MILK AND MILK DELIVERY IN
GREENBELT
Milk has been considered to be a commodity in Greenbelt as well as the
rest of the nation during 1937-1945 and the Depression as well as today as
the massive migration of shoppers from home to supermarkets at the
slightest inkling of snow will denote. Through such research it has been
found that Greenbelt played a key part in the development of milk
standards and industry development as well as setting an impressive
precedent of cooperative consumer power.
In the early years of Greenbelt, milk could be purchased by families at
about 12 cents a quart from varying dairy farms such as Harvy, Holbrook,
Chevy Chase, Seibel and Walnut Hill.
At this time milk was pasteurized but not homogenized so therefore milk was purchased with the
cream at the top. This cream was very valuable and had many other uses, so a purchase of milk in that time period
should have been considered more along the lines of an investment in
multiple products rather that just milk. For this reason and others
dairies priced their milk on the basis of butterfat content which ranged
from 3.6 to 4.5 and prices respective to these contents were 10 cents to
16 cents per quart. Information about the milk bacteria was limited to
the consumer and was exploited by companies in advertisements in the
Greenbelt Cooperator, stating to purchase from their store and "buy with
confidence" as one Harvey Dairy Store ad ran. This consumer confidence
became an important factor in advertisement for individual dairy stores
due to the fact that "various adults and children in the community had
had intestinal and other disturbances which had made people suspicious of
milk". (Warner, 215) In accordance to this consumer demand a consumer
committee was
formed "in an effort to obtain a satisfactory county milk grading
ordinance. Their efforts were successful, and, as a direct result, not
only Greenbelt families but all consumers living within the county were
able to obtain properly graded milk. They were thus assured that the milk
they purchased would meet certain definite specifications and would be
produced and handled in accordance with proper health standards."
(Warner, 90) It was then that the consumer
could purchase milk in Prince Georges County with assurance that the stores
were complying with regulations and in Greenbelt where only "Grade A"
pasteurized and "Grade A" raw milk was sold. Consequentially the consumer
according to preferences had the task of seeking out through advertisement
the store which sold the milk with superior quality and prices. In
February 1940, the price of milk became a real hot issue.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Milk Marketing Agreement forced
most of the local Greenbelt dairies in Greenbelt to pay the farmer more
for his milk. The increased price was passed to the
consumer by raising the prices of milk. An article in the Greenbelt
Cooperator reflected the unhappiness of the community due to these
actions and their response,
"We all know what combined efforts and pooled resources can
do. If a group of customers, buying 200 quarts or even more daily, will
agree to buy their milk from the one company offering the lowest bid to
their bargaining committee, they should be able to get delivered milk at a
reduce price, just as a store does."
This article along with other actions occuring in the community at the
time brought about solutions. One week after the article ran in the
Cooperator the Cooperator "reported the formation of a local Milk Buyers'
Club which had affiliated with a newly formed Maryland Consumers' Milk
Committee, composed of representatives from neighboring communities, for
the purpose of obtaining milk at reasonable prices." (Warner, pg. 146)
"With the bargaining power of a membership
of over three hundred buying over five hundred quarts daily, they were in
a position to ask milk companies to bid." (Williamson, 79) "From among
the dairies
meeting the requirements of the county milk ordinance and submitting the
lowest bids, the Walnut Hill Dairy was selected. It agreed to supply
Grade A milk of at least 4 per cent butterfat content, .5 per cent higher
than the butterfat content required by the county ordinance, at a flat
rate of eleven cents per quart without regard to the quantity purchased.
This was two cents below the prevailing price...The committee emphasized
the necessity for loyalty to the dairy selected. It warned members that
temporary price-cutting by other dairies might be attempted in an effort
to disorganize the club." (Warner, 146) The milk buyers' club heeding the
warnings
successfully maintained their strong buying power and "By April, 1940, it
was reported that 340 Greenbelt members had signed with the Milk
Committee. This represented a daily average consumption of 522 quarts of
milk. This meant a saving of $10.44 per day, or $3,810.60 per year, to
Greenbelt families." (Warner, 146) This
coalition which had been formed was very vital in economic efficiency to
Greenbelt families especially during the time of the Depression. But, as
nothing in life is perfect neither was Greenbelt's plan for consumer power
through this milk contract. "In June, 1940, the club encountered its
first major difficulty, brought about by labor trouble at the Walnut Hill
Dairy." Fortunately the owner was willing to "release the club from it's
contract, and, at a special meeting held July 5, it voted to accept a bid
by the Holbrook Farms Dairy to supply club members with milk of like
butterfat content at the same price." (Warner, 147) The ability of the
Greenbelt community to gather and
create
such consumer power was essential in the communities well being and
praised by the Consumer council, Department of Agriculture, Donald
Montgomery in this statement,
"It was the first clear-cut case in United States in which
consumers had organized for the purpose of collective bargaining and had
been successful."
So it is evident the important role Greenbelt played in the health
standards and economic facet of the milk industry as far as the
neighboring region is concerned.
Families could not only purchase their milk at stores within the
community but could also have it delivered. Milk was delivered in glass
bottles with paper tops with the cream at the top of the bottle. It came
several times a week in quart or
pint bottles. These milk bottles
were delivered by the milkman, who was almost always a man in that period,
at around daybreak. The milk was carried in wire carriers much like
plastic six-packs of soda today, and the family might order two or more
quarts every delivery.(neville) According to the Greenbelt Museum guide
the bottles were placed in the milk box at the service side of the house.
Other products such as cheese, butter, buttermilk, sour cream and orange
juice could be requested by simply placing a note in the box. The milk box
was placed outside of the house at the end of each night and would be
filled in the morning by the milkman.
(Tucker)
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