Ask your grandparents if they ever had milk delivered right to the door of their home. The “milk man” was once as much a part of daily life as going through the drive-thru is today.

Milk, and maybe butter, were delivered straight from the farm to homes on a regular schedule, usually early in the morning.

The milk came in glass bottles that were left on a customer’s doorstep. When a bottle was empty, it was also left on the doorstep for the milk man to pick up when he made his next delivery. The bottle would be sanitized and reused many times.

Dairy farmers bottled and delivered milk in their neighborhood or town, first with a horse-drawn wagon and, eventually, with a truck. The best thing about locally produced milk was the cream that rose to the top of each bottle.

When a new bottle of milk was opened, the cream was delicious on your morning cereal. Many a brother and sister argued over who would get the cream. Sometimes they even had to compete with the cats!