How times have changed. When I was small, we got milk delivered at the back door. It only came in quart bottles, yes, glass bottles. Any dairy product you could want was available from the friendly "milkman". The bottles were capped with carboard stoppers, that the boys collected. I don't remember why, but they did. When it became obvious that dirt was sure to get in the recess the cap was set in, they began to put a hood over the bottle top. That kept the cap clean, and free from any dirt and germs.
All milk at that time came as "whole milk" only, they didn't have all the varieties we can choose from today. And of course you could order goats milk as well. I believe they even carried orange juice on occasion. You know back then, you could get just about anything in the food line delivered or from a street vender that would come up and down the street in front of the house at least once a week. When I lived in Pennsylvania, they used horse drawn carts. Oh, and they delivered ice. Most people back then didn't have refrigerators. Hard to believe huh!
Well that was just the way it was. You could order cream, but most folks would just "skim" off the cream from their regular milk if they wanted to have whipped cream for something, otherwise you had to shake the bottle before you poured out a glass of milk to make sure the cream was mixed in well. Now the milk is put through processes that mixes the cream in so it does not seperate, or removes it all together to make the milk less fattening. Whipping cream is sold in seperate containers. Oh, and those cartons you see today were not introduced until much later. They have naturally given way to the plastic bottle. Come to think of it I don't think I saw milk in other than quart sizes until the carton was introduced. Then you could get half gallons. Now with the plastic bottles you can get a whole gallon at one time. Surprising how time has put so much difference in just one product.
I don't recall "sour cream" either. I don't remember if it just came into being, or if it was always available. My first experience was with a baked potato at a resturant. Then when Mexican Food became so popular, it seems to have become a staple for a lot of things.
Speaking of Mexican Food, I don't recall seeing it, except at my friends home. She was Mexican, and it was nothing like what you buy at a resturant today. They had tortias but I don't recall ever seeing a Taco. They first came to my attention when we lived in Pico Rivera. Paul was about 7 years old. We had our first experience with them. I didn't know how to make refried beans so we used kidney beans. We thought they were pretty good then, but I don't believe we would touch one made that way today. Then you put the beans "in" the Taco. Now they eat them on the side. Oh, and the rice. I don't remember ever having that until much later. I guess everything just sort of "grows". What would we do without Mexican Food today? Or milk as we know it for that matter.
I don't remember having chocolate milk back when I was small. Then they introduced Ovaltine. I hated the taste back when it was first introduced. It must have grown on me, or my taste changed, because I really enjoy it now. Then there was "Junket". That was the kind of pudding we used to have. Later Mom made pudding with corn starch. I liked it much better. You can still buy "Junket", but you have to shop around to find it. It was Jays' favorite. I never made it for him, he just remembered it from his childhood days at home. I guess his Mother made it for the kids as a treat. Back then there were few treats available.
I hope you are taking notes of the things you like now, because you just may find that by the time you are grand parents, nothing will be the same as when you were a child. Progress means change, and change in most cases is pretty good. It just makes life better, for the most part anyway.
Milkman went from horse drawn wagons to milk trucks, then to oblivion. Delivery at the back door is ancient history. Sorry to say it isn't missed, but it was a good paying job in it's day. I use to love to put the milk bottles out by the back door for the milkman. On occasion Mom would even order something extra and we would leave a note in one of the milk bottles. They always had products on the truck to take care of any requests. You could increase your order of milk, or put a request in for something on a special day. Small thing, but it made a big difference. It was always important to put a note out if you were going away, otherwise, you had spoiled milk on your doorstep when you returned. Such it was when I was a girl - a long, long time ago.
Written this 25th day of January 2010
by: Eileen Rosenberg
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