Candice Bergen | 11/04/2009 12:00 am

Candice Bergen: An 'Adohr Gal'

In response to: The milkman cometh back! Do you remember a time when he delivered your milk?

We had a milkman in Los Angeles and he was the Adohr man. There was also an Arden milkman but I mistrusted him as I was an Adohr gal myself.

Read more about: Business, Culture, Down Memory Lane, Lifestyle, Memories, Milk, Society

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In upstate New York, I remember the milkman delivering a few bottles of milk once or twice a week, and my mother leaving the empty bottles for pickup and replacement. I always loved it when the milkman came because then I got a spoonful of cream from the top of the bottle whenever she opened a new bottle. Since I lived in an area with many dairy cow farms, I imagine that the milk was as fresh as can be.

By sandra skolnik on 11/04/2009 6:46 am

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In California we had Larsen’s Dairy - a local dairy. We also had a little cubby with doors on both sides; one in the kitchen the other outside that we left the empty bottles in, and he would leave fresh milk in. I also remember the Helm’s Bakery man. I believe his doughnuts were the original KrispyKremes!

By Shera Sutherland on 11/04/2009 7:11 am

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Yes, I sure do remember the milkman; the iceman and all that ages me. But really it was a great time of life cause you didn’t know what you didn’t know so life just went on and on.

By SHIRLEY NEIL on 11/04/2009 8:25 am

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Not sure which company my dad worked for…I was pretty little, and I grew up in the midwest, so not sure who delivered milk back then.

He drove truck, regardless of what he carried in it. That is what he did.

So I remember the milkman delivering milk, from a different perspective.

Amy, PennDragon Studios

PennDragonStudios.com

By Amy Stewart Hale on 11/04/2009 8:27 am

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I remember the milkman, the ice man, the produce man, the man sharpen knives etc and in the Italian section I lived in Chicago, the man who came around who sold nuts from a cart. Did I just date myself.

But I have to tell you I miss all that.

By Terri Iacopelli on 11/04/2009 9:21 am

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I come from Chicago too and I remember the knife sharpener and the milkman and the hot dog man who pushed his cart around the neighborhood. I also remember the junk man, who, with his horse-drawn wagon would go down the alleys behind the garages and pick up old furniture and stuff cluttering up the garages.

By Judy K. on 11/04/2009 10:05 am

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I forgot all about the junk man and I just remembered the rag man. WOW we never had to leave our block to get anything we wanted.

By Terri Iacopelli on 11/04/2009 10:20 am

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We also had coal delivered, in summer because it was cheaper, and it was dumped on our front lawn and some poor guy had to shovel it through the basement window and we would shovel it into the space that held the coal for winter.

By Judy K. on 11/04/2009 1:50 pm

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We still have a man come around to sharpen knives, axes etc

By Cecile Tunstead on 11/05/2009 12:41 pm

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I remember a square metal box at the end of our house. And sometimes being outside and seeing the milk man pick up the bottles and leaving a bottle or 2 in return also.

By Beth Cornell on 11/04/2009 11:18 am

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Chicago still has junk men all over the city. They’re entrepreneurs who pick up metal to sell the recyclers, old hot water heaters, furniture, lamps, clothing, you name it. If they think they can make a profit on it, they’ll take it.

It’s better than a recycling program, and as much as people like to complain about their ratty old trucks, these people work hard for every penny they earn.

By Messy ONE on 11/04/2009 1:46 pm

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Some things never change. So they went from horses to ratty, old trucks. That is progress for you. Here in California, we have centers that WE have to take the stuff to.

By Judy K. on 11/04/2009 1:55 pm

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Still, I have to admire anyone that’s willing to work that hard for what has to be so little return. It’s not an easy life, and I wish there were more people around with that kind of work ethic.

That said, Chicago just doesn’t seem able to get it all together in one place when it comes to recycling. We have private trash pickup, they recycle for us.

By Messy ONE on 11/04/2009 9:13 pm

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Today is milk day at our house in Vancouver, Our milkman delivers Dairyland milk in glass bottles once a week, as well as cream, cheese, eggs, butter, bread, etc. He collects the empty bottles each week when he delivers the new ones. It is an anachronism, but I find it utterly charming.

By Jane Clarke on 11/04/2009 2:58 pm

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I certainly remember the milkman, the iceman, the vegetable man and the fish monger. My Grandmother and the neighbors still had iceboxes in their homes so the truck came through the neighborhood twice a week. All the kids collected the chips from the truck. We grew our own vegetables but Mom would buy the vegetables we didn’t grow. These came on a horse drawn cart. The fish monger came with a horse drawn cart full of ice with the whole fish on top. These are favorite memories from my young childhood as this was from the age of 3 to 6 when we moved. At our new home is where I met the Milkman. We saved the tops from the bottles because there was a game we played at recess called Pong as I remember. The object was to slam one top down so that it covered as many other tops as possible. You got keep the tops that yours hit. Talk about recycling. When we went to the Dairy I spent my time making friends with the cows, what fun my childhood was.

By Mary E. Sayler on 11/04/2009 4:28 pm