Help with id and company history.

[ryanyoung10]

I found this bottle at a historic logging town in oregon. It is the first bottle I can not find any infornation on the company. The only picture online cam from an archeological dig in Yosemite national park. They didnt have any information on the company. The makers mark has helped me narrow it down from 1902-1924. The illinois pacific glass company started in 02 and started dating the tops of the milk bottle in 1924. This bottle has no date code. Any help with information on the turlock milk company would be appreciated. It is 4.5 " at the base and 11 " tall. The makers mark is very worn. But it is illinois pacific glass company.

 

[ryanyoung10]

Forgot to add a picture of the whole bottle.

 

[Sitcoms]

Here's what I could find on the company:

Turlock Milk Co. was based in Turlock, CA, and was created sometime in January 1926; the Modesto News-Herald reported (page 8 of the newspaper) on January 22, 1926 that "A new mil company formed in Turlock, called the Turlock Milk company, takes over the businesses of the Paramount Creamery and California Dairy. J.A. Wegner, manager of the Modesto Milk company, heads the new company." A few months later they would sell off the California Dairy portion of the business.

The rest of the information about the company from 1926 is rather anecdotal - it was robbed about a month after being purchased, and one of the robbers, James H. Hamilton, ended up escaping from jail in April, but was found a week later. After April the only other pieces of information were milk grades - in September the dairy received a 97.05 rating, and held that through the end of the year. The company complained to the city board of Turlock that they were paying a ridiculously high business fees compared to other small dairy operations in town in October, and may have soured their relationship:

(Oct. 8 1926, Modesto News-Herald)

I can find no other mention of the company until September 1, 1927, when it was reported in just about every major newspaper in California that a number of creameries had been purchased and were to be merged under the Standard Creameries, Inc. umbrella (based out of Delaware), including the Turlock Milk Company. It was stated that each creamery would retain its identity, but be operated by Standard Creameries, Inc.:

This did not last - in 1929 Borden Milk Co. purchased the holdings of Standard Creameries, Inc. for $5,000,000. By this point the Turlock Milk Co. was located at 240 W. Main Street, in Turlock, CA.

Everything else I can find about the company is not particularly related - an employee, James McCloskey, was killed in a train vs. automobile accident in July of 1932, and later that year the company started a "milk war" by undercutting their competing dairies, who had agreed on a 10 cents per quart price. I'd guess they either went out of business or were bought out in the late 30s or early 40s, but can't find any specific info.

This is the only Turlock Milk Co. that I can find - but it seems to contradict what you think about the dating of the bottle.

 

[ryanyoung10]

That's amazing!!! Thank you very much!! Now I am wondering how the bottle ended up in Valsetz, Oregon.

 

[Sitcoms]

That's amazing!!! Thank you very much!! Now I am wondering how the bottle ended up in Valsetz, Oregon.

My best guess would be rail - it looks like a fairly straight shot from Turlock to Valsetz on US-5, and I wonder if their was a rail line that followed (I do not know much of the rail geography of the west coast).