<< Page 12 >>
| A MILKMAN’S DAY |
FAMILY
COOPERATION
|
 |
As a child in
South Berwick,
Maine,Theresa
Michaud helped
|
| her father, Joseph, on the milk route before she went to
school. Beginning at age fifteen
when she could drive the family’s
station wagon,Theresa delivered
milk by herself. Her brothers,
Raymond and Henry, helped in
the fields and barn.Women like
Theresa’s mother,Mary, married
into the business and carried out
whatever chores were needed.
When Joseph injured his leg,
Mary, the children, and nearby
uncles from both sides of the
family kept the farm and
delivery business going. |
Theresa Michaud and her brother
Raymond, South Berwick, Maine,
circa 1950
Courtesy of Theresa Michaud Wilkinson |
Michaud’s Dairy delivery truck,
South Berwick, Maine, 1950s
Courtesy of Theresa Michaud Wilkinson |
Joseph and Mary Michaud, Michaud’s
Dairy, South Berwick, Maine, 1959
Courtesy of Theresa Michaud Wilkinson |
|
|
|
 |
| |
|
| |
 |
| |
Oakhurst Dairy milkman John
Merriman, early 1960s
Courtesy of Oakhurst Dairy, Portland, Maine
The familiar boxy, Divco trucks — made by the Detroit
Industrial Vehicle Company — had low floors for ease in
stepping in and out, driving instruments that could be
manipulated standing up, a fold-up seat, and space for
carrying milk crates and ice. Divcos delivered all kinds of
products like milk, mail, and baked goods. Small dairies
often simply used their farm or family vehicles. |
|
|
A Milkman’s Day — A chart, based
on data from 1939-42 (top) |
Group portrait of H. P. Hood and Sons
milkmen, 1940s (above, left)
Courtesy of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
H. P. Hood and Sons milkman, Salem,
Massachusetts, circa 1950 (left)
Photograph by Jeffrey
Courtesy of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities |
|
 |
|
