Safe Milk

This type of pail was used when hand-milking a cow. Tin plating prevented oxidization of the pail from contact with milk and with the boiling water needed to clean the pail after each use.

The farmer's wife sat comfortably on the upper level of this stool. The pail was placed off the floor, away from contaminants such as straw and manure.

The milk house is separate from the rest of the dairy barn, so that the bulk tank and milking equipment can be kept clean.

Special square bottles fit into this milk carrier, which milkmen used when delivering milk to homes from their milk trucks. The empty bottles were brought back to the dairy to be cleaned and reused.

Pasteurization works on the principle that raising the temperature of a liquid high enough will kill most disease producing bacteria. Pipes containing superheated steam run through a long vat containing the liquid. Heat is transferred to a row of plates through which the pipes pass, ensuring that the liquid is heated enough to kill harmful micro-organisms.

Parson's Dairy used its bottles to reassure customers that its cows had been tested and certified free of tuberculosis.

Once raw milk arrived at a dairy, a sample was taken from the bottom of the milk can with this tool. It was then checked against a sediment guide, in order to grade the farmer's shipment. Poor quality milk was made into cheese. If there were too many impurities, the dairy might refuse to purchase the milk.

Vacuum milking systems reduced the risk of contamination with foreign matter from the cow’s coat or the stable. The cups applied to the cow’s teats fed the milk directly into a closed container.