What's the Difference Between East Coast and West Coast Butter?

Like Hardee's and Carl's Jr. or Edy's and Dreyer's ice creams, food brands can look a little different depending on your coastal persuasion.

Did you know, butter on the East Coast is a different shape than butter on the West Coast? If you didn't know that, you're not the only one. The shocking news that not all butter is created equally may feel like a bitter betrayal, but if you've only ever seen your coast's butter, you would never know there's a difference.

East Coast vs. West Coast Butter

The two butter sticks are equal in quantity. In other words, you get the same amount of butter no matter what coast you're on: eight tablespoons, or four ounces in a stick. However, the difference comes in the shape of the sticks.

On the East Coast, sticks of butter are long and skinny. On the West Coast (west of The Rockies and Dakotas), sticks of butter are shorter and squatty. In fact, West Coast sticks of butter are sometimes referred to as "stubbies."

The reason the two coasts' butters differ in size is an interesting story — maybe not as fun as the name "stubbies," but exciting nonetheless. It all boils down to the type of "butter printer" that is used to cut the butter.

Butter used to be sold in one-pound blocks that you would have to hack away at every time you needed it. (Irish and European butters are sold that way today.) But in 1906, a New Orleans restaurant requested that dairies divide butter in four quarter-pound sticks rather than one big chunk — and the butter companies obliged.

At that time, Elgin Butter Company in Elgin, Ill., which was known as the Butter Capital of the World, was producing much of the butter in the Midwest and East coast. This company developed the Elgin Butter Cutter, which created the standard shape for East Coast butter — also called the Elgin stick.

In the 1960s, California farms and dairies entered the butter game and began producing their own sticks using their own machines. These new machines produced the short and stout butter that is West Coast butter, or stubbies.

Are the Two Sizes Still Made Today?

These butter sizes have been the norm since the divide in the '60s, but stubbies aren't as common as they once were. As national dairy brands take up more shelf space in grocery stores, some of the stubbies have been replaced by Elgin sticks on the West Coast.

Still, some companies, like Minnesota-based Land O'Lakes, produce both sizes. Land O'Lakes began selling West Coast butter in 2007 in 10 states.

If you're an East Coast or West Coast transplant, the butter sizes don't really make a difference when it comes to cooking or baking. The only time you might notice an issue is if you use a butter dish — but that can easily be solved by purchasing a butter dish that fits both East Coast and West Coast butters.

Related:

• What is Irish Butter?
• Can You Leave Butter on the Counter?