Milk crates I can’t speak to but I do know someone who got busted holding/with several hundred USPS postal totes. That isn’t the kind of rap that’s going to get you much respect in the lock-up.
Good plan LSLGuy. You been around the block, eh?
Look at Al Capone. They couldn’t pin all his murders and bootlegging on him, so they sent him to Alcatraz for unauthorized use of milk crates. I read that somewhere.
Right. Back in the golden oldie stage of the LP, stealing milk crates to hold them was quite a problem. I think the warning is a holdover from the 1970’s.
It was a problem then, but many of the milk crates were still the metal cage type back then. There’s been a resurgence recently because of the value of the plastic for recycling. It’s not just milk crates either, it’s bakery racks, and two-liter soda bottle racks. Mention above are postal containers also, stealing those is a Federal crime. That’s the tough one to handle, hard to get much cred on the block at Leavenworth when you’re there for stealing empty mailbags. I have some of those that the postmaster gave me because they were too worn, sometimes I wonder what sequence of events will one day lead me to try explaining to a judge why I have them 
How else could there be a registered owner?
It doesn’t mean there actually is a registry. To register there would have to be a unique number on the milk crate. The owner might apply one, but that doesn’t mean that every crate with that message molded in has to be registered to someone. The message is clear enough that the crate belongs to someone, that the pile of them behind the mini-mart is not being left out for the trash pickup.
I do remember some of the old metal cage type had number plates attached to them, with the number painted on if I recall. I think the intent was to keep competitors from stealing them or to stop other businesses from using them instead of buying their own. Usually they have the name of the dairy on them also, I’m sure if someone was found keeping their record albums in one the dairy would be more interested in getting the crate back than prosecuting the guy.
The OP suggests that these are not real milk crates, but containers made to look like milk crates.
The oddly dire legal warnings traditionally found on milk crates are part of the quirky charm that endears them to bohemian types as a home furnishing item. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a truly “milk-crate-style container” without the imprinted threat of criminal prosecution.
Here in Canada old-timey gallon ones are the perfect size, but when we switched to metric litres the size of the milk crates became a little smaller so they’re just good for furnishing your first apartment or as an aquarium stand. Not that I would know about that or anything.
And a great way to safely transport your big 10".
That’s a possibility. These also could be the same crates being sold commercially also, but you’re right, that would be a selling point to some people who want to decorate with the mild crate look.
At the grocery store I work at, the milk trays and bread racks our vendors bring product in on are often stamped with the name of every grocery chain under the Sun except our own, including chains that don’t even exist in this part of the country.
Yeah, my wife brought a couple of those into our marriage. We’ve still got ~200 vinyl albums. Wouldn’t mind having a couple more of the containers.
Just add, “and creating a nuisance.” 
You can buy real milk crates legally from the manufacturer:
I don’t know if these come with legal warnings, but they will do custom logo stamping.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure these are just home-storage items, not “real” milk crates – they aren’t sturdy enough to hold real bottles of milk – and does milk even come in bottles and crates any more? – and I think you may very well have hit it on the nose: they included the warning as “cute” decor.
They once worked, but not anymore. Just at 12", which is not enough space. Unless you place them vertically, but no one does that. :rolleyes:
ETA: I’m talking library style, spines out.