# Go downta' da corner der and get a quarta' milk der from da machine der **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 28, 2006, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511 "2006-08-28T12:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/21 "2012-09-02T00:58:38Z")
Six years later, and I still get milk delivered. Same milkman, he’s getting older, but not a zombie yet. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/22 "2012-09-02T01:00:24Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > I see the [Crescent Ridge](http://www.crescentridge.com/) truck every morning at 5:15 when I am out running. Neighbor! We got Crescent Ridge delivered for years…now we buy milk directly from a dairy in our town. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/23 "2012-09-02T01:17:32Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Six years later, and I still get milk delivered. > > Same milkman … but not the same milk? ---
**Author:** ![woodrowjween](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aca169/32.png) [@woodrowjween](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodrowjween)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/24 "2012-09-02T02:04:13Z")
They used to have these machines in New York City, well Queens anyway, back in the late 60s and 70s. Dispensed quarts. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/25 "2012-09-02T02:23:00Z")
Had them in Savannah, GA from 1960’s to at least 1990 or so. When visiting my grandparents, we’d always have to go get extra milk, but no one thought about it until the stores were closed. Medium dumpster-sized machine at the corner of Skidaway Rd. and Norwood Ave. It’s gone now, but the nearby Piggly Wiggly has braaaaaiinnns. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/26 "2012-09-02T02:56:20Z")
Never seen a milk machine. There is still home delivery here in Seattle. I see the home delivery trucks all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/27 "2012-09-03T16:41:23Z")
Back in the late 60s/early 70s, there were five milk machines lined up in a row a block from my old girlfriend’s house. Two dispensed white milk, one skim, one chocolate and one was orange juice. The proprietor went on to found [“the World’s largest dairy store”](http://www.stewleonards.com/). I think he still had milk vending machines up until the mid 80s. I remember that the local toughs used to brag that they could jack the machines to get a free quart of milk for their Mom. Crime used to be more family-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/28 "2012-09-04T02:41:21Z")
We had one in my neighborhood in Queens in the 70s. My mom used to send me to get milk and I felt very grown up. It was only a couple of blocks away from our apartment. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/29 "2012-09-04T03:27:01Z")
I’m from Upstate NY about an hour away from Buffalo and I never saw such a machine. We did have the insulated box on the porch for the milkman to put the milk in, during the 50’s and early 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/30 "2012-09-04T03:35:18Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I’m from Upstate NY about an hour away from Buffalo and I never saw such a machine. We did have the insulated box on the porch for the milkman to put the milk in, during the 50’s and early 60’s. I used to live across the river from Buffalo and I’ve never seen a milk machine. I wonder how they kept the milk from freezing in the winter, cause it used to be really cold in the winters back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/31 "2012-09-04T03:39:10Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I’m from Upstate NY about an hour away from Buffalo and I never saw such a machine. We did have the insulated box on the porch for the milkman to put the milk in, during the 50’s and early 60’s. We didn’t have a box, cause Mom was always home. If we put two empty bottles out on the stoop in the morning. two full bottles would appear instead. ---
**Author:** ![3-Oaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/7feea3/32.png) [@3-Oaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3-Oaks)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/32 "2017-10-06T03:30:12Z")
Growing up in the 1960s, we regularly went to a small town 5 miles from our rural Minnesota home to “feed the mechanical cow”. Our choices were half gallon cartons of milk, a box with I don’t remember how many pounds of butter, or 2 pint cartons of cream. With 6 Kids in our family, we fed that cow often. It is a was somehow temperature controlled inside, because, summer or winter, the milk was always the same temperature. In later years, I think 2 more choices were added…chocolate milk and a lower fat (cheaper) white milk option. The closest regular grocery store was over 10 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/33 "2017-10-06T04:40:23Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > The milk was actually dispensed in quart cartons. The machines operated year round, so I’m guessing they were [heated during the winter](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950505b.html). That article is somewhat vague, to get a bit more exact. In the cases I’ve seen, they’ll either rewire the evaporator fan to stay on 24 hours a day in hopes that the motor generates enough heat or they’ll tap into a power source and splice in a light bulb. One (or both) of those ‘hacks’ will keep a soda machine warm all winter and when it gets too warm the compressor kicks on for a few minutes. The nice thing about the light bulb is that as soon as it warms up, who ever is filling the machine can back the light bulb out a few twists instead and save some electricity. (and yes, I know, it’s an old thread). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/34 "2017-10-06T04:44:12Z")
With on-line sales becoming a major thing, especially Amazon, the lost lamented home deliveries of yore will now be a thriving business model again! History is circular! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/35 "2017-10-06T05:14:32Z")
The only milk machine I ever saw was in the gym at Woodrow Roosevelt High School in Gotham City. However, some Joker had rigged it up to dispense silver dollars and negotiable stocks instead of milk. It was quite popular with the student body. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/36 "2017-10-06T05:30:42Z")
Fucking Zombie Milk! Rounda corner, where the Street Car bends, yah? ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/37 "2017-10-06T11:00:17Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > For that matter, home delivery of milk seems to be pretty much a thing of the past. Is this still done anywhere? I’ve thought now for a few decades I wanted to have a service to deliver milk, eggs and “butter.” I think there is a big market for this but friends say it would never pan out. Who wants to stop at any store after a long day at work?? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > when I was a kid in the 60s, we had milk delivered to our home. The milkmen left it in an insulated milkbox, about a fot by a foot. You could get chocolate milk and orange drink and other stuff from them as well. Guess you beat me to it but this is my entry on the topic I’m 58 now :eek::eek::mad: and I’ve never heard of milk dispensing machines. I remember so little of childhood but I remember glass bottles. They delivered still in the early 60’s where I grew up. They left it in a box built into the wall. You could open it on the outside and from the inside. Grocery delivery is slowing catching on here. Its better in the big cities of course, I’d want to do it in the country. The big box grocery is touting it and advertising for deliverers but to me it looks like those contract employees will get the shaft in pay unless there is going to be some hefty tips… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511/38 "2017-10-06T11:47:20Z")
Zombie Milk! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-downta-da-corner-der-and-get-a-quarta-milk-der-from-da-machine-der/370511.md?page=1)