For those who don’t know, the cracker barrel itself was a staple at any old country store. Folks could get a handful of soda crackers from the barrel, then a nickel’s worth of hoop cheese from the big wheel on the counter, and lunch was ready. The hoop cheese cutter was a big, round object made of iron and wood. The base turned when the blade was up, so shopkeepers could measure out just the amount you wanted. Then the blade was brought down to make a clean, quick cut. Scale companies manufactured most hoop cheese cutters, and the old ones have become very rare over the last few years. In the early days, every Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® had a hoop cheese cutter, and sold hoop cheese. But these days, we find that people are more interested in our chicken n’ dumplins for lunch than cheese and crackers.