# A Few Nice Local Milks



## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

Here are a few nice local milk bottles that I have picked up recently. I used to not really do much with these, but I have taken a liking to them and started to collect them. Although not as old or colorful as the bottles I find in the pits, they are still nice local bottles, and there are a LOT of them to collect. Good- That will keep me busy for a while []. 

 First up is a Bingman's Little Valley Dairy RD #3 Lewistown, PA pint. These are very scarce, plus they are a beautiful bottle and you have to love the name.


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

Slug:


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

I have wanted one of these for a long time, and just got this one. Also a pint, this is a D.G. Arnold Belle Meade Farm Dairy from Reedsville, PA. Reedsville is a small town about five miles from Lewistown. I like the Belle Meade name, it has an "Olde English" ring to it. These bottles are also very hard to find.


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

Slug:


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

Here is a G. Edwin Kearns quart from Lewistown. A cool bottle with the big "K" and embossed stars around the neck. These are not quite as scarce as the Bingman's or Belle Meade, but they are still one of my favorites because they are just a great-looking milk bottle.


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

Slug:


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

Here is a half pint from W.J. Clinger's Highland Avenue Dairy. My house is on this very street, so this is about as local as they get for me.


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

My camera batteries just bit the dirt, so I only got a slug plate picture of this quart Ray F. Goss, Lewistown, PA R.D. 1. These bottles are very plain- no neck grips, no base initials and not much slug embossing, but I like them. I would almost have to say that these are a rare bottle, and I don't use the "R" word lightly []. This one was a lucky antique store score. I did dig a broken one once, which sucked [].

 I plan to buy a few more interesting local milks soon, and hope to dig some more as well. A complete list of Mifflin County, PA embossed milk bottles can be found on my website (link below) for anyone who might be interested.  ~Jim


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## Dabeel (Jan 7, 2009)

Great Milks Jim!

 I like the embossed milks much better than the pyro ones.....gotta have some milks in the collection!

 That Little Valley Dairy is really nice!

 Doug
 (Thanks for the birthday wish in my post earlier)


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## cobaltbot (Jan 7, 2009)

Nice ones Jim.  I know many don't like milks but for local history items they are hard to beat!  Something attributed to a specific farmer or farm family.  This is why I also like tagged cans but those take up a lot of room!  Never seen one with stars - pretty cool!


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## RED Matthews (Jan 7, 2009)

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


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## Trying not to break it (Jan 7, 2009)

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


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2009)

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


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## Jim (Jan 10, 2009)

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.


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## Jim (Jan 10, 2009)

Slug. I love this bottle!


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## Jim (Jan 10, 2009)

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.


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## Jim (Jan 10, 2009)

Baby on the back:


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## houseman (Jan 12, 2009)

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!


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## Jim (Jan 12, 2009)

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


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## houseman (Jan 13, 2009)

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.


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## Jim (Jan 19, 2009)

Here is another good one that I can check off from the want list. A nice 1937 embossed quart GEO. P. OPPEL/ OPPEL HOME DAIRY/ R#1 NEWTON HAMILTON, PA. Newton Hamilton is a very small town about 15 miles from Lewistown, at the far end of Mifflin County. Painted Oppel bottles are hard enough to find, but the embossed ones are almost never available. These have the squiggly line neck grip, which is one of my favorite styles.  ~Jim


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## Jim (Jan 19, 2009)

Slug plate:


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## Jim (Jan 19, 2009)

Squiggly line grips are cool. The Oppel bottles are one of only two milk bottles from Newton Hamilton. Newton Hamilton is still there, but there was a change in the mail routes in the 1940s and the location of the Oppel dairy became part of nearby McVeytown, PA. Later Oppel bottles have McVeytown on them rather than Newton Hamilton, as does my original Oppel milk cap that I have for this bottle.  ~Jim


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## cyberdigger (Jan 19, 2009)

That is one SWEET specimen, Jim!!


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## Lordbud (Jan 20, 2009)

Those are some really good local examples -- the first embossed bottle I dug was a milk.
 Embossed Kern County 5cent quart size in Mountain View, California which was a few hundred miles from home down near Bakersfield. Talk about "dried up" I haven't found a good milk at a yard sale or antique store in years...


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## Jim (Jan 21, 2009)

Thanks, Charlie and Jason. I have really taken a liking to local embossed sodas and milks from the 1920s and 30s. As much as I like my early local blob beers, hutch sodas and embossed druggists, I am almost out of early local bottles that I need with a few exceptions. I guess that's the one downfall of being an advanced collector [].

 My favorite milks are the ones with colorful names and/or fancy neck grips. There are two from Lewistown that have the spiral line grips. As my luck would have it, they are both very rare and expensive, but they are on my long-term "get" list. I don't know what my next one will be, but I'll be glad when I can dig again for them. It's good exercise, and much easier on the wallet than buying them [].  ~Jim


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## lynna (Jan 24, 2009)

Hello!!  I am new to bottle collecting and talking on a forum.  Moved a few years ago to a 150 year old house.  (Love It)  I found the surface dump and spent the summer digging up all kinds of stuff.  I have dug up a few milk bottles, however my favorite is a small kinda  of purple, "consumers condensed milk" bottle.  Bottled by Orange County Milk Association. I live close to the border of Orange County, NY.  The front has a what looks like an American Flag wrapped around the wording.  There is no lip inside the bottle to hold a paper cap.  I have been told that they used Manganese prior to WWI to produce clear glass and with time the bottles turned this purple color.  The bottle also has some great bubbles and the seam does not go to the top. []

 Lynna


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## lynna (Jan 24, 2009)

Got it!  Finally posted the picture.


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## cobaltbot (Jan 24, 2009)

Wow Lynna, and Welcome to the forum!

 That little milk has a lot going on.  Look for a two digit date on the heel or the bottom.


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## lynna (Jan 25, 2009)

There are no numbers on the bottom or heel of the purple bottle.  However I do have other milk bottles that do have dates.  One is a milk bottle from Brooklyn. On the bottom it is embossed   PAT. SEPT. 17  89


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## cobaltbot (Jan 25, 2009)

Another nice one.  Some reproduction milks don't have the lip for a cap but if you dug that then its the real deal and an early closure.  The purple ones usualy are pretty early for milks.  Sometimes there is no two digit number but sometimes it is very faint and hard to see, and sometimes in the middle of the valve? mark on the bottom on either side of a capital letter.  There are a lot of New York milks, there might be a book or at a bottle show a milk dealer would probably know about your bottle.  With the small size, color, closure, and embossing it could be worth some good bucks but it would be a good one anyway due to the above and that you found it on your place.   Love old houses, you may have a privy or two to find bottles in but if you're out in the country they are hard to find and usualy don't contain much as they had other places to dump in like that rock wall dump you found.  I'd get or borrow a metal detector and check out your yard at any rate - you might also locate a trash pit with it.


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## lynna (Jan 25, 2009)

Thank you for the information, and you are right.  The most exciting part is that I dug them out of my own yard!  Great window into lives of the people that lived here before.  The sad part is that for every intact bottle I find, there are many more broken ones.  Lots of broken kerosene lanterns.  Must have had a party the day they got electricity!


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## madman (Jan 25, 2009)

those r some sweet finds! congrats   mike


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