# Do you remember milkmen?



## fuzzybuddy (May 14, 2017)

Yup, a guy in a white suit would walk right into your kitchen. He'd open the fridge and put milk in it. He'd walk out. If you were home, he'd say "Hi".
I can't believe how trusting we were back then.


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## Aunt Bea (May 14, 2017)

Yup!

My city grandmother had one of these milk doors so the milkman could leave the milk and she could retrieve it without going outside.






The milkman used to leave our milk outside on the porch and in the winter we had to get it before it froze and the cats had a treat, LOL!!!






We still have one local dairy that sells milk in glass, no home delivery though.


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## NancyNGA (May 14, 2017)

When I was a child our next door neighbors always got milk delivered, but we never did.   Delivery service must have been more expensive, at least in the suburbs.


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## Ruthanne (May 14, 2017)

I remember having a "milk chute" and getting bottled milk that was put in there.  Those were the good old days when people could trust each other.


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## jujube (May 14, 2017)

We had the "milk box" on the front porch, an insulated metal box.  Mom would leave a note to order what she wanted; he would leave the product.  Some milkmen also dealt in eggs.  The jugs were heavy glass with a paper cap.  

I can't remember when my mother started buying milk in the store instead.  

Remember back in the 70's when they experimented with selling milk in plastic bags?  I bought a plastic pitcher-like thingie that you set the bag down in and somehow pulled the spout on the bag through.  I can't remember exactly how it worked because I decided I didn't like getting milk that way.  I don't think the concept lasted long.


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## Warrigal (May 14, 2017)

I remember when the milkman had a horse and cart and the milk was in bulk. Customers left a tray on the front door step with a billy can and a note. The milko would ladle a pint or quart into the billy and it would be taken inside and placed in the ice chest. The iceman also delivered the block of ice daily to the front porch.


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## Furryanimal (May 15, 2017)

Remember?I still have a milkman who leaves the milk on the doorstep four times a week and comes for his money once a fortnight.Hasn't got a milkfloat though.


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## Aunt Bea (May 15, 2017)

Molly was the last horse to draw a milk wagon on a regular route in our city, she retired in 1952.

This is a picture of some of her pals.


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## hauntedtexan (May 15, 2017)

If they only had a truck like this.....


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## fuzzybuddy (May 15, 2017)

Yeah, I remember when they started having those metal insulated containers, and stopped coming in the house.


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## Wintermint (May 15, 2017)

Here in the UK there are still some milkmen in business, though I suspect fewer each year! They used to leave it by your door here. About 20 years ago they started to deliver bread, butter and a few basic groceries, I suppose to make their businesses more viable, but they fade, as does so much else with so called 'progress'.


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## Mrs. Robinson (May 15, 2017)

I definitely remember the milkman-my grammar school best friend`s dad was ours-but mostly we all loved our "donutman"...errrr,breadman. He would park on the street outside of our junior high school every day and open the back of his truck,roll out the shelves and ohhhhhh,the aroma!!!!


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 19, 2020)

fuzzybuddy said:


> Yup, a guy in a white suit would walk right into your kitchen. He'd open the fridge and put milk in it. He'd walk out. If you were home, he'd say "Hi".
> I can't believe how trusting we were back then.


I remember the common milk-man from the 60's and 70's!

We never had milk delivered, but there were neighbours that did, and regularly, so seeing the milk truck around our neighbourhood was a daily affair, and all of us kids knew the driver's name.


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## Ken N Tx (Jun 19, 2020)




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## RadishRose (Jun 19, 2020)




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## Keesha (Jun 19, 2020)

Yes. When we lived in England, I went to school and we had a full hot meal for lunch with a cold bottle of 3% milk. School was fun and the food was great. Then I moved here and went to kindergarten where we had naps, snacks and finger painted for 1/2 a day. Lol


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## Ruth n Jersey (Jun 19, 2020)

I remember the milkman. My dad made our first milk box out of wood and then we got the insulated kind.
 On occasion the milkman would add something extra to our order in the hopes that my mom would pay for it on our next bill.  There would be a container of heavy cream ,cottage cheese or some other dairy product that we never used or ordered.
She hated this because she would then have to listen for him to arrive in order for her to give him back whatever he had left the day before. In the winter she would just put it back in the box with a note saying she didn't want the item. 
She said she didn't care if it froze or not. He shouldn't have left it in the first place.


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## RadishRose (Jun 19, 2020)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> She said she didn't care if it froze or not. He shouldn't have left it in the first place.


She was right!


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## 911 (Jun 21, 2020)

We had a box on the porch. We could leave a note for how many quarts of milk, chocolate milk and orange juice we wanted.


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## Pinky (Jun 21, 2020)

jujube said:


> Remember back in the 70's when they experimented with selling milk in plastic bags?  I bought a plastic pitcher-like thingie that you set the bag down in and somehow pulled the spout on the bag through.  I can't remember exactly how it worked because I decided I didn't like getting milk that way.  I don't think the concept lasted long.


You don't have bagged milk in the U.S.?


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## MarciKS (Jun 21, 2020)

Pinky said:


> You don't have bagged milk in the U.S.?


i've never seen any. just creamer bags for machines.


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## Pinky (Jun 21, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> i've never seen any. just creamer bags for machines.


I just edited, lol


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## MarciKS (Jun 21, 2020)

i'm confused now


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## Pinky (Jun 21, 2020)

MarciKS said:


> i'm confused now


I just added a photo of a milk bag in a container to my previous post.


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## MarciKS (Jun 21, 2020)

as i said...the only bagged product i'm aware of is creamer bags for machines. no milk though. to my knowledge.


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## jujube (Jun 21, 2020)

Mrs. Robinson said:


> I definitely remember the milkman-my grammar school best friend`s dad was ours-but mostly we all loved our "donutman"...errrr,breadman. He would park on the street outside of our junior high school every day and open the back of his truck,roll out the shelves and ohhhhhh,the aroma!!!!



We were staying in a big RV park in Lancaster, PA.  I heard a bell ringing and looked out to see a big horse-drawn wagon pulling into the park, driven by an Amish gentleman.  He let down the sides and there were shelves full of pies, bread, pastries, jams, cheeses and other goodies.  People came trotting from all directions and literally cleaned him out.  He came almost every day.  Good business to be in.


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## jujube (Jun 21, 2020)

Pinky said:


> You don't have bagged milk in the U.S.?
> View attachment 110534



It's been years since I've seen any bagged milk anywhere.  I won't say it doesn't exist in the US, but it's not common.


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## Marie5656 (Jun 21, 2020)

*@Aunt Bea , my aunt and uncle had one of thse milk doors.. I always thought it was neat.  We just got ours delivered to the front door. How boring.
Not really a milk man story, but back when I was a kid, my dad and my uncle owned a small restaurant together up at the 1000 Islands. Had a motel and Gas station too. It was a seasonal place, open April through Labor Day. Our moms and us kids all went out for the summers.  Anyway, when the milk delivery guy came by, my cousin, Mike, and I would run out. He would give us each a small pint bottle of chocolate milk.  He kept them in the back of the truck, near the cooler, so they were nearly frozen.*


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## MarciKS (Jun 21, 2020)

ours just came up and put the glass bottles on the porch.


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## Lewkat (Jun 21, 2020)

RadishRose said:


>


When I was in college, I always had this on when I was up half the night and a.m. studying for exams.  Loved this theme song.


911 said:


> We had a box on the porch. We could leave a note for how many quarts of milk, chocolate milk and orange juice we wanted.
> 
> View attachment 110530


I used to get up before everyone else and go out and get the milk out of the box.  The bottles had a narrowed neck and the cream was on top which I would always drink.  Dad would be livid for he wanted that for his coffee.  To say I was their problem child is a gross understatement.


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## MarciKS (Jun 21, 2020)

lol @ lew!

my father reminded me today that i used to lick the salt of the chips and put them back in the bag. he'd be the one to discover it. lol! so i totally get it.


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## win231 (Jun 22, 2020)

I don't remember ever seeing a milkman.  But I do remember those heavy bottles & that thick cream at the top.

Why are there so many jokes about the milkman or the mailman being the kid's father?


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## squatting dog (Jun 22, 2020)




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## Treacle (Jun 22, 2020)

We had the milkman when I lived with my grandparents. His name was Eric and according to my grandmother he had flat feet. What that had to do with anything I don't know.  For some strange reason this has made me think of the song title by Benny Hill 'Ernie the fastest milkman in the West. Eric certainly wasn't ! 

Milk came in bottles and had different foil tops depending on how creamy the milk was - I guess. I remember the red top.
I  was milk monitor in school when milk was free for young children. I think it came in bottles and we had straws (1950's - 1960's) It may then have been cartons. Free milk was stopped in about 1971 for over 7s by the government. Thatcher was referred to as the Milk Snatcher.


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## LindaB (Jun 22, 2020)

We had a metal milk box for the milkman to leave our milk. Stayed nice and cold until we took it out. We would leave a note if we needed to change our order for next delivery.


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## Fyrefox (Jun 23, 2020)

My parents likewise had a milkman in the 1950's who delivered heavy glass bottles to an insulated, galvanized metal box situated on the back steps.  In the dead of winter, you needed to get the milk out before it froze.  By the 1960's, most people in my NYC suburban area were then buying milk in paper cartons at the supermarket.  Today, metal milk boxes still in existence are hot items at auctions and antique shops, especially valuable if they bear the name of one-time area dairies...


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## hollydolly (Jun 23, 2020)

of course I remember them. My father was one   at one time, and my brother and I were the milk girl and boy... and in fact we still have Milkmen out here in the rural shires, who deliver milk to a few doorsteps.. but they no longer use an electric float


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 23, 2020)

jujube said:


> We had the "milk box" on the front porch, an insulated metal box.  Mom would leave a note to order what she wanted; he would leave the product.  Some milkmen also dealt in eggs.  The jugs were heavy glass with a paper cap.
> 
> I can't remember when my mother started buying milk in the store instead.
> 
> *Remember back in the 70's when they experimented with selling milk in plastic bags?  I bought a plastic pitcher-like thingie that you set the bag down in and somehow pulled the spout on the bag through.  I can't remember exactly how it worked because I decided I didn't like getting milk that way.  I don't think the concept lasted long.*


I totally remember! Mom used to freeze a few bags for backup, and I remember how the cream would slightly separate from the milk.

Anyhow, the plastic milk jug we had, had an open top, so once the bag of milk was dropped in, we'd snip the front corner of the milk bag using a pair of scissors.


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## Capt Lightning (Jun 24, 2020)

We used have a milkman who delivered bottled milk every morning.  This attracted blue tits who would peck through the top to get at the cream .  To combat this we would leave empty tin cans  that the milkman would place over the bottles.


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## hollydolly (Jun 24, 2020)

Capt Lightning said:


> We used have a milkman who delivered bottled milk every morning.  This attracted blue tits who would peck through the top to get at the cream .  To combat this we would leave empty tin cans  that the milkman would place over the bottles.


we as milk deliverers in the 60's would more often be left a cleaned out empty yoghurt pot by the householder  to place over the bottles to prevent the birds pecking them on the doorstep... some people had wooden boxes on the wall where we left the milk safely out of reach of birds..


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## Keesha (Jun 24, 2020)

Capt Lightning said:


> We used have a milkman who delivered bottled milk every morning.  This attracted blue tits who would peck through the top to get at the cream .  To combat this we would leave empty tin cans  that the milkman would place over the bottles.


I didn’t realize blue tits drank milk; just the top fat portion. Apparently robins in your area do also but didn’t adapt as well as the blue tits. That’s quite interesting.


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## Poisezyn (Nov 26, 2020)

I remember the milkman delivering glass bottles in the wire carrier in Vallejo. CA in the early 70's. We weren't far from a dairy. Too bad that doesn't happen anymore. It would be a great service to get milk, butter, cream, cheese, and ice cream delivered, especially during this social distancing and shut-ins.


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## Ken N Tx (Nov 26, 2020)

Poisezyn said:


> I remember the milkman delivering glass bottles in the wire carrier


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## win231 (Nov 26, 2020)

I don't remember the milkman, but my ex wife does.


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## Damaged Goods (Nov 27, 2020)

We used to ride thru the alleys on the back bumper and help ourselves to the chunks of ice which were coated with sawdust.    I guess today the milk cos. would be charged with child abuse if the drivers allowed kids to hitch rides.

Must've been around 1958 when the trucks became refrigerated, thus ending that practice.


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## john danson (Nov 27, 2020)

There was always a big cake of ice in the milk truck.On hot summer days the milkman always found time to chip off a piece of ice for us.


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## jerry old (Nov 27, 2020)

win231 said:


> I don't remember ever seeing a milkman.  But I do remember those heavy bottles & that thick cream at the top.
> 
> Why are there so many jokes about the milkman or the mailman being the kid's father?




The Fuller Brush Man is alleged to have received a lot of propositions. 
True or false, they would not employ single man.


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## Phoenix (Nov 27, 2020)

My brother-in-law was one.  Years later I learned that he delivered a helping of himself to some of his female clients.  I'm hoping my sister never knew.


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## jalou65 (Nov 27, 2020)

*My dad was a milkman with a horse drawn wagon.  He would begin his route in the wee hours of the morning.  When I was a little girl he took me with him a couple times.  I road in the wagon while he ran the milk bottles up to each house.  I can still remember the sound of the horse's hooves on the brick road.  A sweet memory.*


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## win231 (Nov 27, 2020)

jerry old said:


> The Fuller Brush Man is alleged to have received a lot of propositions.
> True or false, they would not employ single man.


The milkman & mailman really deliver.  And women like The Fuller Brush Man's nice, even strokes.


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## RadishRose (Nov 27, 2020)

jujube said:


> It's been years since I've seen any bagged milk anywhere.  I won't say it doesn't exist in the US, but it's not common.


I have never seen a bag of milk.


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## Autumn (Nov 27, 2020)

My great-uncle, Walter Tusen, owned a small dairy farm in Salem, NH and delivered our milk until he retired...I was about 6 years old then.  He sold the farm to Mr. Burke...I never knew the man's first name, he was tall and slim with dark hair and dark rimmed glasses, and even my parents called him Mr. Burke.  He got a real kick out of my mother's parakeet, Chippy, especially when the bird yelled SOB (but using the actual words).

Amazing, the things we remember from childhood...


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## FastTrax (Nov 27, 2020)

jujube said:


> We had the "milk box" on the front porch, an insulated metal box.  Mom would leave a note to order what she wanted; he would leave the product.  Some milkmen also dealt in eggs.  The jugs were heavy glass with a paper cap.
> 
> I can't remember when my mother started buying milk in the store instead.
> 
> Remember back in the 70's when they experimented with selling milk in plastic bags?  I bought a plastic pitcher-like thingie that you set the bag down in and somehow pulled the spout on the bag through.  I can't remember exactly how it worked because I decided I didn't like getting milk that way.  I don't think the concept lasted long.



I remember those grey insulated milk containers on the front porch when I lived with my grandparents on my moms side in Central Islip. They held 6 bottles and when the milkman came early in the morning you could hear him clanking the bottles. He did wear a white uniform with a white hat and I think the name of the company started with a K. I'll have to look that one up. Those milk bags (I gotta keep a clean mind here)  were the same thing Farmingdale A&T College had in their cafeteria. They were dispensed from machines like fountain soda and other liquids in convenience stores. That's the only way they were supposed to be dispensed in commercial applications only. At FA&T there were three sets of white milk dispensers and one set was for chocolate milk. Back in the late 60's they were commercially available then eventually they were released for consumer use. Only problem is they didn't tell the consumers that and lot's of milk was spilled in many kitchens by people trying to hold those rather heavy cardboard cartons upside down while trying to pour milk out of those short red spouts. The worst issue was to fit them in fridges back then required you to remove half the racks in order to fit those cinderblocks in it.


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## Nathan (Nov 27, 2020)

fuzzybuddy said:


> Do you remember milkmen?


Sure. He would leave a bottle tote with several milk bottles on our porch, or else as a little guy I'd run out to the truck instead to pick up the milk.


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## Tish (Nov 27, 2020)

I remember them, my sister and I used to fight over the cream.


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## FastTrax (Nov 27, 2020)

win231 said:


> I don't remember ever seeing a milkman.  But I do remember those heavy bottles & that thick cream at the top.
> 
> Why are there so many jokes about the milkman or the mailman being the kid's father?



You ever heard of the thing about:

When the husband cat is away working his house mouse is keeping company with the milk mouse and 9 month's later it's house mommy mouse's baby and husband cat's baby maybe.


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## Rosemarie (Nov 27, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> I have never seen a bag of milk.


When I lived in Africa, the milk was delivered in bags. They had three corners and you had to be very careful how you opened them!


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## Ken N Tx (Nov 28, 2020)




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## Judycat (Nov 28, 2020)

Yes we had milk delivered. The guy would knock on the door come in and put six quart bottles on the sink. We'd have a little chat and he'd go. I remember it being delivered even when I was in high school. The bread man, the ice cream truck and the beer man would come through regularly too. There was even a guy who'd sell towels, dish cloths and sheets out of his station wagon. He called himself Cheap John.


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## gennie (Nov 28, 2020)

Glass bottle with a cardboard plug with a pull tab to seal it.  Went into a wire rack on front porch.  

Mom would sometimes carefully pour thick cream from top to whip for REAL whipped cream for strawberry or peach shortcake.

I tried it once.  Whipped it too long and it turned into butter.


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## Phoenix (Nov 28, 2020)

My mom milked the cows.


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## Ruby Rose (Jan 9, 2021)

Aunt Bea said:


> Molly was the last horse to draw a milk wagon on a regular route in our city, she retired in 1952.
> 
> This is a picture of some of her pals.


I was terrified of that big horse pulling the milk wagon and would cross the road until it passed. Now here I am living with many horses...all different sizes...and they wait for me in the early morning to hand out dried apple treats, etc until the hay carts are brought. They are all wonderful!


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## Lewkat (Jan 9, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> lol @ lew!
> 
> my father reminded me today that i used to lick the salt of the chips and put them back in the bag. he'd be the one to discover it. lol! so i totally get it.


It's a wonder he didn't kill you, Marci.


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## ronaldj (Jan 9, 2021)

does getting up two hours before school for most of your life and heading to the barn to milk 40 cows and after school doing it all over again from the time i was old enough to life a pail of milk until i was oh forever ...does that count?


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## MarciKS (Jan 9, 2021)

Lewkat said:


> It's a wonder he didn't kill you, Marci.


I had this thing too about dunking white bread in pepsi when I was little. I think the way it fizzed in the bread in my mouth must have entertained me or something. One night after us kids went to bed...dad said he decided to try it just in case he was missing something. LOL! He decided he wasn't. But it made him curious. LMBO!


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## J.B Books (Jan 13, 2021)

We had a milk man....with a milk box built into the side of the house.
And an egg man, and a Charlie Chips man...

Remember the Fuller Brush man?


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## Vida May (Jan 14, 2021)

We didn't have a box for our milk and In southern California, we didn't worry about it freezing.  The glass jug of milk was just left by the front door and the empty one was left there too.  One day I somehow managed to kick the top off the bottle and sit on it.  My mother got pretty excited.  She wrapped me in guilt and rushed me to a doctor.  The doctor sewed me and we went home.  I have the scar to prove my story.


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