#bottledmilk

The Rise and Fall of The Milkman

Despite the advances in pasteurisation and bottling, many rural areas of Britain still had their milk delivered by horse and cart. Rural sellers of milk would begin their business selling out of a push cart and pouring directly into cups then as their business grew work up to a horse and cart. This system of delivering milk continued up until the 1950’s despite glass bottles coming into use in the 1890’s.

Electric milk floats began delivering bottled milk in the 1930’s in urban areas along with other dairy produce such as yoghurt and butter as well as orange juice and bread meaning customers could have all of their fresh breakfast essentials delivered to their door. This continued through until 1994 when deregulation of the laws governing supermarkets allowed them to start selling milk in four pint containers as well as a loss leader. The supermarkets strategy to attract customers was to focus on essential items, making them as cheap as possible then sell other things to the customer once they were in store. Dairies even used their own milk bottles to advertise their plight appealing to the British peoples love of tradition and their sense of nostalgia for their friendly neighbourhood milkman who would deliver whatever the weather. Despite nationwide campaigns to save the milkman, they could not complete on price and sadly the milkman became an icon of the past due to the huge buying power and subsequent growth of supermarkets. Interestingly on the reverse of the bottle is the Union Jack and a phrase promoting British milk. It promotes the idea of national pride and of provenance. Whether this is due to supermarkets importing milk at the time, I am unsure but certainly the Britishness of the milk was used as a marketing tool.

All may not be lost for the milkman and despite falling number over the last decade, 2016 saw an increase. Many attribute this to people wanting to move away from plastic, a trend of supporting small businesses, the desire for a greater control over provenance and the British love for nostalgia and keeping our history alive. One young milkman located in the trendy Shoreditch area of London, delivers to ‘hipsters’ at trendy start ups or tech businesses who he credits with creating a niche revival.  Despite a love of nostalgia, his customers now also get a choice of various plant based milks reflecting societies changing tastes.

Such is one mans fondness for the milkmen and specifically milk bottles that he has amassed a collection of over 20,000. His favourite bottle states “Drink your health in milk every day”, showing how milk was no longer considered just for chlldren or as an ingredient, but a healthy nutritious beverage.

Image 1 - Man with Horse Drawn Cart, Yorkshire, England 1930

Image 2 - Unigate Dairies, ne of the largest distributor of milk via milk floats

Image 3 - A typical milk bottle from the 1990′s

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2403819/Malvern-pensioner-Steve-Wheeler-collection-20-000-milk-bottles.html

https://www.packagingnews.co.uk/features/comment/soapbox/history-of-the-world-in-52-packs-part-2-the-milk-bottle-29-07-2015