Milk delivery

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An Indian milkman on his motorbike MilkManCrop.JPG
An Indian milkman on his motorbike

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.

Contents

Home milk delivery was common in many countries until the second half of the 20th century, when modern supermarkets and household refrigeration made it possible for consumers to buy and store milk on demand. Today, milk delivery still exists as a niche market in some countries. [1] [2]

16th century milk transport with churn and basket Young Milkmaid MET DP818776.jpg
16th century milk transport with churn and basket
18th century milkmaid travelling with yoke and carrying pails, Philip James de Loutherbourg Philip James de Loutherbourg (1740-1812) - The Milkmaid - 1920P682 - Birmingham Museums Trust.jpg
18th century milkmaid travelling with yoke and carrying pails, Philip James de Loutherbourg

Delivery

Milk delivery door - exterior.jpg
Milk delivery door - interior.jpg
A 1920s apartment milk delivery door, from outside and from inside.

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. [3]

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.

Vehicles

A milk float Milk float - Liverpool (modified background).jpg
A milk float

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.

Around the world

Americas

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. [4]

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. [4] 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. [5] 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. [6] [7]

Asia

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. [8]

Oceania

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. [9]

Europe

Dutch milkman in Haarlem, 1956 Melkboer.jpg
Dutch milkman in Haarlem, 1956

Milkmen appeared in Britain around 1860, when the first railways allowed fresh milk to arrive in cities from the countryside. [10] By 1880, the milk was delivered in bottles. [11] 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. [10] In the 20th century, milk delivery in urban areas of Europe has been carried out from an electric vehicle called a milk float.

Cultural impact

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. [12]

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 lustul 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.

See also

Related Research Articles

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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. Milk contains many nutrients, including calcium and protein, as well as lactose and saturated fat. Immune factors and immune-modulating components in milk contribute to milk immunity. Early-lactation milk, which is called colostrum, contains antibodies and immune-modulating components that strengthen the immune system against many diseases. The US CDC agency recommends that children over the age of 12 months should have two servings of dairy (milk) products a day, and more than six billion people worldwide consume milk and milk products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk float</span> Vehicle for delivering milk

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delivery (commerce)</span> Process of transporting goods from a source location to a predefined destination

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bottle scraper</span> Dutch kitchen tool

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glass milk bottle</span>

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, insinuating that a woman had cheated on her husband with the milkman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skimmed milk</span> Milk with all milkfat removed

Skimmed milk, or skim milk, is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% fat.

Milk cars are a specialized type of railroad car intended to transport raw milk from collection points near dairy farms to a processing creamery. Some milk cars were intended for loading with multiple cans of milk, while others were designed with a single tank for bulk loading. Milk cars were often equipped with high-speed passenger trucks, passenger-type buffer plates, and train signal and steam lines seldom found on conventional refrigerator cars.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society</span> Former consumer co-operative in Scotland

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetra Pak</span> Swedish-Swiss multinational food packaging and processing company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winder Farms</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk bag</span> Plastic bags that contain milk

A milk bag is a flexible plastic pouch used to package milk and is used in some areas instead of a hardened milk jug, or as an alternative to it. Usually one of the corners is cut off to allow for pouring, and the bag is stored in a pitcher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wales & Edwards</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Float (horse-drawn)</span> Horse cart with low rear for loading deliveries

A float is a form of two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, often 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.

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References

  1. Dunn, Julia (2022-12-26). "The Rise And Fall Of The Milkman". The Daily Meal . Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  2. Magazine, Smithsonian; Novak, Matt. "The Milkman's Robot Helper". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2024-10-20.
  3. Wolf, Bonny. "The Milkman's Comeback Means Dairy At The Door And More". npr.com. National Public Radio. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  4. 1 2 Tahmincioglu, Eve (16 December 2007). "Remember the Milkman? In Some Places, He's Back". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  5. "Yes, you can still get milk delivered — and people are taking advantage". The Boston Globe. February 13, 2018.
  6. Kuperinsky, Amy (2020-04-12). "The Milkman is Back: An Old Job Sees New Life in COVID-19 Crisis". New Jersey 101.5. Maplewood, New Jersey. Associated Press . Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  7. "The Milkman Is Back to Making Dairy Deliveries". www.mentalfloss.com. 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2020-04-15.
  8. Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho: Retro Trabaho!. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  9. "Page 5. Home deliveries". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
  10. 1 2 Knapton, Sarah (21 January 2018). "Milk floats and glass bottles make a comeback as shoppers shun plastic". Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  11. Tierney, Nessa (2015-03-25). "Disappearing pinta: Are the milkman's days finally numbered?". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  12. Ricci, Charlie. "Almost Hits: Herman's Hermits, "No Milk Today" (1967)". Somethingelsereviews.com. Retrieved 2014-03-10.