In January 2022, Panic Inc. co-founder Cabel Sasser tweeted an ad for “a smarter butter dish” that promises to hold both “West & East Coast butter” and shows two differently shaped sticks to represent each. AdvertisementTIL that there are two different sizes of butter sticks and also that idiots previously designed butter dishes with such tolerances that they simply couldn’t fit both types from the get go. Indeed, butter on the East Coast tends to be sold in long and narrow sticks, while on the West Coast, the sticks are shorter and wider (and sometimes called “stubbies”). Over time, these skinny East Coast sticks of butter came to be known as Elgin sticks after Elgin Butter Co. in Elgin, Illinois, which was once known as the butter capital of the world. The Elgin Butter Co. manufactured the widely used butter press (the Elgin Butter Cutter) that standardized the shape and size.

Source: Huffington Post November 16, 2025 16:15 UTC