Since I'm still feeling like a rag doll (but not wanting to leave you with nothing to read), I thought you might like this piece I posted on my photoblog back on March 23, 2006.
Perhaps those of a certain age will remember...... glass.
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When I was growing up in the 1950's moms stayed at home, and dads went to work. It was the only possibility because no one had two cars. Never heard of anyone having two cars - many didn't even have one car. They took public transporation to work.
Milk was delivered fresh on our doorstep by a great guy in a sparkling white uniform with a snappy hat and a black bow tie. Bread was delivered too, because we only did grocery shopping on the weekends.
Milk is still delivered around here, in real glasses bottles, by Oberweis Dairy. These are not Oberweis dairy bottles, but Craftons, from a old time dairy in California. I was forced to reach into my archive of photos since I inadvertently erased todays shoot. That's OK, it allows me to bring you this image that invokes the past. Oberweis dairy hosted a gathering of Milk Delivery Truck Collectors. They gathered last summer on the stinking hottest day of the year. It was almost impossible to enjoy the beautiful restored vehicles.
Crafton was a family owned dairy in California. These are the original bottles and caps, although for display purposes filled with tiny white styrofoam beads.
I hope you're one of those that remembers milk in glass bottles. I just tastes different - - - believe me on this one!
22 comments:
Glad you are mostly back in the land of the living!
We have a local company in Missouri that sells their milk in glass. You can buy it in our local grocery stores. It does taste so much better. Skim milk has a much richer flavor. I don't remember glass bottles but I do remember having our milk delivered.
Suzanne,
I've been meaning to send you get-well wishes. Hope you are on the mend. Thanks so much for that nostalgic evocative photo!
I, too, grew up in the 1950's in a relatively rural circumstance. We didn't have milk delivered, nor did we have a cow. We were kind of middle-of-the-road "rural." We bought milk in gallon jars from a neighbor who had cows. Not a dairy. Just cows. There was always a cream layer at the top that took perhaps 4 inches of the big "pickle jar." Mom used that for all kinds of good things.
Today, my husband and I have a few milk cows. Not a dairy. Just "hand-milking" cows--and we enjoy the good nutrition the milk provides, as well as the variety of foods that can be made from the milk, including cottage cheese, cheddar, ice cream, butter...and more...and we also get our real vitamin D, as well. Thanks for that wonderful picture. I wish we could find a supply of those bottles somewhere!
And, get well soon!
Elora
Milk in glass bottles is truly one of the best things ever. I would love to get my hands on one of the old metal milk boxes -- such great memories. I remember the one time we (my three brothers and I -- probably all under the age of six) filled the box with grasshoppers. We never saw the milkman open it (he arrived too early), but, oh, we must have given him a heart attack!
We can buy our milk in glass bottles at our local dairy. I should....but I am too lazy to make space for them and remember to take them back.
My father-in-law used to tell us about how much milk was delivered to their large vegetable farm family.
An amazing several gallons every other day.
Becky K.
I'm glad that you're feeling better! I hope that you get your strength back soon.
Back in the 1980's my husband delivered milk and he drove one of those old Divco trucks. Even then it was a nostalgic vehicle. Somewhere in the garage I still have one of the old metal carriers with some glass bottles in it.
i remember when I was a kid in the early 1960's we would get milk from the dairy and they also sold fruit punch in glass bottles. It was that bright red stuff that would give you a punch mustache for days. Heaven only knows what warped things that concoction of sugar and red dye did to our growing bodies, but we slurped it up at every birthday party we went to. Ah, the good old days...
Glad to hear you are feeling a little better:)
I grew up in the 50s with one of those insulated metal boxes on the porch where the milkman would put our milk and butter.
For years after milk delivery stopped, my mom kept her garden gloves and pruners in there. We probably still have it somewhere.
I'm not old enough to remember milk delivered in glass bottles or milk delivered any way at all. However, there is a dairy near Topeka that sells milk in glass bottles at some of the local grocery stores. For a while we also bought milk fresh from a small family farm. We lived in Wichita then and traveled 45 minutes each way to Whitewater once a week to get the milk. It was always a highlight of our week and the kids loved the opportunity to take a drive out in the country and see the animals. We bought unpasteurized cow's milk in glass gallon jars and for a while bought unpasteurized goat's milk for our two youngest when they were being weaned. I wish I had someone to buy milk from now. I miss scraping that thick, rich cream off the top for my coffee. The milk sold in the glass jars in the grocery store is incredible in comparison to the milk in the plastic jugs, but even it cannot touch that milk fresh from the farm.
I'm too young to remember milk delivery. Both my parents grew up on farms, so they didn't get milk delivered either - had to milk the cows to get their milk, which is what I do now.
I do remember that we had a party line phone line for the longest time, when I was a kid. I remember that we shared our phone line with 2 neighbours, I think. Each home had a different ring, and when you wanted to make a call, you had to listen first to see if someone was already on the line.
Another neighbour always had to come to our yard to use the pay phone (we had a small rural store) because they had their phone service cancelled for using bad language constantly on the party line. Living in a rural area, we probably had the party line system for longer than most other areas. It was well into the '80's before it changed to private lines.
ah yes ... glass ... and we only had to go as far as the barn to get the milk and the top cream ... you haven't lived unless you've had top cream ...
Suzanne, this does bring back great memories! Back in Danbury, Connecticut ~ there is a dairy that still has Home Delivery and their milk is in a half gallon glass bottle.
Somehow, milk always taste better poured out of a glass bottle...
Continue to take it easy, cause you don't want that nasty flu to return.
Thanks for the memories. We used to save the cardboard caps and after we had a certain amount could 'trade' them in for an ice cream cone. I can remember walking to the dairy store to get milk in those glass bottles. I even have one I found at a flea market from our local dairy, Richard's in St. Johns, MI. Today I have a milk share and we get a gallon every week of organic cow's milk. We don't drink a lot of milk but I make cheese and yogurt and use it in my baking.
I am glad you are better. I miss you when you aren't here.
Pam
Thanks for the memories. My mom still has the milk chute at her back door. I remember we used to tease our little brother that one day instead of milk, the milkman left him!
I remember having a milk man when I was a young bride and my husband was stationed at Ft. Sill, OK. It was wonderful.
Glad you are feeling better.
I grew up in suburbia in California in the 60's but I remember having our milk delivered to a metal box on the front porch. I also remember the bread truck coming to our street and all the neighbors would come out to buy bread from him.
Now that I live in a semi-rural area it seems the only cows I see are beef cows. Maybe I need to see if I can find a local dairy.
Thanks for the memories and glad to hear you're feeling better!
Oh boy...a trip down memory lane filling my mind with pleasant pictures. I lived in Cleveland, OH and our milk in the early 50's was delivered by a horse drawn milk wagon, yes. Our milkman would chip off chunks of ice for us in the summer. From 1966-1968 my milk was delivered in a bottle in Warrensville Hts., Ohio. Yes, it did taste good...what a precious memory. Harriet
Oh yes! How I remember the glass bottles of milk that were delivered to our door even into the early 1960's. There was a milk creamery right in town that brought it and placed it in a small cooling box just inside our garage door. Best milk ever!
Di
The Blue Ridge Gal
i can't believe you are posting anything
while recovering from the flu.
get well soon!
YES, I remember the milkman leaving glass gallon jugs on our doorstep from Prickett Dairy--and YES my sister and I both say it tastes better in glass - gets colder too! I miss those times--life seemed simpler- V.
When we used to live near Batavia and would buy our milk from Oberweis. It was my first experience with milk from a glass container. Of the few things I miss from that area (certainly not the traffic or the cost of living) Oberweis milk and ice cream are at the top of my list!
We must be of the same vintage! I remember having an insulated box on our porch with regular milk deliveries when I was young. How sweet life was then - still is, but just different.
Yes! It definitely does taste different and far better! I remember. I do remember.
Hope that everyone is on the mend. (We feel the weariness deep in our bones. I feel that I could go to bed and sleep for a week. Maybe it's some Geritol we be needing. ;D)
OH SUE!! it DOES taste differant! Cold milk from our tank comes home in a glass jar with a handle!!!!
I know I'm late on this, but hopefully everyone is healthy in your house at this point! We are in the midst of stomach bug central so I completely feel your pain.
I had to comment because I so agree with glass milk being better. We had it growing up and I just recently found milk delivery from the local farm here where we live. I'll never go back!
I love your aprons btw. They're beautiful!
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