Thursday, June 3, 2010

Vintage Thingies Thursday *Got Milk?*

Hi, and welcome to another fun Vintage Things Thursday, hosted by our dear friend Suzanne of http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/search/label/Vintage%20Thingies%20Thursdays Thanks Suzanne! This is always such fun! Today, I am sharing with you some vintage milk memorabilia, that was collected by my dear father-in-law. He belonged to a club back in the 1960's that collected everything you can think of relating to milk. Back then, most people had milk delivered by a milkman, delivered in glass milk bottles such as the one pictured below. Everyone drank milk, it was good and wholesome, and something everyone could relate to. So, began his extensive collection of milk bottles, cow creamers, butter churns, and items with Elsie, the famous cow. This bottle is one of hundreds of bottles he collected in his basement. The shelves were lined with them from ceiling to floor.
Here is one of the many butter churns he collected. He even had the big ones that were all wooden. His entire collection was sold back in the 1980's when he passed away, and mom sold the house. He collected bottles with people all over the United States through this bottle club. It was something like E-bay is now, only much more complex, with letters being exchanged from a typewriter using snail mail. When everything was sold, the grand total came to about $23,000, which was a lot in the 80's.
Pictured here, are thousands of paper milk bottle tops that he collected. They are all organized in this huge album. You can click on any picture to make them bigger. There are tops from cream, chocolate milk, whipping cream, buttermilk, and skimmed milk.






Of course when you think of milk, how can you forget Elsie the famous cow? Pictured here is an Elsie mug, and glass that we kept from his collection.





And, lastly, the hat that dad made to wear to all of his bottle club meetings, and swap meets.
Note the little milk bottle sitting on the top. It was full of milk bottle caps, and advertising buttons. Dad's motto was "Always Stay Grade A". We miss him dearly! Please don't forget to visit Suzanne for more vintage fun!




Stay Grade "A", and thanks for visiting!







13 comments:

LV said...

You truly have some wonderful vintage treasures. I remember all of them. That is something you have that many bottle paper tops.

Anonymous said...

Love the milk bottle collection. Milk always taste so much better in a cold bottle.

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

I just adore those milk bottles!!

Love all of your vintage goodies!!

Debbie

Postcardy said...

His collection saounds fantastic. I love Elsie things, but all I have is some Elsie postcards.

Tara Beaulieu said...

What a really neat collection! My grandfather was a milkman for years, so I can relate to a lot of the items your dad collected. We grew up with old crates and bottles everywhere- my mom was always doing something creative with them! Happy VTT and thanks for sharing!

Olivia said...

Wow! These look so very cool! I love it! What amazing memories from the past.
hugs,
Olivia

Anonymous said...

Such a great collection. That club sounds fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing, they are all great pieces.

Sherrie said...

What a fun collection. I always love seeing something new to collect. Thanks so much for sharing.

GardenOfDaisies said...

This milk/dairy collection is fun!!! I am old enough to remember when the milk man brought milk to our door. So long ago.

Stacey said...

Thanks for sharing your Father's collection. Elsie the Cow is a fabulous little logo- I have a cute advertising pin of her that I like to wear when I'm feeling funky:)

Chel ~ said...

What a fabulous collection~! I have featured this collection on my blog today. http://chelsmending.blogspot.com

Have a great day!

- Chel

sanjeet said...

That is something you have that many bottle paper tops.
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Terry @ La Bella Vie said...

Oh this is so wonderful! I love the vintage dolls, they are adorable! As mentioned before, if you need to "off load that Dainty Miss teapot" I'd be happy to take her off your hands:)
I am now following and would like to extend the invitation to come follow along with my and my little blog if you would like.
Terry