Page 18 - brimfield-guide-september-23

16 SEPTEMBER 2023 BRIMFIELD SHOW GUIDE

Vintage Milk Bottles:

A Collectible with Many Possibilities
By Trish Manfredi, Domestic Cow Antiques & Events | photo by Peter Blieberg and Trish Manfredi

he vintage milk bottle is, for beginner and babies, and food items such as ice cream. Graphics on
seasoned collectors, one of the most fascinating bottles were an opportunity for marketing related
Tto be encountered. Although they are somewhat dairy products.
easily found at antique shops, old barns, tag sales, Milk bottles with Disney characters are extremely
antique bottle shows, and sometimes in unusual places, sought after, and a related category is milk bottles with
the range of vintage milk bottles is extensive, so there’s nursery rhymes printed on them. Borden’s Elsie the
likely to be a category to interest you. Cow was a popular character on milk bottles.
Some collectors seek out milk bottles with a specific
color of pyro glazing – red, green, blue, etc. Others try
Types of Collecting Categories
There are two main types of milk bottles: embossed to acquire bottles with two colors of pyro or the even
– that is with raised lettering and graphics on the rarer – three colors. The Wauregan Dairy, Wauregan,
surface of the bottle, and pyro-glazed – heat-set paint CT, varied the colors on their bottles: red, red and
lettering and graphics, also called an applied color label black, and just black pyro glazing, some of which may
(ACL). Collectors often specialize in one or the other, have been errors!
depending on other desired qualities they are searching Another collectible category is the deposit bottle.
for such as names of particular Because of the cost of bottles with
dairy farms, and may look for both. the dairy’s name on them, the
A popular collecting category is dairy wanted the bottles returned
the family bottle from dairies that to be re-used. To encourage this, a
were in the family or worked at by deposit was included in the price,
family members. Often, bottles just as today we pay a deposit for
from a family dairy were sold or soda bottles. The deposit levels
destroyed when the dairy closed, ranged from one cent to ten cents
yet current generations often look or more, with five cents being the
for and want a tangible memento. most common.
Another popular category is to Some dairies created different
collect bottles from all the towns in Vintage Milk Bottles at Domestic Cow graphics over the life of the dairy.
a county, or from one town or one Antiques & Events Cloverleaf Dairy from Salt Lake
state. For the more ambitious collector, there’s the goal City, Utah, had a series of bottles with different recipes
of a 50-state collection – one bottle from each state, using milk printed on their bottles, while a square quart
preferably with the name of the state spelled out! bottle from Gulf Hill Farms, South Dartmouth,
Some collectors focus on one size of a milk bottle, as Massachusetts from 1959 is orange pyro on one side
bottles were made in a range of sizes for different uses. with two cow heads and the dairy name, and on the
The early bottles were round, and as refrigerators other side shows a whale and “Try our delicious
became more common, square bottles became more Moby Dick Quahaug Chowder” in green. Quite
popular as they took less space in the refrigerator. often, there are initials on the base of the bottle to
Quarts are among the most popular, although pints, indicate the manufacturer of the bottle. “mTc” was
half-pints, half gallons, and gallon bottles have their Thatcher Manufacturing Company, and the date the
aficionados. Milk bottles are found in two main shapes: bottle was made.
round and square. Related to milk bottle collecting are creamers.
Another very collectible category is the institutional Creamers often had the name of the dairy on them,
bottle. Hospitals, colleges and universities, schools although due to the small size, many didn’t have the
(such as agricultural schools and other schools offering city and state on them. Other related categories are sour
lunch programs), and prisons often had dairies cream jars and condensed milk jars. A sub-category is a
producing and bottling their own milk. bottle from a goat dairy – yes, goat milk was (and still
Specialty milk bottles with the phrase “Buy War is) bottled and sold.
Bonds” or “Support Our Troops,” often with pictures
of flags, ships, airplanes, and soldiers, are rare but fun to Want to learn more? Join NAMBC and visit their
collect. Other popular milk bottle motifs include barns, website at www.milkbottlecollectors.com.