From the second half of the 19th century, milk has been packaged and delivered in reusable and returnable glass bottles. They are used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen. Once customers have finished the milk, empty bottles are expected to be rinsed and left on the doorstep for collection, or rinsed bottles may be returned to a participating retail store. Bottle sizes vary depending on region, but common sizes include pint, quart or litre. More recently, plastic bottles have been commonly used for milk. These are often made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) which is intended for a single use and is easily recyclable. Other plastic milk containers are also in use.
History
United States Before the emergence of milk bottles, milkmen would fill the customer's jugs. For many collectors, milk bottles carry a nostalgic quality of a bygone era. The most prized milk bottles are embossed or pyro-glazed (painted) with the names of dairies on them, which were used for home delivery of milk so that the milk bottles could find their way back to their respective dairies.
Extending from the 1860s to the 1890s, there were several experimental "jars" that were not patented but were used to carry milk. The milk jar of the Tuthill Milk Company/Tuthill's Dairy of Unionville is an example of one of these early jars that features a ground lip and a base baring the mark of the pontil used to craft it. Other early milk jars during this time include the Mackworth "Pure Jersey Cream" crockery jar, the Manorfield Stock Farm jar, the Manor, and the Pennsylvania wide-mouth jar. In 1878, George Henry Lester patented the first glass jar intended to hold milk. This jar featured a glass lid that was held on the jar by a metal clamp. In the same year that Lester invented his milk jar, the Brooklyn milk dealer Alex Campbell was credited with first selling milk in experimental glass bottles. These bottles did not resemble common milk bottles.
Lewis P. Whiteman held the first patent for a glass milk bottle with a small glass lid and a tin clip. Following this, the next earliest patent was for a milk bottle with a dome style tin cap and was granted on September 23, 1884, to Whiteman's brother, Abram V. Whiteman. The Whiteman brothers produced milk bottles based on these specifications at the Warren Glass Works Company in Cumberland, Maryland, and sold them through their New York sales office. The Original Thatcher is one of the most desirable milk bottles for collectors. The patent for the glass dome lid was dated April 27, 1886. There are several variations of this early milk bottle and many reproductions. During this time period, many types of bottles were being used to hold and distribute milk. These include a pop bottle type with a wire clamp, used by the Chicago Sterilized Milk Company, Sweet Clover, and others. Fruit jars were also used, but only the Cohansey Glass Manufacturing plant made them with dairy names embossed. The Commonsense Milk Bottle with the first cap seat was developed as an economical means for sealing a reusable milk bottle by the Thatcher Manufacturing Company around 1900. Most bottles produced after this time have a cap seat. By the 1920s, glass milk bottles had become the norm in the UK after slowly being introduced from the US before World War I. Milk bottles before the 1930s were round in shape. However, in 1935, slender-neck bottles were introduced in the UK. In the 1940s, the square squat bottle became the more popular style. Milk bottles since the 1930s have used pyroglaze or ACL (Applied Color Label) to identify the bottles. Before the 1930s, names were embossed on milk bottles using a slug plate. The name was impressed on the slug plate, then it was inserted into the mold used to make the bottle – the result was the embossed name on the bottle. In 1980 a new bottle, nicknamed "dumpy," was introduced in the UK where it remains the standard now. During the Second World War misuse or hoarding of milk bottles was made illegal in the United Kingdom. 2.5 million bottles were rescued. Milk Vessels Recovery Limited was founded in 1920 and engaged in recovery of aluminium bottle tops. From the 1960s onward in the United States, with improvements in shipping and storage materials, glass bottles have almost completely been replaced with either LDPE coated paper cartons or recyclable HDPE plastic containers (such as square milk jugs), depending on the brand. These paper and plastic containers are lighter, cheaper and safer to both manufacture and ship to consumers. In 1975, 94% of milk in the UK was in glass bottles, but as of 2012 this number was down to 4%. There are concerns among a few Americans as to the quality and safety of industrialized milk. The local non-homogenized milk industry has seen a popular resurgence in certain markets in the US in the last decade or so. Because of this, the use of glass bottles in local or regional, non-industrial milk distribution has become an increasingly common sight.
Chronology 1880 – British milk bottles were first produced by the Express Dairy Company, these were delivered by horse-drawn carts. The first bottles used a porcelain stopper top held on by wire. Lewis Whiteman patents the glass milk bottle with a glass lid. 1884 – Dr. Thatcher invents the glass milk container in New York. These were initially sealed with wooden plugs, which proved unsuccessful, and were soon replaced by glass stoppers. 1894 – Anthony Hailwood developed the milk pasteurisation process to create sterilized milk, which could be safely stored for longer periods. 1920 – Advertisements began to appear on milk bottles. A sand-blasting technique was used to etch them on the glass. 1930s – Increased prevalence of battery electric vehicles as milk floats mid-1950s – Paperboard tops were deemed unhygienic and banned in some locations. Delivery by horse-drawn carts was still common. early-1990s – The advertising largely disappeared with the introduction of infrared bottle scanners designed to check cleanliness.
Present day In some locations around the world, different coloured tops on milk bottles indicate the fat content. Unpasteurized is often green-topped. However other colour designations may be used by some dairies. Bottles may also be marked, stamped or embossed with the name of the dairy. In the United Kingdom, the aluminium foil tops on glass milk bottles are normally coloured:
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