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Milk Bottles & Dairies
| Walter Johnson |
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| Milk Advertisement (1925) |
Milk bottles were reusable. A glass container delivered to the doorstep. The standard size milk bottle
was a pint or quart, with cream delivered in smaller bottles. In 1919, several campaigns were started which
concentrated on the increased amount of milk products that were made during World War I.
Milk bottles before the 1930's were round shaped. By the 1940's, a square bottle became the popular style.
Prior to the 1930's, dairy names were embossed on milk bottles using a slug plate. After the 1930's, milk bottles
used a "pyroglaze" or Applied Color Label (ACL) to identify the bottles. By the 1960's, glass bottles were being
replaced with paper cartons.
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| Similar truck used by Rojek's Dairy (North Tonawanda, NY) |
DIVCO Trucks, built by the Detroit Industrial
Vehicle Company, began production of specialized dairy delivery trucks in 1925. Their line of trucks evolved
into very efficient refrigerated vehicles. In 1937, DIVCO introduced the familiar "snub-nosed" van that brought milk,
cream, cheese and butter to millions of American doorsteps. As the days of home delivery ended, DIVCO produced their last
trucks in 1986.
Back in the 1960's, I would ride these trucks at Rojek's Dairy. My Uncle
Tony owned the dairy in North Tonawanda (NY) and many summer days were spent with my cousin Jimmy exploring the confines
of the dairy, drinking milk and playing in these trucks.
Cold milk from a glass bottle.....
.....Priceless!
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| New York Central Milk Car |
The first milk cars on railroads were
refrigerated boxcars loaded with milk cans. Later, old boxcars and reefers were lined inside with special glass. Milk was
pumped into cars and refrigerated to about 39ºF. Railroads and dairies owned fleets of these cars. They would stop at each
station along the way to pick up milk for delivery to the cities. The term "milk run" which means an easy journey, came
from these trains. By the 1950's, milk trains were being replaced by trucks and new interstate highways, thus ending another
era in American history.
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| 1950's Milk Advertisement |
Our collection of milk and cream bottles represent
dairies from Western New York and Pennsylvania. Bottles are "embossed" or "pyroglazed" in various sizes dating back to the
1920's.
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| Milk Bottle Collection |
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| Assorted Milk Bottle Seals |
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Comic Books
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| Issue #149 (December, 1964) |
Sgt. Rock was the classic World War II American comic
book hero. His first appearance
was DC Comics #83 "Our Army at War" (June, 1959).
The stories drawn by Joe Kubert gained
so much popularity that by issue #302 (March, 1977) it was simply titled "Sgt. Rock." The last issue was printed during
the summer of 1988, making Sgt. Rock the final war comic to see action.
During World War II, Sgt. Rock fought in the infantry branch of the U.S. Army in the European Theatre and eventually rose to command his own unit "Easy Company." The unit was made up of a disparate collection of individuals who managed to participate in every major
battle of the war.
Most of Sgt. Rock's action with "Easy Company"
was set in the European Theatre, with plot lines clearly inspired by Hollywood war movies of the 1940's and 1950's (similar
to the characters portrayed by John Wayne).
Other World War II comics were Men of War, Our
Fighting Forces, Capt. Storm and G. I. Combat. The initials "DC" are abbreviated for Detective Comics after one of
the company's classic titles.
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| Issue #121 (January, 1967) |
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DC Comics had success in the late 1950's reviving
superheroes such as "The Justice
League of America."
Marvel Comics followed in 1961 when editor/writer
Stan Lee and artist Jack
Kirby created the "Fantastic Four."
The book was a success and Marvel began publishing
further superhero titles featuring Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, the X-Men, Thor and Daredevil.
The "silver age" for comics were the
1960's and only 12 cents a copy!
Two of my favorites...
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| Issue #60 (March, 1967) |
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| Issue #16 (May, 1966) |
Click Here for Marvel Comics
Click Here for DC Comics
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"The happiness of a man in
this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions."
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Vernor's Ginger Ale
shares America's oldest soft drink title with Hires Root Beer. It was invented in 1866 by
a Detroit pharmacist named James Vernor. In
1862, Vernor was called off to the Civil War and according
to legend, left a mixture of ginger, vanilla and spices within an oak cast in his pharmacy. After returning
from battle four years later, he opened the keg and found the mixture had been changed by the aging process in the wood. It
was like nothing else he ever tasted, and reportedly claimed the mixture as "deliciously different"
which remains the drink's motto to this day.
Vernor's
is a golden ginger ale with a sharp flavor. In the past, it had a reputation for being highly carbonated, so much that drinking it from a glass would sometimes make a
person sneeze from the bubbles.
Historically, Vernor's
has not been sold nationally. Until the late 1980's, the drink was only distributed within a few hundred miles of Detroit,
but its distribution today has expanded slightly. It predominantly remains popular in Michigan, Western New York and southwest
Ontario.
Today, Vernor's continues
under the "Cadbury Schweppes Beverages" name, the largest non-cola soft drink enterprise in North America. Other brands in
this family include Dr. Pepper, 7up, Squirt and Hires Root Beer. All my favorites!
A "Boston Cooler"
is an ice cream soda drink made from Vernor's
and vanilla ice cream, not named after Boston (where
the soda is practically unknown), but after Detroit's Boston Boulevard, where it was supposedly invented.
Romanticism
is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western
Europe and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution. It was a revolt against aristocratic social and
political norms of the "Age of Enlightenment" (an intellectual movement in the western world during the 1700's)
and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, embodied with copious forms of visual arts, music and
literature.
The Romantic movement in America
was associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson and a small group of
New England educators, religious leaders and social reformers. This period also saw the rise of Transcendentalism or the emphasis to effect social change in harmony
with God's purposes.
Thus exists my literary passion to
fully understand, appreciate and originate personal poetry, representing the likeness of this classical era.
"A poem
begins in delight and ends in wisdom."
Robert
Frost
Rails to Trails - Southwestern
Pennsylvania
Hiking, Swimming, Rafting, Biking
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| Youghiogheny River Trail (near milepost 85) |
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| Click Here for the Great Allegheny Passage Website |
The Allegheny Trail Alliance is a coalition
of seven "Rails to Trails" organizations building the "Great Allegheny Passage." This 150 mile biking and hiking trail connects
Cumberland (MD) and Pittsburgh (PA). The connection between the "Passage" and the C&O Canal path in Cumberland, will soon
be completed to form a continuous "non-motorized" corridor from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC.
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| Connellsville is located 57 miles southeast of Pittsburgh |
The "Youghiogheny River Trail" is one section
of a much larger trail system known as the "Great Allegheny Passage."
The Youghiogheny River (pronounced yah-kuh-GAIN-ee)
is a tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately 135 miles long, running through West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The "Monongahela" tribe of Native Americans are believed to be the earliest group of human inhabitants in Western Pennsylvania.
Much of the trail is built on the abandoned roadbed of the Western Maryland Railway and the Pittsburgh
and Lake Erie Railroad. These two roads joined at Connellsville and made up the majority of the trail between Cumberland and
Pittsburgh. My favorite (and the most scenic) portion of the trail known as the "Youghiogheny River Trail South" follows
the old Western Maryland Railway from Connellsville (east) to Ohiopyle and eventually Confluence.
As you enter the trail in Connellsville, you hike approximately two miles east toward Bowest, crossing
two large railroad bridges (the second bridge crossing the B&O "FM&P" branch). You will continue hiking
through some of the most beautiful rock cuts and mountain scenery in the northeast. The haunting sounds and images of former
trains, faintly appear around each bend as you approach Ohiopyle (American Indian word "ohiopehhla" meaning
"white frothy water").
"The
more powerful and original a mind, the more it will incline towards the religion of solitude."
Aldous Huxley
Hope you enjoyed our website.
Proud to be, own and buy . . . AMERICAN!
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