubt keeps a lot of people away. I, on the other hand, love stinking cheeses--might be the German in my ancestry--and I am enjoying my Limburger, thank you very much.
Copyright (c) 2009 by Richard Stein
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