Milkmaid

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A Danish milk maid with shoulder yoke circa 1935 Maelkejunger aag fjelstrup haderslev 193x danske kvinders fotoarkiv.jpg
A Danish milk maid with shoulder yoke circa 1935

A milkmaid, milk maid, milkwoman, dairymaid, or dairywoman is a girl or woman who works with milk or cows. [1]

Contents

She milks cows and also uses the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese. Many large houses employ milkmaids instead of having other staff do the work. The term milkmaid is not the female equivalent of milkman in the sense of one who delivers milk to the consumer;[ citation needed ] it is the female equivalent of milkman in the sense of cowman or dairyman. [2]

In 1600s-1800s English "milkmaids" sold milk wearing a yoke holding two milk pails and vending vessels, and also decorated themselves for the London May Day procession. [3] [4]

Cowpox

As a result of exposure to cowpox, which conveys a partial immunity to the disfiguring (and often fatal) disease smallpox, it was noticed that milkmaids lacked the scarred, pockmarked complexion common to smallpox survivors. This observation led to the development of the first vaccine. [5]

Cultural references

Milkmaid in Minnesota, United States, 2008 MilkMaid.JPG
Milkmaid in Minnesota, United States, 2008
Milkmaid and dairy cattle in Mangskog, Sweden, 1911 Boskapsskotsel i ladugarden. Mangskogs socken, Varmland, 1911 - Nordiska Museet - NMA.0043102.jpg
Milkmaid and dairy cattle in Mangskog, Sweden, 1911

See also

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References

  1. Galen, Jessica A. B. (2017). "Dairymaids" . The Oxford Companion to Cheese (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199330881.013.0270 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISBN   978-0-19-933088-1 . Retrieved 2022-12-23.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  2. Hough, Carole (2001). "Middle English Deye in a Fifteenth-Century Cookery Book". Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 102 (3): 303–305. JSTOR   43344800. The standard edition of the cookbook glosses deye as 'dairymaid', and indeed the term is otherwise recorded as a simplex in Middle English only with this meaning or the masculine equivalent 'dairyman'.
  3. Hammerstrom, Kirsten (7 February 2013). "Blame the Milk Maid". Kitty Calash. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  4. Stern, Alexandra Minna; Howard Markel (2005). "The History Of Vaccines And Immunization: Familiar Patterns, New Challenges" (PDF). Health Affairs. 24 (3): 611–621. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.24.3.611. PMID   15886151 . Retrieved 25 December 2010.
  5. The Associated Press (November 26, 2012). "'12 days of Christmas' cost: How much is a partridge in a pear tree?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 8 May 2014.