This Thursday, we bring you a throwback that’s not really so far back, but maybe just far enough back that you may not remember it. This week, we're remembering the milkman. If you’re too young to remember the door-to-door delivery of this precious product well…just keep reading. And FYI, this home delivery is making a comeback.
Throwback Thursday’s: Remember The Milkman
Once upon a time, milk was once delivered directly to our homes and homesteads! The delivery of fresh milk from local dairies and creameries was all of the rage back in the 50’s and 60’s; heck it even carried on into the 70’s in some places. During the late hours of the night and into the wee hours of the morning, the milkmen would load up their refrigerated milk trucks and make their way through the whole town.
Milk Was Delivered Fresh Right To Your Doorstep
The milk was brought fresh in big churns that helped keep the products cooler in the refrigeration. Once he arrived at your home, the milkman filled your empty bottles with milk fresh from surrounding local farmers and creameries. Different milk companies did things differently. Some of you may remember the easy exchange of glass bottles. In this case, you put your clean empty glass milk bottles out on the porch, and in the morning the truck came and simply swapped out the empty ones for full ones.
It Became A Thing Of The Past
Life went on in this manner until around 1975. Around the year 1975, the milk carrier became a thing that went out of style, like 8-track players, shag rugs, and bell bottoms. It seems as though life got harder, time got shorter, and income became iffy. The development of the extended shelf-life on milk led to a majority of people purchasing their milk from the local grocery store. Not only was the shelf-life increased, but the prices were less. However, this also meant that the milk was watered down and stripped of its natural nutrients and vitamins.
Making A Comeback
As usual, history repeats itself. It seems as though home delivery of your milk and dairy products is making a comeback! As one example, a company called South Mountain Creamery located in Middletown, Maryland delivers fresh dairy to your front door. Imagine milk bottled in glass arriving at your door just in time for breakfast. The milkman comes over, removes your old glass bottles, and replaces them with full ones. South Mountain Creamery actually provides several dairy products outside of just milk to the neighborhood.
The Reason
More and more people are in search of a better and more sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle. The idea of eliminating more plastic milk jugs and replacing them with something eco-friendly and easy to use is attractive to many. Consider how many milk jugs no longer pile up in the landfills! Glass is easier to breakdown and safer for the environment all around. Today, you'll actually see both men and women delivering your milk, so I guess the proper title is now milk persons!
The Benefits
Because it's now becoming feasible for people to return to this way of life, I want to share a few of the benefits of bringing back the old-school way of receiving your milk:
- More eco-friendly and sustainable.
- Saves money and time.
- Get your milk as fresh as it gets – unless you live on a dairy farm that is.
- Less gas is used going to pick up milk. Having one car make all the rounds produces fewer emissions.
- Scheduled deliveries mean the elimination of remembering to pick up the milk after work. It always sucks to get home from work, and then when you're preparing dinner, realize you have to go back out.
- Local purchasing and providing support to your local farmers.
- Since the creamery is local, it means you can physically go check out the place that produces your goods. That’s always a good thing to do.
Conjostudios shows us a video of South Mountain Creamery's Commercial:
I hope you’ve all enjoyed today’s walk down memory lane! Speaking of Memory Lane, that's the name of another company that bottles their milk in glass jugs. They’re based out of Missouri but deliver to some surrounding areas. Happy memories!
What do you think about this Throwback Thursday's milkman? Let us know in the comments below.
Here's how to do dairy all by yourself!
We had little insulated boxes on the front porch where the milkman placed the fresh milk. Is that something they will do again?
It very well might be. The South Mountain Creamery uses some sort of boxes that keep the milk and dairy fresh. So it’s totally possible!