Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Milkman in Willow Run, 1947

These two notes suggest that Willow Run had at least one milkman servicing the complex. Note how polite the yellow note is! You can't quite see it on the note, but it has four creases indicating it was at some point folded in half and then half again, perhaps to insert in the top of a milk bottle?

Mr. Milkman-- Jan. 25, 1947

Please leave our quart of sweet milk--and one quart of chocolate milk.
We're leaving a few extra pennies behind the bottles--in case chocolate milk is more than 20 cents a quart.
In the bottle here is 19 cents qt. sweet milk 20 cents qt. chocolate [total] 39 cents
Thanks a lot!


Click for larger image.


4 comments :

Russ said...

Hi, We had Twin Pines home delivery for a lot of years while I was growing up. One thing that sticks out in my mind is in the Winter time, when no one was home to take the milk inside right away, the bottles would freeze on the porch. Not the fault of the delivery person. He has no idea that you're going to be gone a long time. Anyway, when a gallon glass bottle of milk freezes, it "Grows" right out of the bottle, straight up. The paper wrap around cap and the paper "Plug" that seals the bottle would stay on top of this Growing Monster. When we would get home there would be 15" stalagmites sitting on the porch. Quite an interesting site to behold. Russ

Dusty D said...

Wow, what an image! When that happened, did you put the bottle in a pan indoors and let the stalagmite melt, or try to chip it off the top?

All the old coal, ice, and milk deliveries of old-time Ypsilanti are gone...but my neighbor still gets Schwann's food delivery truck once a week. So at least one company is still making the delivery model work, though for how much longer with gas at $4, I don't know...

Diane said...

This brings back memories from childhood when the milkman would deliver milk to our milkbox. It was a metal box built into the side of our house near the back door. The box had two openings, one inside the house and one outside.

Once my mom locked herself out of the house and I was put through the milkbox, so I could open the door! That is why I really remember the milkbox and home delivery.

Dusty D said...

Diane: That's a great story. :) I've heard that quite a few houses in AA/Ypsi still have these milkboxes built into their houses, or somewhat covered up by remodeling but still there.