A Few Nice Local Milks

[RED Matthews]

Hi Jim, You seem to be into PA Milks. I have been looking for a Whitling Dairy bottle from Bradford PA for about six years now - w/o any luck. RED Matthews

 

[Trying not to break it]

hi jim, some really nice milks you have there. good luck with your collection. rhona

 

[Jim]

Thanks, Doug, Steve, Red and Rhona. I have been acquiring some bottles from a small local accumulation. I picked up two more Belle Meades today, including a very rare pyroglazed one that sadly has a huge lip chip []. I'm not big on pyro bottles, but I had never even seen a pyro Belle Meade before. They were only made for a short time before the dairy was moved and the name changed to Reedsville Sanitary Milk Co.

Red, I don't see or get many Bradford, PA bottles, but I will keep an eye out for that one for you.

On Friday, I will be picking up a very nice and rare local half pint. I'm trying to get some of the really tough ones out of the way so I have them. You have to buy them when you can, otherwise it may be a long time until another one is available. I will post some more pictures on Friday of my latest additions. ~Jim

 

[Jim]

I picked up this little beauty today as planned. A 1936 half pint J.H. French Blue Ribbon Dairy. I forked out some $$$ for this one, but it was still a good deal. The Blue Ribbon bottles are almost impossible to find.

 

[Jim]

Slug. I love this bottle!

 

[Jim]

Here is the ultra-rare pyro Belle Meade. Sadly, it has a big lip chip, but I doubt I will ever be able to find another one, so I'm happy to have it.

 

[Jim]

Baby on the back:

 

[houseman]

Nice job with the milks Jim! I for one LOVE my local milks. I don't care what anyone says about them not being as "good" as older sodas and meds...they are a great part of any local collection. I collect Monroe County, Pa, milks. I know of at least 51 dairies and deliverymen that used their own bottles. One is a distant relative, which is cool. Currently there are only 13 of those 51 that I don't have in my collection. (looking to buy/trade for Monroe County bottles, all types)
I go over the embossing with a black marker and stuff the bottles with white pillow stuffing. It's cheap and they look great on the shelf!

 

[Jim]

Thanks, Tim. We have about 65 dairies with milk bottles from Mifflin County. It will be quite a challenge to get them all. I'm glad to have at least a few of the really tough ones, but still have about 50 out of 65 dairies to acquire! I just recently started on them, so it will be interesting to see how many I can check off my list this year. ~Jim

 

[houseman]

You'll probably find, as I did, that if you actively look for them they'll come fast and furious for a while, then slow to a trickle, then a drip, then dry up almost completely. When I started collecting them around ten years ago there seemed to be so many around that I could barely keep up. Those were mostly the more common ones with a scarcer one mixed in here and there. I collect the different sizes too, so that opens up three or four possibilities for each dairy. I'm at the point now where they're pretty much dried up. I have a lot of the rarer ones, but what I'm still missing are generally the rarest and/or the most recently discovered. Over the past few years I've only been able to add one or two unrepresented dairies to the collection. I've been focusing on a lot of the varieties lately to keep myself going (recently got a 1/3 pint embossed chocolate milk...a VERY scarce and desirable bottle from a common dairy!!).
Good luck! If I find anything from up your way I'll let you know.