Milk at the Door: A Job from the Past

Milk at the Door

1Today, most families buy milk at a grocery store and keep it cold in a refrigerator at home. About a hundred years ago, things were different. In many American towns and cities, milk came straight to the front door. The worker who brought it was called a milkman, and for many families, the milkman was as familiar as a next-door neighbor.

2In those days, most homes did not have electric refrigerators. Some families kept food cool in an icebox, a wooden cabinet that held a large block of ice. Even so, fresh milk spoiled quickly. Families could not store a week's worth of milk, so many of them had fresh milk delivered several times a week, and some had it every day.

3A milkman's day began long before sunrise. He loaded his wagon at the dairy and set out on his route while most people were still asleep. The goal was to have milk waiting on every doorstep by breakfast time. Early in the morning, the air was cooler, which also helped keep the milk fresh.

4Many milkmen drove wagons pulled by horses. A horse that walked the same route day after day often learned it by heart. People told stories of horses that stopped at the right houses on their own and waited while the milkman ran up to each door. This let the milkman work faster, because he did not have to climb back onto the wagon to steer at every stop.

5Milk was sold in glass bottles. Families rinsed out their empty bottles and set them outside, and the milkman carried them back to the dairy to be washed and filled again. Customers often tucked a note inside an empty bottle to ask for an extra quart or for cream. Some houses even had a small door in an outside wall, so the milkman could leave the bottles inside without knocking.

6By the second half of the 1900s, home delivery had become much less common. Most families now owned refrigerators, so milk could stay fresh for days. Large supermarkets sold milk along with everything else, and many families had cars to drive there. Although a few small dairies still bring milk to customers' doors, the clink of glass bottles on the front step at dawn is now mostly a memory.