I never understood why milk was delivered to my house as a kid. This was so random
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We had ours delivered untill about 4 years ago, we changed because my local dairy farm started selling directly to customers
I grew up in the 70s and helped the milkman at the weekends. In the UK, the delivery vehicle was called a ‘milk float’ and was electric. There were primarily two competing vendors: The Co-op’s floats were blue, and the Unigate floats were red and had three wheels (one at the front). The milk was sold in imperial pint (20oz) glass bottles with a foil cap. Gold top was full cream, silver top was regular homogenized, and red top was skimmed (I think). Houses normally had a little wire bottle holder by the front door with a dial so the customer could request between one and four bottles. The milkman also carried other dairy items like eggs and butter. Often, small birds would peck through the foil top and drink the cream. If my memory serves, a bottle of gold top was 5p. Here’s a YT video that covers some of this. I moved away in the late 80s but I think milk delivery is still a thing in some or the more rural parts of the country. https://youtu.be/AOU17xu5vKo?si=qReCV9FEFqcNRI5w
Direct connection to the source, very fresh, super convenient.
I’m in the Boise area, and dairy delivery is still available ([here](https://www.boisemilk.com/)).
We get fresh milk everyday. It is a norm~ Although, can’t say how much water is mixed in it..:p
Before refrigeration and pasteurization became so widespread milk would spoil very fast. However, people living in cities (miles and miles away from any cows) still wanted fresh milk for cooking and drinking… so what to do?
Well, some folks figured out that they could buy a bunch of milk fresh from dairy farms out of town and bring it directly to customers in their homes that very same day! That way, the fresh milk gets to every customer right away instead of sitting in a supermarket and spoiling if nobody buys it all quickly enough. So, companies started doing these “milk runs” where they’d get a bunch of fresh milk and then deliver it all directly to their customers – essentially a “milk subscription” version of “modern” delivery services like ButcherBox’s “meat subscription” service or HelloFresh’s “meal subscription” services.
Eventually, though, widespread refrigeration and pasteurization meant that a carton of milk could sit on a refrigerated supermarket shelf for almost 2-weeks before going bad, and so folks didn’t *need* to use a subscription delivery service to get milk anymore. So the era of the common “milkman” was mostly over – after having grown to roughly 29.7% of US consumers having their milk delivered in 1963, down to 6.9% by 1975, to 0.4% by 2005.
But from those numbers you can see that the idea didn’t ever completely die out. In a few places the practice continued to exist simply because there were enough customers who wanted the service in some big city to keep *one* milkman in business even if *most* folks wanted to buy milk at the supermarket. In other places, folks wanting “healthier” or more “farm fresh” produce might have signed up for some sort of farm-to-table subscription for fresh/raw/unpasteurized milk or whatever.
Never had milk delivered to my house. Probably just not enough folks looking to take consistent delivery.
I was born in upstate NY in 1979 and I have never known anyone who had milk delivered. In my mind that died out in the 50’s or 60’s. Must have been a regional thing.
… Ya… No. Milk delivery was like pre 70s.
Edit: damm people still get milk deliveries. Damn
But here is an explanation.
People want milk.
Farmers have milk.
Farms far away from people.
People want their damm milk.
People call milk delivery man, “says, four gallons per week this month because we must funnel milk down our children’s throats lest their bones turn to jelly.”
Milk delivery person drops off milk.
Some people wanted cold milk but worked.
People built little boxes that kept milk cool.
Milk delivery person put milk in box.
People drink milk and put out jars. Sometimes put out pay. Sometimes wait till end of month.
Milk delivery person pick up empty milk jars and drop off fresh milk.
Milk jars brought back to farm.
Jars cleaned and filled with milk.
And cycle continues.
I can get .ilk and almost any food I want delivered to the house by tomorrow. Amazon pantry will even deliver fresh steak. They own Whole Foods so there’s always fresh stuff. The more long term like k cups, they have in warehouses.
My home even has a little cubby in the wall for milk delivery. There’s a tiny door on the outside, the delivery person opens it, puts in your milk and bread, and closes the door.
Inside, I have a similar door with a little latch to keep it closed. I open the door and voila, that’s where the delivery would be.
I also have a phone jack in the kitchen – that way one could have some entertainment/company when spending extended time in the kitchen.
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