Author Topic: Nostalgia over a milk bottle  (Read 3230 times)

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« on: 07 May, 2008, 01:28:03 pm »
Washing up after breakfast, I see Kirby & West, K&W on the milk bottle. It seems  this milk bottle has travelled quite a way.
Kirby & West were the dairy we used when we lived in Leicester from 1964-1968.
It seems they are still in business http://www.kirbyandwest.co.uk/ and charge 5p less than Dairy Crest per pint of milk.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #1 on: 07 May, 2008, 01:53:19 pm »
I remember when milk bottles changed from the steep-sided type to the current "Pintie" (yes, it had a name and a associated cartoon character).

Doorstep milk is probably on the way out though; it's phenomenally expensive, in many places it gets nicked or vandalised and it's hard to fit all those bottles in the door of the fridge with today's fruit juice cartons.  A 4 pint plastic bottle takes up about the same amount of shelf space as 1.5 pint bottles, and they are recyclable almost everywhere.

Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Pete

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #2 on: 07 May, 2008, 05:41:14 pm »
Another sad indicator of the March Of 'Progress', whatever that is... :-\

We still have doorstep deliveries ourselves, but I can see it diminishing to nothing in a few years.  It costs more, and many households have problems with the milk being left out all day in summer.  Paying the milkman can be awkward too, for some (in the old days people used to leave the cash outside, tucked under an empty bottle!).

So another sector of the economy that provides gainful employment for many people goes the way of so many others.

And as a consequence we lose a valuable 'early warning' system which may provide a first alert of a lone elderly person in distress...

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
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Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #3 on: 07 May, 2008, 06:21:27 pm »
I still have milk delivered.
I know it's more expensive, but in my view it is well worth it.

There's no worry about there being no milk in the morning.  Although I have mentioned to my milkman that if he delivered later than my weekday getting up time (6:30) I'd have to think about whether the extra cost still was still out weighed by the convenience.  If he started to deliver after my normal leaving time (8:00), I'd definately cancel.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #4 on: 07 May, 2008, 07:01:19 pm »
I wouldn't even know how to go about getting milk delivered.  Where I used to live in Cheltenham, there used to be a milk delivery to about two of the houses in the estate of about a hundred.  I occasionally saw the guy drive up in his van, drop the milk at one house, and then sprint across the estate to drop off the milk at another house that was not really close enough to walk to, but not really far enough away to drive to!

Apparently, I can get milk delivered to my postcode, which is interesting, although they don't give the price.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

nicknack

  • Hornblower
Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #5 on: 07 May, 2008, 09:57:27 pm »
We still have milk delivered. He delivers at about 4 am. There's not much chance of us going out before then.

I have, of course, occasionally arrived home after the milk has been delivered.
There's no vibrations, but wait.

Chris N

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #6 on: 07 May, 2008, 10:30:46 pm »
I remember when milk bottles changed from the steep-sided type to the current "Pintie" (yes, it had a name and a associated cartoon character).

Doorstep milk is probably on the way out though; it's phenomenally expensive, in many places it gets nicked or vandalised and it's hard to fit all those bottles in the door of the fridge with today's fruit juice cartons.  A 4 pint plastic bottle takes up about the same amount of shelf space as 1.5 pint bottles, and they are recyclable almost everywhere.

The newer shape bottles made delivering the milk so much easier - you could carry 4 pint bottles (5 if you were careful) in each hand without even trying.  The older bottles were much heavier and the necks a bigger diameter, but lasted longer.

<--- ex-milkman :thumbsup:

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #7 on: 08 May, 2008, 08:52:24 am »
Are you *that* old, or did we get the Pintie bottles in the Sarf before other places?  I think it was sometime in the 1970s.

One problem with the Internet is that popular culture before about 1995 isn't really covered, so you can't Google such things.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #8 on: 08 May, 2008, 09:10:28 am »
Being a night person, I have often see the milk man doing his delivery's around 2am. And on a warm/hot summers night (like last night it was 12C) that is still around 4-5 hours outside in the war air. Far too long for me as I like my milk very cold.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #9 on: 08 May, 2008, 12:00:30 pm »
This is the old sort of milk bottle, isn't it?


I'd almost forgotten that they had changed, although I rarely see a milk bottle these days, just plastic or wax coated paper containers of one sort or another.

There are quite a number of milk bottle enthusiasts websites out there, although none of them seems to say when the style of bottle changed in the UK.  There's a limit to how long I'll spend poking around on them!
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

CathH

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #10 on: 08 May, 2008, 12:53:29 pm »
I had milk delivered during my (redundancy-funded) year off, but had to cancel as soon as I started work as my chap would not delivery before 06:30.

Shame really as my plastic recycling was almost nothing without the big milk containers.

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #11 on: 08 May, 2008, 05:35:24 pm »
We get our milk delivered as do most people round here. We still put the money in an envelope under an empty bottle as well.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Chris N

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #12 on: 08 May, 2008, 06:45:51 pm »
Are you *that* old, or did we get the Pintie bottles in the Sarf before other places?  I think it was sometime in the 1970s.

One problem with the Internet is that popular culture before about 1995 isn't really covered, so you can't Google such things.

We (Mid-Wales Dairies) changed over in 1991/2, I think.  I was only 12 when I started delivering.

border-rider

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #13 on: 08 May, 2008, 06:49:17 pm »
We get a milk delivery. Metallic-lilac-top  :)


Usually it is OK but sometimes the milkman doesn't arrive until 9:30, which is frankly useless, and we had a spate of the milk being off when it was delivered.

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #14 on: 09 May, 2008, 09:24:25 am »
Our Milkman is very useful. Since the village shop / post office closed he now also delivers newspapers and magazines and if it has snowed he is the oracle on if its worth attempting to leave the village. If he says negotiating the bank a mile away was "difficult" or "tricky" in his 4x4 pickup then don't even attempt it in a front wheel drive cart.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Nostalgia over a milk bottle
« Reply #15 on: 09 May, 2008, 06:46:07 pm »
Are you *that* old, or did we get the Pintie bottles in the Sarf before other places?  I think it was sometime in the 1970s.

When I was a kid in the 70s, we still had the old style bottles (south east) but my grandparents had the new shaped ones (south west)
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!