Collecting Milk Bottles

It is hard for most young folks to imagine receiving crates of glass bottles full of yummy whole milk every day delivered right to the front or back door. When I was first married in 1983, you could still buy whole milk in a gallon glass bottle as a novelty at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I don’t even like milk, but there was just something wonderful about a glass of whole milk out of an icy cold glass bottle. It tasted great! My grandmother used those gallon glass bottles to keep cold water in the fridge before we had ice and water from the door.

Door-to-door delivery of milk pretty much ended in the 1950s when waxed paper cartons became the preferred container, and you purchased it at the grocery store. A lot of people like to keep the memories of the old milk bottles alive by collecting them.  

In the late 19th century, milk used to be scooped from the farmers’ churns directly into crock jugs that customers would leave on the doorstep. Glass bottles didn’t appear until the late 1800s. The reason behind creating the bottles was that it was more sanitary and protected the milk as well as the customer. Several people patented milk bottles, but most are similar in size and style. 

Earlier milk bottles were embossed with the dairy’s name and had a bail-type enclosure. Later, bottles had lipped rims fitted with paper caps, which are also collectible on their own. These later bottles were also discovered to be great places to advertise and were adorned with pyro-glazed, brightly colored inks like soda bottles. I have seen a lot of vintage bottles advertising war bonds.

Later, bottles were short and squatty and didn’t have those longer necks. Some bottles were green or brown because they thought that light made the milk spoil faster when the heat made it deteriorate faster, but at least they tried!  

The most popular milk bottles are from what was considered the “golden age, ” the period between the two World Wars. There was a wide variety of bottles to collect from this era: little cream bottles from hotels and restaurants, long neck bottles with a bulbous top to hold the cream, amber and green bottles, and just all kinds of dairy emblems in unique colors and with different pictures.  

There is a National Association of Milk Bottle Collectors Club that you can find online if you would like to become a collector and network with others. They even have a monthly newsletter called The Milk Route in tribute to the old milk wagon that used to deliver the milk bottles in wood and metal crates. Most vintage milk bottles are fairly easy to find and inexpensive to collect. Some people try to collect bottles from their local area or certain dairies. Happy Collecting!

Jillinda Falen has been buying and selling antiques for over 39 years and is a licensed REALTOR and estate liquidation specialist. You can contact her through the Houston Home Journal or via email at jcfalen@gmail.com

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