# How many kinds of milk are there now vs at various points in the past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [July 12, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945 "2019-07-12T01:54:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/1 "2019-07-12T01:54:30Z")
I don’t really remember what kinds of milk you could buy in the 80s and 90s, but I think it was just dairy and maybe soy milk. Dairy has always had options like skim, 1%, 2%, whole and chocolate. Always came in a wide range of containers like 8oz, 16oz, 32oz, 64oz & 128oz bottles. But based on TV I’m guessing a long time ago you only had one choice of milk, whatever the milkman brought. And it seemed to come in universal sized bottles, I’m guessing you couldn’t pick the fat content and it was just dairy milk. Unless TV lied to me (which would be a first) back in the 50s your only option of milk was whatever the milkman brought and it was a single kind of dairy milk in a single sized bottle. So over time when have milk options changed? Nowadays aside from the variety of dairy options you also have lactaid (dairy with broken down lactose), various kinds of soy milk, nut milks, rice milk, coconut milk, a2 milk, etc. Then I guess you’ve got canned milk, dehydrated milk, condensed milk, etc. available in the baking isle. I don’t know. When did all these milk options start? Did they just happen overnight, or were they slowly phased in? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/2 "2019-07-12T03:06:28Z")
Canned milk became available around the middle of the 19th century. Civil War soldiers liked to binge on sweetened condensed milk in camp. Goat’s milk, I think, has pretty much always been available from dairy farms, in addition to cow’s milk. Commercial dairy farms have probably been around since at least the 1880s. I’d guess things like rice and soy milk became commercially available sometime in the early 20th century. By that time, North America had a sizable Asian population. I’d imagine things like reduced fat and lactose-free milk became popular only in the second half of the 20th century, due to health concerns. More exotic things like camel’s and mare’s milk have probably been imported for immigrant communities since—I don’t know, the early 20th century? ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/3 "2019-07-12T03:07:10Z")
For medium to large animals, if humans have domesticated it and kept it on the farm we’ve collected and consumed it’s milk. Yak, horse, cow, goat sheep, reindeer, donkey, camel, reindeer,water buffalo etc. That tended to be limited by what kinds of animals were kept in different cultures and climes. If it was big enough to be worth the effort and would let us, we’d milk it. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/4 "2019-07-12T03:27:25Z")
I know that we’ve gotten milk from various animals. I heard on NPR (I believe) that back when we would use sheeps wool we also ate a lot of goats milk, but as alternatives to wool became available the goat population declined and we switched away from goats milk. But when you go to a mainstream grocery store it at least seems like there are far more options for milk products than there were a few decades ago. I’m not sure when that started. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/5 "2019-07-12T04:00:57Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > But based on TV I’m guessing a long time ago you only had one choice of milk, whatever the milkman brought. And it seemed to come in universal sized bottles, I’m guessing you couldn’t pick the fat content and it was just dairy milk. Well, because the bottles were considerably smaller than today’s gallon and half-gallon jugs, you ordered them by number rather than size to get your desired amount of milk. And AFAIK at least as early as the 1930s there were at least a couple different kinds of milk available in those delivery bottles, distinguished by the color of the foil cap. One kind might have had extra cream in it? As for fat content, in the days before homogenization, the cream rose to the top of the bottle. So you could shake/stir it up for “full-fat” milk or pour off the cream to get partially skimmed milk. > [@terentii](#): > > Canned milk became available around the middle of the 19th century. Civil War soldiers liked to binge on sweetened condensed milk in camp. By the end of the 19th century there was also canned unsweetened condensed milk, or evaporated milk. > [@terentii](#): > > I’d imagine things like reduced fat and lactose-free milk became popular only in the second half of the 20th century, due to health concerns. Yup, [before WWII skimmed milk was primarily used for livestock feed.](https://slate.com/technology/2014/02/uses-for-skim-milk-before-it-was-marketed-as-a-nonfat-diet-product-hog-slop-and-wool.html) Powdered skim milk was in demand during the war as an easily transportable form of milk with a long shelf life. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/6 "2019-07-12T04:27:34Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Well, because the bottles were considerably smaller than today’s gallon and half-gallon jugs, you ordered them by number rather than size to get your desired amount of milk. I’d guess this also limited the amount of milk that spoiled on you. You’d only order what you thought you’d need for a day or two. In East Europe, I’d buy a litre of fresh milk and have whatever little I hadn’t consumed go sour by the next morning. > [@](#): > > By the end of the 19th century there was also canned unsweetened condensed milk, or evaporated milk. I’d guess unsweetened came first. Sugar was added as it became cheaper to produce. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/7 "2019-07-12T04:31:45Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > But when you go to a mainstream grocery store it at least seems like there are far more options for milk products than there were a few decades ago. I’m not sure when that started. The 1970s, I’m pretty sure. I don’t remember supermarkets having anything other than plain homogenized cow’s milk (whole and skimmed) before that. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/8 "2019-07-12T04:40:04Z")
Born in 1956. I was told by my mother that I could not tolerate cow’s milk as an infant, and so my bottle-feedings were with goats’ milk. She died in 2009, so I can’t find out if I was ever nursed, or if infant formula was readily available. I DO know that after I showed up she got pregnant again almost immediately and my brother was born eleven months after I was (this could have played a role in the decision to put me on the bottle). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/9 "2019-07-12T04:44:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’d guess unsweetened came first. Sugar was added as it became cheaper to produce. [Nope.](https://www.thespruceeats.com/history-evaporated-and-sweetened-condensed-milk-1808226) The sugar content initially aided in preserving the milk; it took a while longer to figure out how to keep the canned milk from spoiling without putting sugar in it. > [@](#): > > The idea for a portable canned milk product that would not spoil came to Gail Borden during a transatlantic trip on board a ship in 1852. […] > > Borden was granted a patent for sweetened condensed milk in 1856. The sugar was added to inhibit bacterial growth. Skim milk devoid of all fat was used. […] > > It was John Baptist Meyenberg who first suggested canned evaporated milk to his employers at the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Co. in Switzerland in 1866. Since the company was already so successful producing sweetened condensed milk, the idea was rejected. Meyenberg emigrated to the United States and began his own company, Helvetia Milk Condensing Co. (Pet Milk), eventually marketing unsweetened condensed milk in 1890. > > Although Borden received his patent in 1854, unsweetened condensed milk was not successfully canned until 1885 by competitor John Meyenberg. Borden added evaporated milk to the product line in 1892. In 1899, Elbridge Amos Stuart came up with a new process for canned, sterilized, evaporated milk. With help from evaporated milk pioneer Meyenberg, Stuart began successful mass production of canned evaporated milk. Evaporated milk manufacturers pioneered the use of homogenization […] ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/10 "2019-07-12T04:57:41Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > [Nope.](https://www.thespruceeats.com/history-evaporated-and-sweetened-condensed-milk-1808226) The sugar content initially aided in preserving the milk; it took a while longer to figure out how to keep the canned milk from spoiling without putting sugar in it. I stand corrected. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/11 "2019-07-12T05:06:00Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > But based on TV I’m guessing a long time ago you only had one choice of milk, whatever the milkman brought. I wasn’t around then either, but from what I gathered from old books, there were at least a few choices, and you left an order form or note on your door telling the milkman what you wanted – something like “3 bottles of milk and 1 container of cream” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/12 "2019-07-12T05:28:16Z")
In the 60’s we had whole and skim. I don’t know if there was always 2% back then, but we definitely switched to that by the early '70’s as it suited our stomaches better (I’m Asian, so somewhat lactose intolerant). There was also Carnation Milk Powder (n that orange box with the kid on it), which goes back to at leas the '50’s (in M_A_S\*H they talk about powered milk) and evaporated milk, which came in those tomato sauce sized cans. This was used mainly as coffee creamer, but in a pinch we would add water to it and use it as regular milk in baking. We tried milk delivery a few times, but half the time it was spoiled. Not sure if it was because we didn’t bring it in on time or it spoiled in the delivery truck. Milk was always in wax cardboard cartons, 1/2 pint, pint, quart or half gallon. There were no glass bottles that I remember. Though my parents talked about it. And of course, glass milk bottle cardboard tops were the original POGs. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/13 "2019-07-12T05:32:08Z")
In the '60’s, our milkman came once a week. My mom would leave the order form filled out in the box. Quart, 1/2-gallon, or gallon glass bottles of milk (regular or skim) were available. Not many people got the gallon size because it was so heavy. Buttermilk and goat milk was also available, but we never got those. Cream and half&half came in pint bottles, and possibly 1/2-pint. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/14 "2019-07-12T05:43:39Z")
My Mom used to love telling the story that when I was a baby I couldn’t tolerate any type of baby formula or milk, including goat’s milk. The only thing that I could keep down was soy milk, which of course was the most expensive! I still have to be very careful with milk. The only thing I’m 95% okay with locally produced 2%. Anything else, whole or skim gives me hives or the runs most of the time. I’m generally okay with any type of ice cream except sometimes McDonalds or Dairy Queen. I haven’t tried any of the new types of milk that are supposed to be better for lactose intolerance, but I rarely drink it or eat cereal anyway. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/15 "2019-07-12T05:58:59Z")
When I lived in the UK in the '70s, whole milk in bottles was still being delivered. It usually had a good layer of cream at the top. In Minneapolis in the '60s, we bought milk from the store in waxed cartons (usually half gallons). No bottles. I first had UHT milk in Moscow in the '90s. Made life a lot easier, since I didn’t have to buy fresh milk every day. I read somewhere once that the buttermilk sold in supermarkets is not the same as the traditional stuff. Today’s buttermilk is cultured (made with strains of bacteria), while the real thing really is the milk left over from making butter. Powdered milk has been around for a long time. It was shipped in bulk to Great Britain and the Soviet Union during WWII, and whenever a cargo vessel loaded with it was sunk by a U-boat, the sea would turn white. When I was growing up, a lot of TV shows (mostly the daytime ones watched by housewives) were sponsored by Carnation instant milk. I remember Art Linkletter doing live commercials in which he’d mix up a pitcher and tell everyone how good it tasted. (I tried it once when I was in fifth or sixth grade; if you mixed it according to the instructions on the package, it tasted like chalk dissolved in water. It wasn’t until much later I found you need to use a lot more powder than was recommended. I now keep a big bag of it on hand in case I run out of regular milk and can’t make it to the supermarket to buy more.) ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/16 "2019-07-12T06:07:12Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I know that we’ve gotten milk from various animals. I heard on NPR (I believe) that back when we would use sheeps wool we also ate a lot of goats milk, but as alternatives to wool became available the goat population declined and we switched away from goats milk… I may be missing something obvious here but I’m puzzled as to why using sheep to obtain wool would have an impact on why the goat population and consumption of goat milk would decline. Sheep and goats are two different animals. Both animals can give us milk but the word wool typically refers to the textile fiber from sheep. The fiber harvested from goats can be called wool but is more accurately referred to as cashmere or mohair. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/17 "2019-07-12T06:07:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Born in 1956. I was told by my mother that I could not tolerate cow’s milk as an infant, and so my bottle-feedings were with goats’ milk. > > She died in 2009, so I can’t find out if I was ever nursed, or if infant formula was readily available. I DO know that after I showed up she got pregnant again almost immediately and my brother was born eleven months after I was (this could have played a role in the decision to put me on the bottle). In the 50s, at least in the US, the majority of babies, including myself, were bottle fed with formula. Except for the small minority who chose to breastfeed, women were given injections to halt lactation. My mother told me that the maternity nurses seemed to consider the breastfeeders a nuisance and referred to them as cows behind their backs. I think bottle feeding was considered more civilized or something. If I had to guess I’d say this was probably due to marketing by the formula manufacturers. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/18 "2019-07-12T06:16:57Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I haven’t tried any of the new types of milk that are supposed to be better for lactose intolerance, but I rarely drink it or eat cereal anyway. I first had soy milk at a Chinese restaurant in Minneapolis in the '80s. Pretty good stuff, but I still prefer whole cow’s milk. My daughter was found to be lactose intolerant around the time she graduated from college. She now comes over to take care of my cat whenever I’m away, and I always keep some cartons of UHT almond milk for her to drink when she spends the night at my place. I first had goat’s milk from a rural dairy in the west of England in 1976. In the last couple of years, I’ve been able to find it in most supermarkets in both Canada and Russia, so I guess it’s gained in popularity. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/19 "2019-07-12T06:22:53Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > In the 50s, at least in the US, the majority of babies, including myself, were bottle fed with formula. Except for the small minority who chose to breastfeed, women were given injections to halt lactation. > > My mother told me that the maternity nurses seemed to consider the breastfeeders a nuisance and referred to them as cows behind their backs. > > I think bottle feeding was considered more civilized or something. If I had to guess I’d say this was probably due to marketing by the formula manufacturers. I once asked my mother why she never breast fed me or my brothers (born in 1947, 1955, 1962, and 1964). She was adamantly against it, saying illnesses could be transferred from mother to child through breast feeding. Feeding babies formula from sterilized bottles was supposed to be much healthier. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945/20 "2019-07-12T07:42:34Z")
Almond milk was a _big_ thing in the European Middle Ages. Partly because of preservation issues with animal milks (almond milk keeps a week without refrigeration, plus you can make it as-needed), partly because of religious prohibitions against dairy during fast days - which covers a lot more than just the Lenten fast - strictly speaking, 3 days every week were fast days. Mediaeval Europeans got almond milk from the Muslims, and made it integral to their cuisine. It’s in _everything_… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-kinds-of-milk-are-there-now-vs-at-various-points-in-the-past/836945.md?page=2)