Memories of the Cheese Wheel in 1930's Detroit, Michigan

C F Smith, small and dimly lit, was one of three main grocery stores; the big A&P, then Krogers and then C F Smith. That is the store that had the amazing Wheel of Cheese and where my mother would send us when she wanted the sharpest and tastiest cheese, especially to go on top of her freshly baked apple pie. And she reminded us to always ask for a taste of cheese from the Wheel of Cheese. We were cheese tasting experts, my sister, Marion and I; always carefully chewing one or two pieces that the grocer had cut from the Wheel and handed to us on a special kind of cheese knife. Sharp or rubbery. We knew he knew when it was rubbery or sharp but he always liked to test our knowledge about cheese. We Really liked the rubbery cheese best. When the cheese was sharp we would ask for 15 cents worth; when the cheese was rubbery, the grocer would wrap a small piece for each of us in wax paper to eat on our way home.