Sign up for a free recipe e-book →

Clarissa's Blog

Milk Floats

Published by

Clarissa

on

You know what I intensely envy the British? Especially the British from the past?

Milk floats.

The object of my envy

We are a family of inveterate milk-guzzlers. It would be phenomenal to have a little vehicle come by each morning to remove empty bottles and leave fresh ones. I don’t like drinking out of plastic bottles and I definitely don’t appreciate trudging to the grocery store for milk that is probably old every 3 days.

There are delightful descriptions of milk floats making deliveries in British literature and I always feel deprived when I read them.

32 responses to “Milk Floats”

  1. scottharvey873 Avatar
    scottharvey873

    We used to have mild trucks when I was a wee lad. They didn’t float, but we did get fresh milk every morning. They stopped doing that by the Reagan era, right around the time they stopped having “pumpers” at the gas station (except in New Jersey). I’m 50, so that will give you some perspective on the timeline.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I had to Google pumpers and discovered that there used to be people who actually pumped gas for you. I had no idea.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. PaulS Avatar
        PaulS

        We had milk floats until the early 90s. We still have pumpers.

        Like

        Reply
      2. Demotrash Avatar
        Demotrash

        They still have that in New Jersey

        Like

        Reply
      3. Avatar
        Anonymous

        In Spain you can still find them.

        Like

        Reply
      4. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
        Post Alley Crackpot

        Drive through Oregon sometime. 🙂

        Like

        Reply
      5. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        gas pumpers were legally mandated at gas stations in MA until at least 2003

        Like

        Reply
    2. PaulS Avatar
      PaulS

      In SA, the milk floats were electric. One of the reasons why Elon Musk wanted to demonstrate to people that electric cars could go fast was because for his generation an electric car was a milk float with a top speed of 15 mph.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        I’m learning incredibly interesting information about milk floats from this thread, who knew.

        Like

        Reply
  2. Occasional Reader Avatar
    Occasional Reader

    I get milk delivered to me! It gets delivered in glass bottles and it’s very fresh. It tastes completely different than standard grocery milk. Its shocking at how different the taste is. Perhaps do some googling? You may be surprised to find out it’s something you can get to your home too. But I agree with the sentiment……milk delivered from a local dairy in glass bottles can’t be beat!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  3. bluebird of bitterness Avatar
    bluebird of bitterness

    I remember the milkman delivering milk in glass bottles. I even remember the cream on top. Sigh… those were the days…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Avi Avatar
    Avi

    In my youth in England, milk floats provided many other things in addition to delicious fresh milk: butter, eggs, sliced bread and orange juice were all staples that would get delivered. I was a paper boy and would often meet the milkman on my rounds while delivering newspapers to be read during breakfast.

    Halcyon days, with bobbies on their beats, same-day mail delivery in London (if posted before 12 noon), twice-daily mail collections from the ubiquitous red pillar boxes, double-decker buses with open-ended platforms at the back, the iconic phone boxes, and second-hand bookshops practically on every other street…

    Such, such were the joys of a long gone era of civilised living.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I was in London in 1990, and then again in 2012. It was incredible how much the city has changed. Or, rather, gone to the absolute dogs. Sorry, Londoners, but I must be honest. London lost what made it London and became a dirtier, stinkier New York with particular humiliations and discomforts reserved for women.

      Like

      Reply
    2. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
      Post Alley Crackpot

      And 84 Charing Cross Road wasn’t a fast food establishment …

      Don’t get me started on what happened to Foyles.

      At least Blackwell’s survives.

      Like

      Reply
    3. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
      Post Alley Crackpot

      In Florida you can get farm milk …

      … except it’s labelled as being suitable only for pets.

      Like

      Reply
      1. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
        Post Alley Crackpot

        And because I know you won’t believe this …

        http://localfoodsouthflorida.org/raw-dairy/florida-raw-dairies.html

        Like

        Reply
      2. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        Yeah, I miss buying the “pet milk” at the local produce stand. Can’t find any in the new locale. We have never had any pets.

        Like

        Reply
  5. methylethyl Avatar
    methylethyl

    Seriously check around and see if there’s a dairy in your area that either delivers, or from which you can buy fresh milk. That does exist, but you can’t access it through your grocery store, you have to talk to the farmer.

    Like

    Reply
    1. Dame Eleanor Hull Avatar
      Dame Eleanor Hull

      Seconded—in my area there is at least one dairy that delivers, or used to, and they distribute to grocery stores as well. Some stores have the bring-back-your-bottles program. In your area, try Prairie Farms Dairy; it doesn’t look like they deliver, from what I can find, but their products would probably be much fresher than standard supermarket dairy items.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        We had this great place that sold farm milk in returnable glass bottles but then COVID came and it’s no longer there.

        Like

        Reply
  6. Socal Dendrite Avatar
    Socal Dendrite

    My parents (northern England) still get their milk delivered to the doorstep in glass bottles, which they rinse and return – the very best recycling! I think these days it is homogenized but when I was growing up, we would shake the bottles to mix in the layer of cream on the top. Or sometimes my Dad would get there first and pour it onto his stewed rhubard 😉 We had a fishman that came round in a little van on Thursdays with super fresh fish from the coast too. Loved these home deliveries!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I now feel very deprived because fresh fish is a distant dream in this land-locked region.

      Like

      Reply
      1. Post Alley Crackpot Avatar
        Post Alley Crackpot

        Do they have “fish camps” near you?

        Those are fish breeding places where you are allowed to fish (without a licence, in fact, as it’s commercial) and you pay for each fish or by weight.

        Beats competition with “anglers” and all of the concealed social trappings …

        Like

        Reply
  7. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    “milk floats”

    I have never heard/read this before… it sounds like the name of a drink (milk with a scoop of ice cream… maybe some other stuff)

    Does it refer to the little trucks? The service?

    Am confuse…..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      It’s the vehicles. I think. But why are they called floats? Does anybody know?

      Like

      Reply
      1. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        This is the first time I’ve ever heard any vehicle outside of a parade, referred to as a float.

        Like

        Reply
        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          It’s the Brits, you know? Always have a funny but cute way of putting things.

          Like

          Reply
        2. cliff arroyo Avatar
          cliff arroyo

          “any vehicle outside of a parade, referred to as a float”

          Yeah, my other idea about ‘milk float’ would be:

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply
  8. Avatar
    Anonymous

    https://www.realmilk.com/raw-milk-finder/

    Find real milk in your area. You will have to put in more effort than the grocery store but it can be done. I have three local farms I hit up for milk when I can. It’s not every gallon we drink, but it’s probably close to half. Grocery store milk just doesn’t compare

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Avatar
    Anonymous

    When do you “guzzle” milk? With meals? Which ones? As a snack? I feel your average American doesn’t much drink milk as an adult outside of in their coffee and maybe with cereal. Not to mention all the people turning to soy/oat/almond/pea etc “milk.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Oat milk is an enemy of humanity. I’ve been looking for a pretext to say that

      I make overnight oats with milk. Usually I do mango but now I started the peach version. Coffee with milk. Using it to cook – mashed potatoes, Mac and cheese, okroshka, plus we make tvorog out of it. That requires a lot of milk. (Tvorog is salt-free framer’s cheese).

      What N does with it is a mystery but it evaporates when he’s at home alone.

      Speaking of mashed potatoes, I put both milk and a raw egg into mine. And then drink cold milk to accompany it. And chase it all down with a Jewish pickle and some raw radishes. It’s heavenly.

      Like

      Reply
    2. methylethyl Avatar
      methylethyl

      I use a gallon of milk every week just to make yogurt.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a comment

A conservative literary critic and college professor

Recent posts