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TURNING TO PAPER Milk bottles with Disney characters are extremely

Glass milk bottles were popular from the 1920s to sought after, and a related category is milk bottles with
the early 1950s. In 1948, plastic-coated paper milk nursery rhymes printed on them. Borden’s Elsie the
cartons were introduced commercially, and by 1952, Cow was a popular character on milk bottles.
40% of US milk was sold in wax-coated paper cartons
rather than glass bottles. The plastic milk container was The Color
introduced in 1964. Some collectors seek out milk
By 1967, 70% of US milk was sold in paper cartons, bottles with a specific color of
and the glass milk bottle was fading from the scene, as pyro glazing – red, green, blue,
was home delivery, down to just 25% of households etc. Others try to acquire bottles
from the high of 50% prior to WWII. with two colors of pyro or the
even rarer – three colors.
AND, THE COLLECTION The Wauregan Dairy,
Today, vintage glass milk bottles Wauregan, CT, varied the colors
are collectible, with a wide range of on their bottles: red, red, and
unique categories to tempt collectors. black, and just black pyro
There are two main types of milk glazing, some of which may have
bottles: embossed – that is with been errors!
raised lettering and graphics on the
surface of the bottle; and pyro-glazed The Return Elsie the Cow, Borden’s mascot,
– heat-set paint lettering and graphics, Another collectible category used on a school size milk bottle.
also called an applied color label Two color pyro bottle is the deposit bottle. Because of
illustrated with
(ACL). Collectors often specialize in bottling plant and the cost of bottles with the
one or the other, depending on other delivery trucks. dairy’s name on them, the dairy
desired qualities they are searching wanted the bottles returned to be
for such as names of particular dairy re-used. To encourage this, a
farms, and may look for both. deposit was included in the price, just as today we pay
A popular collecting category is the a deposit for soda bottles. The deposit levels ranged
A clever from one cent to ten cents or more, with five cents
marketing graphic family bottle from dairies that were in being the most common.
on a half-pint the family or worked at by family
milk bottle. members. Often, bottles from a family
dairy were sold or destroyed when the The Breeds
dairy closed, yet current generations often look for and There are collectors seeking their favorite milking
want a tangible memento. cow breed featured on the bottle. While Elsie the Cow
Another popular category is to collect bottles from was the mascot for Borden Milk since 1936, there was
all the towns in a county, or from one town or one state. some controversy regarding which breed she represented.
For the more ambitious collector, there’s the goal of a The first living Elsie was a registered Jersey Heifer from
50-state collection – one bottle from each state, preferably Elm Hill Farm in Brookfield, Massachusetts. While Jthe
with the name of the state spelled out! Jersey breed was popular, keep an eye out for Guernsey,
Some collectors focus on one size of a milk bottle, as Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, and Holstein, too.
bottles were made in a range of sizes for different uses.
Quarts are among the most popular, although pints, The Cream at the Top Promoting milk as a healthy
half-pints, half gallons, and gallon bottles have their The shape of the bottle beverage was often done with
aficionados. Milk bottles are found in two main shapes: also offers collectors a range pictures of babies as on this
round and square. of options. These are varia- quarter pint bottle.
The early bottles were round, and as refrigerators tions on the typical round or
became more common, square bottles became more square bottles. For example,
popular as they took less space in the refrigerator. before homogenized milk was
Another very collectible category is the institutional available, the cream in milk
bottle. Hospitals, colleges and universities, schools would rise to the top of the
(such as agricultural schools and other schools offering bottle, so to promote the
lunch programs), and prisons often had dairies amount of cream, the cream
producing and bottling their own milk. top milk bottle was created.
The top of the bottle is a bowl
OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR shape that contains the cream.
For other glass companies
The Slogan to make a cream top bottle
A special collectible milk bottle
in time is one that included a war without infringing on the
original patent, the babyface
slogan. Milk bottles with the cream top was designed where
phrase “Buy War Bonds” or a baby’s face is embossed onto
“Support Our Troops,” often Another cream top the bowl, while others
with pictures of flags, ships, variation—the long embossed the face of a
airplanes, and soldiers. neck—showing the cream policeman plus a collar. Yet
Other popular milk bottle top spoon, and what to do
motifs include barns, babies, and with the cream. another design to serve the
same purpose was the
food items such as ice cream. toothache bottle with a bulge on the side near the top
Graphics on bottles were an rather than the bowl. The name came from the fact
opportunity for marketing that the bulge looked like a jaw swollen when a tooth A squat quart milk bottle in
related dairy products. homage to Louis Pasteur, who
ached. The cream line bottle took another approach, pioneered the process to insure
with several embossed rings at different levels to the safety of milk.
WWII War Slogan Milk Bottle
delineate the amount of cream in the milk!
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