You Know You Are Old When

[jyoutz]

Come to Pennsylvania! Our number of small family-run dairy farms began to dwindle when the generations born before WW2 were retiring and selling off their farms, but we still have enough that it's very common to see those glass jugs in many of our stores. Many of the farms also have their own farm store, where they sell their own products (milk, produce, poultry, beef), as well as the products of usually a half a dozen other local farms. This increases as you head west from the Philadelphia - New York corridor.

My state is a major dairy producer, but not that many small farms. They are large operations that ship milk to the creameries by refrigerated tank trucks, where it is pasteurized and packaged in plastic jugs and paper cartons. Much of the milk goes to the cheese factories. It would be nice to visit the small farm stores in Pennsylvania.

https://dairy.nmsu.edu/documents/nm-dairy-facts_012021.pdf

 

[Oaktree]

Haven’t seen milk in glass bottles in decades.

I hadn't either until maybe a year ago, there was someone returning an empty bottle to the IGA-type market next town over. Hadn't noticed in the cooler before, then again I don't especially like milk so it's not somewhere I'd be looking very often...

 

[masseyrider]

Here in Kanuckistan I haven't had milk in a glass bottle since elementary school when they went to the cardboard containers.
We are talking quickly closing in on 60 years.
I don't have a problem with the plastic bags we have here except that the bags aren't reuseable.
The milk in bags takes place of the larger containers of 4 liters so they are a good size for freezing the garden plenty.
It's a thick plastic and would be great for use in the freezer.
Except, no matter how you wash and clean them the smell of sour milk permeates everything you put in them.
When Ma died I took 3 large garbage bags of these milk bags to the dump. The packrat in her just had to save them.
Even though they were spotlessly clean the recycle place wouldn't take them.

 

[ultrarunner]

Haven’t seen milk in glass bottles in decades.

Real California milk from Happy California cows trademarked free from growth hormones, etc… and in glass.

Growing up we had milkman deliveries but that faded away in the 70’s… still have the porch cooler that was never picked up when Foremost stopped home delivery…

All the kids loved Bud the milkman…

Seems much of what is sold in cartons now sold in ever shrinking cartons… be it juice, ice cream, etc.

At least we still have milk in 1/2 gallon glass.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Remember these?

Well, I intended to post a picture of an old time glass coffee creamer they would give you when you ordered coffee in a cafe, but couldn't fine one that would post.

 

[LouNY]

Growing up at home all we had was raw milk straight from the can or bulk tank. Then into glass jars in the fridge.

Come to Pennsylvania! Our number of small family-run dairy farms began to dwindle when the generations born before WW2 were retiring and selling off their farms, but we still have enough that it's very common to see those glass jugs in many of our stores. Many of the farms also have their own farm store, where they sell their own products (milk, produce, poultry, beef), as well as the products of usually a half a dozen other local farms. This increases as you head west from the Philadelphia - New York corridor.

There are several "farm" stores in this area and two good sized dairys that bottle much of their milk a well as using it for ice cream with their surplus going into the fluid market.

15-25 years ago, was pretty friendly with the lady who ran one of our local dairy farm stores, her husband ran the farm itself. They did and still use those glass returnable bottles, and I remember her mentioning the state or the CDC were making it increasingly difficult for them to continue operations as they always had, requiring the purchase of new equipment and implementation of new processes that made it almost impossible to remain profitable. I got the sense that if they weren't already well-established and already approaching retirement, that they'd have never been able to afford to be in the business of direct retail.

Most of our local dairy farms sell to one of a half dozen larger dairy conglomerations, who combine and process their milk for modern packaging to stores.

Many of the small operations are so burdened by over bearing and rediculous rules and regulations it's a wonder any of them can survive.

My state is a major dairy producer, but not that many small farms. They are large operations that ship milk to the creameries by refrigerated tank trucks, where it is pasteurized and packaged in plastic jugs and paper cartons. Much of the milk goes to the cheese factories. It would be nice to visit the small farm stores in Pennsylvania.

https://dairy.nmsu.edu/documents/nm-dairy-facts_012021.pdf

Most of those trailers are not refrigerated just well insulated and multi chambered as they cannot have baffles to slow down the sloshing as it could churn the milk.
In the past all of the dairys had a refrigerated bulk tank as milk had to be cooled rapidly as it left the cows. The cooled milk was then loaded on to trucks that were doing the farm to farm pickup and then they would go to the various creameries for testing and processing.
It's still similar today except the large farms are using tractor trailer tanks for storage and the tractor brings in an empty trailer and picks up a loaded one.

Yes, unfortunately most of the dairys that are making a go of it are milking well over a 1000 cows. While they are agriculture I also find it hard to give them a lot of support. Many will claim to be family farms, but the family members are often outnumbered by employees. Plus they are incorporated which to me makes them big business.

 

[masscity]

We had 8 milk cows when my Dad bought the farm, he kept them for a few years, he kept the best cow (5% milk fat), sold the others and bought some beef cows.

I drank a ton of raw milk, we made home made yogurt and churned butter from her cream. My Mom made squeaky cheese, I think it might be a Finnish thing, never heard of it anywhere else.

When I went into the Air Force I had to drink chocolate milk, I couldn't stand store bought milk taste.

 

[ultrarunner]

I had to drink chocolate milk too after being use to fresh from the cow milk at Grandparents Dairy Farm.

My cousin shut it all down after many generations. He got a job as a city bus driver and with paid vacation and holiday pay…

Grandpa never had more than 30 milk cows plus the calfs, pigs and grandma’s egg money from the chickens.

Farm to table was the way it was for generations…

7 days a week the milk truck arrived to pick up the full milk cans and return empties.

They grew their own grass and hay, had summer meadows and grandma’s brother in law had a water powered mill to to mill grain…

The mill was removed by the current cousin… removed because the county wanted to make it a historic site and cousin was tired of city people trespassing… at least I saw it in action.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

She?!?

Absolutely!
Here's her yearbook photo. Friends told me she was fired for breaking a boys arm when she was a teacher in Texas!

 

[WinterDeere]

My state is a major dairy producer, but not that many small farms. They are large operations that ship milk to the creameries by refrigerated tank trucks, where it is pasteurized and packaged in plastic jugs and paper cartons. Much of the milk goes to the cheese factories. It would be nice to visit the small farm stores in Pennsylvania.

https://dairy.nmsu.edu/documents/nm-dairy-facts_012021.pdf

We had just one working dairy farm still in my family, when I was a kid in the 1970's and 80's. They did pretty well, with 180 cows and 280 acres, which is big for this area defined by 100-acre Penn's land grants. I remember my great-aunt telling me that the only way they were profitable after the 1950's or 60's was by specializing into boutique products, that it was no longer possible to stay profitable at their small scale on commodity products.

That may explain why the farm stores seem to be tied to the few farms that remain, those just doing bulk work couldn't be profitable enough for the next generation to stay in the business, when the older generation aged out. One of those "Grow or die" situations, for staying in bulk commodity work, the stores bring in a different kind of income from those who value local foods.

A cow plague hit this area in the late-1980's, and my aunt and uncle lost something like 70% of their herd in a few weeks. They were already 70 years old, so took that as the sign to at least partly retire. They kept milking the cows that survived, for at least a few more years, but never replaced them. None of their kids took over the farm, they had already chosen other careers 20 years prior.

 

[jyoutz]

We had just one working dairy farm still in my family, when I was a kid in the 1970's and 80's. They did pretty well, with 180 cows and 280 acres, which is big for this area defined by 100-acre Penn's land grants. I remember my great-aunt telling me that the only way they were profitable after the 1950's or 60's was by specializing into boutique products, that it was no longer possible to stay profitable at their small scale on commodity products.

That may explain why the farm stores seem to be tied to the few farms that remain, those just doing bulk work couldn't be profitable enough for the next generation to stay in the business, when the older generation aged out. One of those "Grow or die" situations, for staying in bulk commodity work, the stores bring in a different kind of income from those who value local foods.

A cow plague hit this area in the late-1980's, and my aunt and uncle lost something like 70% of their herd in a few weeks. They were already 70 years old, so took that as the sign to at least partly retire. They kept milking the cows that survived, for at least a few more years, but never replaced them. None of their kids took over the farm, they had already chosen other careers 20 years prior.

Most of the dairies in my state have 1000+ animals. And a big part of the production goes to the cheese factories. There are lots of farm stores that sell pecans, chiles, pumpkins, melons, and meat, ect…. But none selling dairy products.

 

[ultrarunner]

My grandparents were grateful for the farm life they had and saw work as a blessing.

They said the farm always provided fresh wholesome food, shelter, timber, fish from the stream and back in the 30’s they had a small creek hydro for a farm radio…

They had equally self sufficient neighbors but in times of need all contributed as in a barn raising, caring for someone sick, etc.

Never owned a car… just the tractor and Grandpa had a motorcycle in his younger days.

My grandmother really believed those without work were poor and easily led into temptation… and she included the idle well to do in those without work…

The only time they ever traveled away from home was their trip to California… they wanted to see for themselves we were ok… my Grandfather was in awe of the Pacific ocean and they loved seeing Disneyland with their grandchildren… never seen anything like it…

 

[bigtiller]

It's been so ling since I've had milk that wasn't pasteurized and homogenized that I probably wouldn't like it.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

It's been so ling since I've had milk that wasn't pasteurized and homogenized that I probably wouldn't like it.

My Dad was in the Navy in WWII and one sailor had Undulant fever from drinking unpasteurized milk. We buy it from the Amish when we go to Lancaster county Pennsylvania.

 

[LouNY]

We had just one working dairy farm still in my family, when I was a kid in the 1970's and 80's. They did pretty well, with 180 cows and 280 acres, which is big for this area defined by 100-acre Penn's land grants. I remember my great-aunt telling me that the only way they were profitable after the 1950's or 60's was by specializing into boutique products, that it was no longer possible to stay profitable at their small scale on commodity products.

That may explain why the farm stores seem to be tied to the few farms that remain, those just doing bulk work couldn't be profitable enough for the next generation to stay in the business, when the older generation aged out. One of those "Grow or die" situations, for staying in bulk commodity work, the stores bring in a different kind of income from those who value local foods.

A cow plague hit this area in the late-1980's, and my aunt and uncle lost something like 70% of their herd in a few weeks. They were already 70 years old, so took that as the sign to at least partly retire. They kept milking the cows that survived, for at least a few more years, but never replaced them. None of their kids took over the farm, they had already chosen other careers 20 years prior.

"We" my brother milked cows up till 2013, when I was still young and on the farm in 1966 we went from 50 cows in a stanchion barns to 100+ cows in a free stall and a double 6 herringbone parlor. When my brother sold out the milk cows he was milking about 115 they had gotten up to 150 but it was a stretch getting and keeping quality feed for that many. Also were he was selling his milk had a quality bonus on the pricing and only milking about 100 he was able to be on the highest quality for many years.. When he sold those cows he bought 100 head of Angus brood cows. He got out just as the market tanked and milk priced nose dived so good timing.
He has passed now and my nephew is on the farm now running around a 100 brood cows and tuning over about 100 butcher animals a year.

As others have mentioned when I couldn't get raw milk I only drank chocolate to hid the taste. I still don't like store milk even though it's what I get now, but I almost never drink it, just for cooking and on fruits or cereals.

 

[Oaktree]

When I went into the Air Force I had to drink chocolate milk, I couldn't stand store bought milk taste.

Can't stand chocolate milk. When I was maybe 7 or 8 my mother bought me some after me bugging her to do so. A couple sips were enough. Never had it again.
Even though there were a number of family dairy farms in my neighborhood when growing up, don't think I ever had anything but store milk.

 

[Alan46]

Wow. I’m old enough to remember when Honey Nut Cheerios hit the scene, the original Cheerios tasted like cardboard to me. My 12 year old likes to call my childhood “the olden days”.

Of course, she thinks I’m contemporary with Elvis or Sinatra, not Alanis Morrisette or Jimmy Fallon.

My 12 year old likes to call my childhood “the olden days”. Now that’s very funny!!!

 

[airbiscuit]

My granddaughter tells her friends that her parents had wooden headphones

 

[not2old]

Can't stand chocolate milk. When I was maybe 7 or 8 my mother bought me some after me bugging her to do so. A couple sips were enough. Never had it again.
Even though there were a number of family dairy farms in my neighborhood when growing up, don't think I ever had anything but store milk.

In the mid 1950's our elementary school visited the local dairy. I'm guessing it was about 250 students that were each given a glass bottle of fresh chocolate milk. I was near the end of the line when the person passing out the milk spotted one bottle of white milk and exclaimed "what's that doing here?". I replied That's mine. I've hated chocolate milk my whole life, don't eat chocolate cake or ice cream. Most other chocolate items are good.

 

[jyoutz]

My granddaughter tells her friends that her parents had wooden headphones

Better than wooden teeth.