# milk bottles and display case



## toddrandolph (Oct 21, 2011)

Here is my 100+ milk bottle collection. Most I dug, the rest are from yard sales. All are from NE Ohio with the exception of one from Dan River, VA that somehow made its way to a Canton, OH dump. They range from locally common to very rare. NO very common Akron Pure Milk, Belle Vernon, etc., I sold all those at yard sales.  I never intended to collect milks, the bottles themselves are not very interesting, but they are the only thing that I can still dig around here, and there seem to be an almost unlimited number of different dairies from local towns.


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## toddrandolph (Oct 21, 2011)

I got this quartersawn oak display case, which makes a really nice bottle display case, at a yard sale this spring for $15. It had been sitting outside for a long time, there were many layers of paint, some of which had flaked off and was showing gray, weathered wood. The doors were swelled shut with moisture, and three of the front glass panes were broken out. I didn't know if I could bring it back, but with a lot of time, some oxalic acid wood bleach and some paint stripper it turned out great.  I had a glass place cut some old glass that I had to match the rest because I'm not good at making long cuts like that in glass. The shelves were missing, so I made new ones out of a recycled oak desk top.I believe it was originally a specimen case from a museum as there were what looked like latin species names stenciled on one of the layers of paint, but I wasn't able to see enough to tell what they were, and the case was designed to be insect proof with tight fitting joints and generally higher quality construction than similar store cases of the period. So for a total investment of $50, I got a really nice case. All the glass in front and sides really shows off whatever is in it very nicely. Now I just need to find some nice old colored pontilled bottles to display.


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## woody (Oct 21, 2011)

That is a nice case and a nice collection of milks, also.


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## Dugout (Oct 21, 2011)

Nice Job Todd! You did quite a project there. I'll bet you're proud of it!


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## JayBeck (Oct 21, 2011)

Hey Todd, that display case looks great! I'm sure you would have had to pay a lot more for it if it looked like that when you bought it. That is a nice collection of milks too. Back when I had places to dig, I used to end up with a lot of local milks too but I never really collected them and eventually I have sold them all except for my Cedar Point half pint. You said that the milks are all you can dig but you should be able to find some nice sodas from that same era. I know the majority of ACLs end up getting ruined but a few of my rarest ones were dug by me and the labels are just fine. There are some good crown top embossed no deposit no return sodas to be found around these parts too such as Lawsons (yep, the dairy/store) which is hard to find.

 Check out this info about Lawsons. I had no idea the same chain of stores that started in Ohio has now become the second largest convenience store chain in Japan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawson_(store)


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## JOETHECROW (Oct 21, 2011)

Great job ressurecting the cabinet Todd!


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## madman (Oct 21, 2011)

nice milk collection as well as a great cabinet


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## Stardust (Nov 8, 2011)

Todd, Very nice case []


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## rockbot (Nov 12, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  toddrandolph
> 
> I got this quartersawn oak display case, which makes a really nice bottle display case, at a yard sale this spring for $15. It had been sitting outside for a long time, there were many layers of paint, some of which had flaked off and was showing gray, weathered wood. The doors were swelled shut with moisture, and three of the front glass panes were broken out. I didn't know if I could bring it back, but with a lot of time, some oxalic acid wood bleach and some paint stripper it turned out great.  I had a glass place cut some old glass that I had to match the rest because I'm not good at making long cuts like that in glass. The shelves were missing, so I made new ones out of a recycled oak desk top.I believe it was originally a specimen case from a museum as there were what looked like latin species names stenciled on one of the layers of paint, but I wasn't able to see enough to tell what they were, and the case was designed to be insect proof with tight fitting joints and generally higher quality construction than similar store cases of the period. So for a total investment of $50, I got a really nice case. All the glass in front and sides really shows off whatever is in it very nicely. Now I just need to find some nice old colored pontilled bottles to display.


 
 Good job on the restoration. right-on!


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## Rockhounder55 (Nov 20, 2011)

Hey Todd, great job on restoring the cabinet.  ~Mike


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