Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: milk

A late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century business card printed by David Bachman Landis, who operated Pluck Art Printery , which was later known as Landis Art Print. I haven't uncovered any reference to a "Mill Creek Dairy," but it's possible that "A. H. Herr" was Aaron H. Herr (1880-1940), a farmer who lived in Manor Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A. H. Herr, Mill Creek Dairy. Pure milk and cream. Lancaster P.O., Pa.

"Compliments of John E. Kaughran & Co., Dry Goods. 767 & 769 Broadway, cor. of Ninth St., New York." This is one of a six-part "Comic Visiting" card series printed by E. Currier & Co., Boston (probably related to the Currier of Currier & Ives but I'm not sure how). Other cards show a woman offering a cracker to a parrot (see below), a man peering through his eyeglasses at an owl, and a baby dangling a cup or something else to get a dog's attention. For the front and back of another Kaughran advertising trade card, see J. E. Kaughran, New York and John E. Kaughran, Dry Goods, New York (below).

"Borden's Condensed Milk, Bottled Milk & Cream. Gail Borden, Eagle Brand. Office, No. 227 East 34th St." A real photo postcard of a milkman with his horse and delivery wagon in New York City.

"The Weary Farmer (Up to Date), designed & pub. by Frank W. Swallow, Exeter, N.H." I'm not sure why Frank W. Swallow of Exeter, New Hampshire, published this early twentieth-century postcard, which ridicules the "Weary Farmer," his family, and the hired help for living a life of luxury. One clue might be the well-off real estate dealer, who's standing in front of his office, where the sign says, "No deserted farms left. Fair farms, $5,000.00 to $50,000.00." Was there an economic downturn at some point that caused families to abandon their farms? Did Swallow feel that some farmers and real estate agents were profiting from the misfortune of others? I haven't solved this mystery yet, but in the meantime here's the cast of characters portrayed on the card: The Farmer is fanning himself while lying on a hammock and sipping sweet cider from a straw. The Hired Man is sitting beneath a tree as he smokes a cigarette and reads a dime novel ( Diamond Dick ) with his unused shovel and hoe by his side. The Son is out on the golf course. The Real Estate Dealer is wearing expensive clothing, including a diamond ring. An automobile is parked in front of his real estate office, where there's a sign that says, "No deserted farms left. Fair farms, $5,000.00 to $50,000.00." The Hired Girl is sitting in a rocking chair as she dries the dishes. The Wife and Daughter are dressed in fine clothes as they sip their tea. The Cow , however, is toiling away on a treadmill, supplying the power and the raw material--milk--for the butter and cheese machines, which apparently provide enough income to allow everyone else besides the cow to live a life of leisure.

"A Happy New Year. Haddocks. Come to your milk now." A Victorian-era New Year calling or greeting card with a hand-drawn sketch. "Come to your milk" seems to have had a specific meaning in the nineteenth century beyond pulling on a calf's tail to try to get it to drink out of a milk bucket. Besides a few hits on the phrase in Google Books, however, I haven't uncovered any source that reveals what that meaning might have been.

"All Seasons Greetings from your milkman, Don Griffith, St. Lawrence Dairy. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Burnish." See also the folded view of the card :

"All Seasons Greetings from your milkman, Don Griffith, St. Lawrence Dairy. Winter. Burnish." For the entire unfolded greeting card , see:

"A Merry Christmas. A Happy New Year. Johnstown Sanitary Dairy Co. Foster Hostetler." The following road and place names are listed on the map that's superimposed over the wintery landscape: Happy Town, Holiday, Friendship Highway, Merrytown, Pleasantville, Joyful, Joydale Road, Friends, and Peaceful Center. For the front of this card, see Greetings from Your Milkman :

"Greetings from Your Milkman. May all your road and paths lead to...." For the inside pages of this greeting card, see:

A cardboard milk bottle cap with Santa Claus and greetings of the season.

"Clover Leaf Dairy sends holiday greetings and a toast to good cheer. Your Milkman." A die-cut paper wreath that a milkman could place over a milk bottle as a holiday greeting for his customers. Clover Leaf Dairy was located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

"Pickle Dill Etchings. If the earth weighs 200,110,000,000,000,000 pounds, what will the Milkey-way? Oh, you milk maid." This early twentieth-century humorous postcard starts out with a goofy heading, "Pickle Dill Etchings," which may have been used for a series of similar postcards. Below that is a riddling question that turns out to be a silly pun–"What will the Milky Way weigh?" And the exclamation at the bottom of the card–"Oh, you milk maid!"–extends the milk allusion but also refers to a song, "I Love, I Love, I Love My Wife–But Oh! You Kid!," that was all the rage in 1909 (for a discussion of how immensely popular it became, see Jody Rosen's fascinating Slate article," How a Sexed-up Viral Hit from the Summer of '09–1909–Changed American Pop Music Forever "). The "oh you kid" catchphrase also generated many other variations. For additional examples, see Oh You Lemon! , Oh You Chestnut! , and Oh! You Lobster .

A milk bottle collar (for wrapping around the top of a bottle) that served both as a humorous reminder to return empty bottles and as an order form to ask the milkman to deliver specific items (back when dairies used to make regular home deliveries). "Help keep down the cost of your milk by returning your empty bottles. Every unreturned bottle adds to the cost of delivering milk to your door. If you have any empties around your kitchen or basement, please return them." "Lady, please send me home. Empty." "Handy Order Blank. Place over return bottle. Please leave: ________. Name: ________. Address: ________." For an enlargement of the middle panel with the cartoonish milk bottle, see Lady, Please Send Me Home!

The center panel from a milk bottle collar that wrapped around the top of a bottle in order to remind customers who received home delivery of milk to return their empty bottles. For more information, see Milk Bottle Collar: Reminder and Order Form .

Unrepentant milk drinkers arrested for disudderly conduct and nearly causing a cowtastrophe.

"Season's Greetings, Elmer Myers, Your Rutter's Driver. Rutter Bros., Inc., Dairy Products, N. Geo. St., Ext'd. Golden Guernsey, America's Table Milk." Mouse over the image for a close-up of the milkman and his milk truck .

For the full greeting card, see Season's Greetings from Your Rutter's Milkman (below).

This advertisement consists of two die-cut pieces--shaped like a cow and a milkmaid--that have been glued together. For the back of this two-part advertising trade card, see De Laval Separators Have Revolutionized Dairying . "De Laval Cream Separators. Save $10 per cow every year."