Amber or Brown Quart slug plate Memphis Dairy Tenn Pure Milk Union St.

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CreekWalker

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My daughter picked up a nice quart milk bottle, and sent me pictures. It is strongly embossed : MEMPHIS PURE MILK CO. PHONES 2743, MEMPHIS TENN. Man, it's sweet. Starting at the construction site of the Memphis Pyramid in the late 70's, I dug there , (Memphis) until the early 2000's, and never once dug one of these. But dug LOTS of clear, painted and a few slug plate milk bottles. So I knew it is rare for our area of the country. But why ? 6-2-19 031.jpg
 

CreekWalker

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Done some research, and found that, buttermilk developed a "tallow or acidic flavor" when bottled in clear glass , so most brown bottles were for buttermilk , although a few dairy/bottlers, 6-2-19 033.jpg tried it with "sweet milk" also. The back is embossed : TO BE WASHED AND RETURNED, so the owner/user was dutifully informed.
 

CreekWalker

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Although any milk product that was protected by amber glass , was less likely to develop an" Off flavor ", the brown glass had much higher temperatures , and much higher propensity to develop bacteria or "sour". So the dairies/bottlers had their delivery personnel place the bottles in the shade or under a box or blanket. Then a knock on the door , so the new owner would hurry and retrieve the milk product. I notice this, was between 1910 and 1920, around the time Coca Cola , Pepsi, and a hundred more bottlers used brown glass bottles , to prevent soda water from going flat. 6-2-19 034.jpg
 

CreekWalker

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Here is the conclusions of a study done in 1920 at AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION , IOWA STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTUREAND MECHANIC ARTS, with the link. file:///C:/Users/owner/Downloads/AgriculturalResearchBulletin-v005-b064.pdf .CONCLUSIONS , 1. Sunlight had a pronounced influence on the flavor of milk and cream; with sufficient exposure a definitely tallowy flavor was produced and with less exposure a distinct" off" flavor developed. Sunlight was observed to produce an abnormal flavor,sometimes tallowy and sometimes not, in other dairy products,such as ice cream, evaporated milk, skim milk and starter.2. Abnormal flavors developing in dairy products as a result of exposure to sunlight were prevented in the liquid products by brown glass bottles.3. The temperature of milk exposed to the sunlight in brown bottles was considerably higher than that exposed in ordinary bottles.4. Milk exposed to sunlight in brown bottles had a higher bacterial content than milk exposed in ordinary bottles. 'l'his was in part due to the higher temperature of the milk in theI;rown bottles.5. ·When there was an increase in acidity in milk exposed in ordinary and brown bottles, the increase was generally greater in the brown bottles.6. Sunlight had a definite influence in keeping down the bacterial content of milk exposed to it in ordinary bottles. This explains in part the much higher bacterial content of milk exposed in brown bottles than of that exposed in ordinary bottles.7. The exposure of whole milk to sunlight in ordinary bottle;;resulted in a change of· the milk so that it had a chalky, not clear white appearance, but this did not occur when milk was exposl'oin brown bottles.S. Milk or cream that had been exposed to sunlight in ordinary bottles yielded a much lighter colored fat than milk or creamfrom the same lot unexposed.9. Light had a greater influence on the flavor of milk having a low fat content than on that having a high fat content. treated samples were thought to be more tallowy than the checks. 10. Small amounts of commercial lactic acid did not seemto have consistently any important influence on the developmentof tallowiness, altho in a considerable number of tests the 11. Exposure to the air apparently had some influence on the development of tallowiness. 12. "Off" flavors were observed in certain samples of milk after an exposure of only 10 minutes, while definite tallowiness was observed with exposures as short as 45 minutes.13. The tallowy flavor in milk exposed to sunlight in ordinary bottles apparently decreased somewhat as a result of storage at a low temperature, but it never entirely disappeared. A tallowy flavor that developed in fat as a result of exposure of the milk or cream from which it was churned, did not disappear 0n holding.14. The consumer who is interested in securing milk and cream of good flavor should make some provision for the protection of these products from the sunlight, if they cannot be cared for soon after delivery.View attachment 188850
 
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CreekWalker

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In the 1980's near Crump Blvd , I dug a large pile of this brown milk bottle, ALL broke, and in shards, likely the byproduct, of the failed experiment, with amber milk bottles , in the extremely hot and humid south! Just wondering if, you or View attachment 188851 the other forum readers have alot of these brown milk bottles locally, or are they scarce in your area?
 
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macjxl

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If your daughter ever decided to sell I'd be a keen buyer CreekWalker. Here is a shot of my amber & green milk bottle collection - all different.all.jpg
 

macjxl

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Thank you for your kind words CreekWalker.
There are only 3 Tennessee amber milk bottles that I'm aware of - all quarts.
The first is your one (obviously) :)
The second is Nashville Pure Milk Co. - pictured here.
The third is Knoxville Milk Depot, W J Schwarz.
I've not seen a picture of the last one, but John Tutton & Bill Fisher both list it in their books so they must be out there.
I'd love to acquire one if anyone is holding or has any leads.

Nashville.jpg
 

CreekWalker

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Love that! There is possibly one more, Pure Milk Company or local dairy, slug plate bottle from Bolivar Tenn. , a town about 80 miles from Memphis. I dug a trash pit there, years ago, found a green and an amber shard , with a few clear slug plate pieces too. It was the town dump, under 3-4 feet of dirt and debris, but a bulldozer, had spoiled that basket of apples! I had hoped for one, and ended up with none.
 

CreekWalker

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Love that! There is possibly one more, ROSS DAIRY, local dairy, slug plate bottle from Bolivar Tenn. , a town about 80 miles from Memphis. I dug a trash pit there, years ago, found a green and an amber shard , with a few clear slug plate pieces too. It was the town dump, under 3-4 feet of dirt and debris, but a bulldozer, had spoiled that basket of apples! I had hoped for one, and ended up with none. Here's an excellent photo of a clear example, by member digger mcdirt. I'm thinking , ROSS tried the buttermilk experiment with the colored examples and failed, afterward destroyed most. Hope of hopes , someone stashed one in a basement or attic.
87C4EDDDDE05430AB18C37E9B9F0027D.jpg
 

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