From the Milk Pail to the Fridge: National Dairy Month

June 28, 2024

Another month, another cause to celebrate! In keeping with our National Day Calendar-inspired series of monthly observances, I am pleased to write that this month is National Dairy Month. June bears many important advocacy titles (Pride Month, Men’s Health Month, etc.), but one of the lighter associations is dedicated to the staple American food group. As Hoosiers, how could any of us forget our state’s most iconic connection to dairy? That is, of course, the tradition of the Indy 500 winner downing a celebratory bottle of milk. While I may not be a racer or dairy farmer myself, this month reminds me of the many hand-crafted milkshakes I’ve indulged in at county fairs. In the cropped image above, from our Larry Foster collection (P0569), a young woman is milking a Holstein Cow during a demonstration at the 1951 International Dairy Expo, which was held in Indianapolis.

Fairview Dairy, ca. 1900; Ballard Milk & Cream, ca. 1890; Mutual Milk Company Truck, ca. 1920. John Guedelhoefer Wagon Company, M0122 (all cropped).

Although our state is not nearly as dairy-famous as Wisconsin, Indiana nonetheless has long had a robust dairy industry. The above images highlight three historic Indianapolis milk companies and their dated method of delivery. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, wagons provided the safest and most common method of dairy delivery. With the proliferation of the automobile in the 1920s came milk trucks, such as the Mutual Milk Co. truck—a far more efficient delivery vehicle. The John Guedelhoefer Wagon Company of Indianapolis manufactured each of these vehicles and specialized in ice and food delivery. Personally, I think the companies of the two right-most images missed the opportunity to feature an exquisite dairy pun in their “better” slogans: “None Butter” and “The Butter Milk,” though I can understand why they would avoid such a pun to prevent product confusion.

Heath Dairy and Candy Company, 1944; Milk Bottle with the Heath Company Label, 1944. Martin’s Photo Shop, P0129 (all cropped).

I did not live through the era of milkmen and glass milk bottles, though those types of deliveries have seen a resurgence in some cities in recent years. These images from the Heath Dairy and Candy Company seem very quaint to me. The company was headquartered in Robinson, Illinois, across the Wabash and not far from our border, so they likely procured some of their milk from Indiana dairy farms! In the first image, two boys are loading those classic milk bottles into carriers for transport.

Governor Schricker and Kraft Cheese, 1942. Larry Foster Collection, P0569 (cropped).

Henry Schricker was governor of Indiana for most of World War II, and in the image above, he’s posing behind boxes upon boxes of Kraft cheese, promoting the product. This 1942 photograph serves as a fascinating example of American wartime propaganda influencing industry, and in this case, the dairy industry. The signs boast Kraft cheese’s flavor and nutritiousness while Uncle Sam commands citizens to boost the nation’s economy by consuming cheese. Given the dense presence of protein and calcium in dairy, the government probably hoped that promoting the food group would help produce strong workers and soldiers. Whether with milk or processed cheese, it seems dairy nourished America’s victorious war effort.

Come visit the IHS’s library sometime between July and September to see an exhibit all about Indiana dairy, curated by yours truly.

All the images featured in this blog are accessible on our digital collections site. To see a blog in honor of another June commemoration, visit Pride Month: Newton Arvin, Valpo Native.

Cooper Davis is an Assistant Librarian at the IHS. When he’s not researching history, he enjoys reading poetry and playing Chopin nocturnes.

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