Happy Birthday Pop
Good Morning Gentle Readers,
When TWC was just a kid, dad drove a Diamond T truck for Knudsen Dairy Products.
Most mornings, at zero-dark-thirty, he sat down with a bowl of hot Cream of Wheat before leaving the house. Later, he'd drop in at a hole-in-the-wall joint for a couple of donuts, still hot from the grease fryer, pairing that with a quart of half and half for a mid-morning snack (Knudsen, of course, The Very Best).
Dad was burly, schlepping hardwood and steel milk cases around like they were nothing (plastic was at least 15 years off). Last time I saw him, I noticed he still had a couple stashed in the back of the garage.
Coolest thing ever was that Dad delivered those little five cent cartons of milk that our elementary school pre-heated to lukewarm before serving at lunch. Sometimes I'd see his truck backed up to the service doors of the cafeteria......
Look Dick! Look Jane! See that truck? That's my dad.
Talk about status. Boy Howdy, ain't nobody prouder than a first grader showing off Dad's important job.
As Ever,
TWC
I love the tie in that picture.
I bet you wanted to grow up to be a milkman as well, at least until you made it to second or third grade.
Posted by: PintofStout | May 13, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Pint, isn't that tie amazing? It's like an ultra modern art deco looking precursor to the 1960's stuff.
Posted by: TWC | May 13, 2008 at 02:09 PM
Great pic! Very cool post. I remember Sally, Dick and Jane too. Still have an old reader that belonged to my older brother, but they were phasing them out when I entered grammar school, and the milk cartons were 15 cents by then.
Sometimes I think I was just born late.
Posted by: Lone Chatelaine | May 14, 2008 at 07:34 AM
A friend of mine's dad was a home delivery milk-truck driver. People would leave a door unlocked or tell him where the key was hidden and he would place the milk, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream, eggs, and juice in their refrigerators as they slept.
Got up at one to deliver milk at two and was finished by 9. Brutal hours but what a convenience for the customers. We got our milk from him. My dad used to tease him about how many of the town's kids looked like him.
I can't imagine people would be so trusting today or if anyone would be willing to work that hard with those strange hours.
Posted by: NoStar | May 14, 2008 at 08:58 AM
For just a few months I did a retail milk route in the rich area of N. Santa Ana, the route was just a shadow of it's former self and it was just a few years later that home delivered milk went the way of the Helms truck. But it was fascinating. And people were trusting. Walked right in one morning as the lady of the house shucked off her nightie, tossed it in the washer, and pushed the button. Pushed my button too. Didn't come to anything, but still quite a thrill, even though she had me by ten years. My ego would like to think it was for me, but I'm pretty sure it was just random chance.
Had one old lady that only took a pint of half and half every other day. For the cat.
Posted by: TWC | May 15, 2008 at 08:53 PM