Edmands Bros Wire Bail Milk from Saugus

[jc_john1]

G/A all,

I came across this old bottle some time ago and had it packed away for years. It is a pint milk bottle that has turned amethyst. It stands approximately 6 1/2" tall. It would have had a wire bail lid and is marked as follows:

(slug plate on front)

Edmands Bro's.
Registered
Saugus

(back)

To be washed and returned

----



I am trying to find out about Edmands Bro's Dairy and if it is from Saugus, Mass or Saugus, California. Any information you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
JC

 

[cowseatmaize]

The club I belong to has a lot of milk collectors. I don't think they come by here though. I'll see who I can ask if it doesn't get answered here.
Maybe we need a milk category, they get asked about enough.

 

[jc_john1]

Thanks, I appreciate any assistance.

 

[nydigger]

wow the lavender color that has come out makes that milk a real looker. The lavender puts it pre-WW1 if that any help.BTW welcome to the forum!

 

[cowseatmaize]

John
Here's a synopsis of what I what I got back.
That EDMANDS milk bottle is an OLD ONE !!!!!!!
It's listed on the MASS MILK BOTTLES list. It is a Saugus, Mass. milk bottle.
It likely had the wire bail top you mention
these are called TINTOPS by milk bottle collectors today they are not COMMON & they are really NOT RARE either
The Bail top is very much like a FRUIT JAR BAIL except the bail holds a TIN cap in place on the top of the milk as a closure & the tin cap is connected to the bail wire. It's a funny looking contraption when you see one of these tintops dangling from a milk.
Hope all this helps,

I was just going to put that it's Mass but thought others may want the info on the bail. It sounded like you knew that.
He may be interested in it if you were going to sell it. I could ask.

 

[jc_john1]

Thanks for all the information. It is wonderful to know that this bottle came from up in the Northeast.

Cheers to all who looked to try and help out.

JC

 

[sdnamden]

Wow! That dairy in Saugus was run by my great, great grandfather, Artemas Edmands, and his 7 sons at the Breakheart Hill Farm. JC, I sent you an email through this site. I'm quite interested in it if you are looking to sell.

Interestingly, your posting sent me on a tangent and I learned that in 1900 one of the milk delivery "drivers" for Edmands Bros was murdered with a rifle kept in the farmhouse. The murderer, John C. Best was sent to the Massachusetts electric chair in 1902 after one of the most contested circumstantial evidence trials in American history. The only witnesses swore they could tell the sound of the victim's wagon by the loose parts it was known to have.