My parents still get milk delivered in glass bottles in Providence, RI from Christiansen's dairy.

Liz Crowell

-----Original Message-----
From: David Babson
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 12:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Bottles & misc


The BEST buttermilk came from glass bottles, delivered by the milkman (a term descriptive of gender, in that time), as late as the 1970s in SW Connecticut.  All gone, now--believe home milk delivery services left the area before 1980.  The buttermilk from waxed cartons at the grocery store just doesn't taste the same.

D. Babson

        -----Original Message-----
        From: Ron May [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent: Thu 3/21/2002 8:18 PM
        To: [log in to unmask]
        Cc:
        Subject: Re: Bottles & misc


        Like the rest of you, I made extra money during Summers scavenging old bottles for recycling. It did not matter if the Coca Cola bottle had been made in the 1920s or 1950s, if they were the same shape because the bottling plants reused them time and again. I recall getting a bottle from a machine in 1958 with "San Diego 1923" embossed on the base. As I recall, generic beer and liquor bottles were broken up for scrap glass. During the 1960s, the California Department of Transportation, Division of Highways used crushed bottle glass in a mix with epoxy for coating bridge road surfaces to reduce skidding during ice periods.

        I recall milk trucks delivering milk all through the 1950s and early 1960s in San Diego, California. We used to have these small doors to the left of the walkway the milkman used to shove the milk inside and slide them to the left. Another door inside the houses enabled us to collect the milk. I recall those small vaults were lined with zinc or galvanized steel to keep the cold. Empty bottles were placed in racks out on the portch for the milkman to pick up. We also got butter, yogurt and buttermilk.

        Ron May
        Legacy 106, Inc.