Fridays are milk delivery day here. Such an old fashioned simple pleasure we all look forward to each week! A little luxury that gives us as much happiness as good-for-you-ness.
We get the good stuff, whole antibiotic-free milk in glass bottles. You really can't get it much fresher unless you lived on a farm. If you want to know more, visit Oberweis Milk.
Have you ever dreamed of getting your milk delivered? I certainly have! It has always conjured up a fresh picture of early morning, the sun and birds just beginning to get up and a horse slowly pulling the milk wagon down the road. All you can hear are the birds singing and the gentle click, click of the milk bottles....and maybe the milkman whistling. This must of been a scene from a movie!
At the beginning of the summer we started a quest for a good -reasonably priced-organic whole milk. One of the brands we tried was Oberweis. The milk comes in glass half gallon bottles and written on the side is "Delivered direct to your door!" Well, we had to look into it! After comparing prices and researching it a bit more, we decided to give it a try! Even though having milk delivered sounds old-fashioned, today it is an up-todate process. You log into your account, check what you want delivered that week and check out!
There is actually a wide range of items that are available. From milk, butter and cheese to bread, pizza and sausage. We have been mainly getting eggs and milk. These are the most reasonable priced items and groceries we eat everyday.
Our cute little "milk box" provided by Oberwies to keep our dairy fresh! It is really just a cooler with cows on the front. Once a week we have to remember to put the box out on the front porch and make sure the dog sleeps up stairs. She doesn't like anyone on her front porch at 2am! Oh yes, our milk is delivered in the wee small hours. We ordered ice cream once and didn't want to invest in a special freezer bag, so just had the milkman knock on the door, not realizing he came that early!
Our peaceful porch on a busy corner.
I always think of this scene from "Send Me No Flowers" when I think of milkmen....
Yes, I have a collection! Fifteen milk bottles. I didn't realize I had so many, until I put them all out. It all started with one I found in my grandfather's garage. It was from a local dairy. Then I got the brilliant idea to collect a milk bottle from all the different towns I have been in. It helped to narrow the field down for me. Of course I have a couple from my home town too. I try and make them useful by using them to hold knitting needles, pencils and scissors. And they make dandy vases!
Milk Bottles are very hard to date as the they didn't change that much. Milk first started being delivered in glass bottles about 1903, but didn't become wide spread until 1920's. There are two methods of marking a bottle; eembossed (the letters are a raised part of the glass) and pyroglazing (a method of "glazing" a paint on) first used in 1933. Two very informative sites are: http://www.sha.org/bottle/index.htmhttp://dairyantiques.com/Home_Page.html I haven't done to much research on them. They are such fun pieces of history. Some even have funny saying on them. "They Came to Visit not to Stay, Please Return our Bottles Every Day!"
