Milk delivery is a delivery service dedicated to supplying milk, typically in bottles or cartons, to customers' homes. This service is performed by a milkman, milkwoman, or milk deliverer. (In contrast, a cowman or milkmaid tends to cows.) The delivery route is a milk route or milk run.
In some countries, when a lack of good refrigeration meant that milk would quickly spoil, milk was delivered to houses daily. Before milk bottles were available, milkmen took churns on their rounds and filled the customers' jugs by dipping a measure into the churn. Due to improved packaging and the spread of refrigerators in private homes, the need for milk delivery decreased from the latter part of the twentieth century. These advances contributed to the decline or loss of services in many localities, from deliveries daily to just three days a week or less in others.
Milk is usually delivered in the morning. Milk deliverers often also deliver products such as butter, cream, cheese, eggs, meat and vegetables. [1]
In some areas, apartments and houses have small milk-delivery doors, latched but not locked, opening into small wooden cabinets built into the exterior wall of the house, with a door also on the inside, allowing groceries or milk to be put in the cabinet by the deliverer and removed by the resident.
Horse-drawn vehicles were used for local delivery from the inception of the first milk round in about 1860. These were still seen in Britain and parts of the United States in the mid-twentieth century, until replaced by motorized vehicles. First introduced in 1889, battery vehicles saw expanded use in 1931, and by 1967 had given Britain the largest electric vehicle fleet in the world.
In 1963, nearly 29.7 percent of consumers in the US had milk delivered, but by 1975 the number had dropped to 6.9 percent of total sales. [2]
By 2005, about 0.4% of consumers in the United States had their milk delivered, and a handful of companies had sprung up to offer the service. [2] Some U.S. dairies have been delivering milk for about 100 years, with interest continuing to increase in the 2010s as part of the local food movement. [3] During the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, some remaining milkmen saw demand increase suddenly (similar to other grocery delivery services) due to concerns about the infection risk involved with shopping in stores. [4] [5]
In India, milk is usually delivered using milk churns, a practice that has ceased in western countries. On the road, they are put on any kind of vehicle. In big cities such as Mumbai, milk churns are often transported in luggage compartments in local trains.
In the Philippines, the milkman or milkmaid is called lechero, as in Spanish-speaking countries. The tradition stemmed from the community production of carabao milk, which the lechero delivers fresh to their designated barangay (village). The lechero heritage used to be widely practiced in the country but declined after the introduction of store-bought milk during the American period. Nowadays, only a few communities have lecheros, notably in Nueva Ecija province, the milk capital of the Philippines. [6]
In Australia, the delivery vehicle was usually a small petrol or diesel truck with a covered milk-tray. In hotter areas, this tray is usually insulated.[ citation needed ]
In New Zealand, milk deliveries used horses until the 1960s, where trucks took over completely. Originally, people paid by leaving money in the bottles, but later, payments were made using tokens, usually bought at a local dairy. Home milk deliveries died out in the 1990s after the deregulation of the milk industry, where supermarkets and other stores were permitted to sell milk. [7]
Milkmen appeared in Britain around 1860, when the first railways allowed fresh milk to arrive in cities from the countryside. [8] By 1880, the milk was delivered in bottles. [9] By 1975, 94% of milk was in glass bottles, but in 1990, supermarkets started offering plastic and carton containers, reducing bottled milk from 94% to 3% by 2016. [8] In the 20th century, milk delivery in urban areas of Europe has been carried out from an electric vehicle called a milk float.
The comedy films The Milkman (1950) starring Donald O'Connor, and The Early Bird (1965), starring Norman Wisdom, portrayed the profession in the US and UK respectively.
Tevye the Dairyman (Tevye der milkhiker) is the fictional pious Jewish narrator and protagonist of a series of short stories by Sholem Aleichem, and various adaptations of them, the most famous being the stage/film musical Fiddler on the Roof .
Stephen King's short story "Morning Deliveries (Milkman No. 1)" (in the horror anthology Skeleton Crew (1985)), concerns a milkman who kills people by leaving "surprises" (including poison, toxic gas, and venomous spiders) in their milk cans.
The title of the pop hit "No Milk Today" (1966) by the British band Herman's Hermits comes from notes left for the milkman. The title symbolizes the singer's recent breakup with his love interest who has just moved out of his house. [10]
The British comedian Benny Hill, himself a former milkman, had a hit novelty song called "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" (1971).
Ella Mae Morse had a US top 10 hit with "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet", from the film Broadway Rhythm (1944).
The (unnamed) milkwoman was an occasional character in British sitcom Open All Hours , the object of Granville's desire. Despite working early mornings just as Granville did, she was also a part-time university student and a divorcee, representing aspirations of a life lived beyond the terraced streets of the local neighborhood.
Episode 3 of the third series of television comedy series Father Ted is titled "Speed 3" and centers around the lascivious behavior of milkman Pat Mustard, Ted's feud with him, and the tragic outcome.
In Raymond Briggs' graphic novel Ethel and Ernest , based on the true story of Mr. Briggs' parents, Ernest Briggs, Raymond's father, is described as being a milkman for the R.A.C.S.
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. Early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies that strengthen the immune system and thus reduce the risk of many diseases. Milk contains many nutrients, including protein and lactose.
A milk float is a vehicle specifically designed for the delivery of fresh milk. Today, milk floats are usually battery electric vehicles (BEV), but they were formerly horse-drawn floats. They were once common in many European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, and were operated by local dairies. However, in recent years, as the number of supermarkets, small independent grocers and petrol stations, and convenience stores stocking fresh milk has increased, many people have switched from regular home delivery to obtaining fresh milk from these other sources.
A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box.
Delivery is the process of transporting goods from a source location to a predefined destination. Cargo is primarily delivered via roads and railroads on land, shipping lanes on the sea, and airline networks in the air. Certain types of goods may be delivered via specialized networks, such as pipelines for liquid goods, power grids for electrical power and computer networks such as the Internet or broadcast networks for electronic information. Car transport is a particular subgroup; a related variant is Autorack, which involves the transport of autos by railroads.
The bottle scraper is a Dutch kitchen tool similar to a small spatula. It is designed to scrape the contents of long bottles that would be impossible to reach with other kitchen tools. Although the tool is sold in Norway and has even been described in some accounts as having originated there, it was introduced in the Netherlands around 1954 by a Dutch family-owned company Tijger Plastics NV founded in 1950 and nowadays operating as Coram NV. The bottle scraper was patented on 31 March 1967 and it is cited as a quintessentially Dutch tool as well as an example of Dutch thrift.
Glass milk bottles are glass bottles used for milk. They are reusable and returnable - used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen. Once customers have finished the milk, empty bottles are expected to be rinsed and left on the doorstep for collection, or rinsed bottles may be returned to a participating retail store. Bottle sizes vary depending on region, but common sizes include pint, quart or litre.
In English-speaking culture, a milkman joke is a joke cycle exploiting fear of adultery and mistaken paternity. This class of jokes has its roots in the early part of the 20th century, prior to the regular availability of milk in supermarkets. At that time, milk in glass bottles was delivered directly to customers' houses by milkmen, generally in the morning. Typically, men were the main financial supporters of their families, while women tended to remain at home to care for their children and house. As the milkman would visit the home at a time when the husband would be away at work, this created an opportune situation for adultery.
Winder Farms is an American dairy company. It offers milk and chocolate milk and other products, formerly delivering to households in Utah, Las Vegas, Nevada and Orange County, California.
The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market in Britain, thereby guaranteeing a minimum price for milk producers. It also participated in the development of milk products, introducing Lymeswold cheese. It was based at Thames Ditton in Surrey.
Wales & Edwards was a British manufacturer of milk floats based in Harlescott, Shrewsbury. They were particularly well known for their three wheelers. It was one of the oldest milk float manufacturers lasting from the early 1940s to the early 1990s. In 1989, the company was acquired by Smith Electric Vehicles. Major customers included United Dairies and in the early years, Express Dairies. The basic design evolved throughout W&E's existence before finally ending its days as the Rangemaster.
A milkman is a person who delivers milk in bottles or cartons to houses.
A float is a form of two-wheeled horse-drawn cart with a dropped axle to give an especially low load-bed. They were intended for use by deliverymen and the carrying of heavy or unstable items such as milk churns.
A milk run, milk round, or milk route is the fixed route taken to pick up milk from dairy farmers, or to deliver milk to consumers, as part of a milk delivery system. In extended usage, it may be a transportation service that has many stops. Metaphorically, it may be a slow or tedious trip, a military air mission posing little danger, or any circular route.
The GWR Siphon was a series of enclosed milk churn transport wagons built by the Great Western Railway and continued by British Railways.
Rockview Farms was established in Downey, California, in 1927 by Bob Hops. In 1930, Mr. Joseph J. McCandless organized the dairy. In 1938, Rockview Farms won a gold medal in the raw milk exhibit at the Los Angeles County Fair. The McCandless brothers were selling retail with the help of Joseph McCandless' wife from Ireland.
Graiseley Electric Vehicles were produced by the British company Diamond Motors Ltd of Wolverhampton. They had previously made motor cycles, but began producing battery-electric road vehicles (BERV) in the mid 1930s. They were best known for their three-wheeled pedestrian controlled vehicles, although they also produced conventional four-wheeled milk floats, and later manufactured industrial trucks. The company went into liquidation in the early 1960s, although the marque was used by two other companies until at least 1972.
Manulectric was a British marque of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles. The vehicles were made by Sidney Holes Electric Vehicles, of Brighton, Sussex. They were designed out of Holes' experience of doorstep milk delivery, through Holes and Davigdor Dairies. Both pedestrian controlled vehicles (PCVs) and ride-on models were produced, and entered the market around 1947. The company was bought by Stanley Engineering in the 1960s, and sold to Crompton Electricars in 1972. Some Manulectric models were subsequently manufactured by Harbilt Electric Trucks. At least four Manulectric vehicles have survived, and are privately preserved.
Midland Electric Vehicles was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other battery electric road vehicles between 1936 and 1958. They were based in Leamington Spa, and one of their major customers was Midland Counties Dairies, to whom they supplied just the chassis, with bodywork being built by the customer. At least two of their vehicles survive in museums.
Bluebird Automotive was a British manufacturer of milk floats and other electric service vehicles. The company existed from 2001 to 2007, and produced a few futuristic prototypes, but no production runs of vehicles. The Electron E150 prototype held the world land speed record for an electric milk float.
The Anderson Erickson Dairy (AE) is the largest independently owned dairy in Iowa. Headquartered in Des Moines, it was founded in June 1930 during the Great Depression by Iver Erickson and Bill Anderson. After eight years in business, Anderson sold his interest in the company and moved to Minnesota, leaving Erickson with complete ownership of the company. By 2004 the family-owned company was the 73rd largest dairy by sales in the United States. As of 2021, it was still run by descendants of Iver Erickson.
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