Do you remember milkmen?

My great-uncle, Walter Tusen, owned a small dairy farm in Salem, NH and delivered our milk until he retired...I was about 6 years old then. He sold the farm to Mr. Burke...I never knew the man's first name, he was tall and slim with dark hair and dark rimmed glasses, and even my parents called him Mr. Burke. He got a real kick out of my mother's parakeet, Chippy, especially when the bird yelled SOB (but using the actual words).

Amazing, the things we remember from childhood...
 
We had the "milk box" on the front porch, an insulated metal box. Mom would leave a note to order what she wanted; he would leave the product. Some milkmen also dealt in eggs. The jugs were heavy glass with a paper cap.

I can't remember when my mother started buying milk in the store instead.

Remember back in the 70's when they experimented with selling milk in plastic bags? I bought a plastic pitcher-like thingie that you set the bag down in and somehow pulled the spout on the bag through. I can't remember exactly how it worked because I decided I didn't like getting milk that way. I don't think the concept lasted long.

I remember those grey insulated milk containers on the front porch when I lived with my grandparents on my moms side in Central Islip. They held 6 bottles and when the milkman came early in the morning you could hear him clanking the bottles. He did wear a white uniform with a white hat and I think the name of the company started with a K. I'll have to look that one up. Those milk bags (I gotta keep a clean mind here) were the same thing Farmingdale A&T College had in their cafeteria. They were dispensed from machines like fountain soda and other liquids in convenience stores. That's the only way they were supposed to be dispensed in commercial applications only. At FA&T there were three sets of white milk dispensers and one set was for chocolate milk. Back in the late 60's they were commercially available then eventually they were released for consumer use. Only problem is they didn't tell the consumers that and lot's of milk was spilled in many kitchens by people trying to hold those rather heavy cardboard cartons upside down while trying to pour milk out of those short red spouts. The worst issue was to fit them in fridges back then required you to remove half the racks in order to fit those cinderblocks in it.
 

I don't remember ever seeing a milkman. But I do remember those heavy bottles & that thick cream at the top.

Why are there so many jokes about the milkman or the mailman being the kid's father?

You ever heard of the thing about:

When the husband cat is away working his house mouse is keeping company with the milk mouse and 9 month's later it's house mommy mouse's baby and husband cat's baby maybe.
 
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Yes we had milk delivered. The guy would knock on the door come in and put six quart bottles on the sink. We'd have a little chat and he'd go. I remember it being delivered even when I was in high school. The bread man, the ice cream truck and the beer man would come through regularly too. There was even a guy who'd sell towels, dish cloths and sheets out of his station wagon. He called himself Cheap John.
 
Glass bottle with a cardboard plug with a pull tab to seal it. Went into a wire rack on front porch.

Mom would sometimes carefully pour thick cream from top to whip for REAL whipped cream for strawberry or peach shortcake.

I tried it once. Whipped it too long and it turned into butter.
 
Molly was the last horse to draw a milk wagon on a regular route in our city, she retired in 1952.

This is a picture of some of her pals.

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I was terrified of that big horse pulling the milk wagon and would cross the road until it passed. Now here I am living with many horses...all different sizes...and they wait for me in the early morning to hand out dried apple treats, etc until the hay carts are brought. They are all wonderful!
 
It's a wonder he didn't kill you, Marci.
I had this thing too about dunking white bread in pepsi when I was little. I think the way it fizzed in the bread in my mouth must have entertained me or something. One night after us kids went to bed...dad said he decided to try it just in case he was missing something. LOL! He decided he wasn't. But it made him curious. LMBO!
 
We didn't have a box for our milk and In southern California, we didn't worry about it freezing. The glass jug of milk was just left by the front door and the empty one was left there too. One day I somehow managed to kick the top off the bottle and sit on it. My mother got pretty excited. She wrapped me in guilt and rushed me to a doctor. The doctor sewed me and we went home. I have the scar to prove my story.
 


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