Pensupreme and other vintage milk cartons... do people collect these?

 In the last year, I have noticed how a lot of people collect vintage glass milk bottles, which I remember when I was a kid, how the milkman would deliver these to our house several times a week. Mom would put the empty bottles in the insulated galvanized metal milk box out on the porch, and the milk man would take the empty bottles and replace them with full ones. The service was getting too expensive for my parents to afford, so they did like a lot of people did and opted to get their milk at the grocery store/ corner stores for a bit cheaper in wax or plastic coated disposable quart, or half gallon cartons. When I was a kid in the mid 1960's, all the local dairies started to sell their milk this way as well as continue the home delivery service in glass bottles, as well. The  thing that caught my eye as a young preteen boy was the more colorful graphics these cartons were able to have over the glass bottles, and I kind of liked playing with these colorful cartons once they were empty, and Mom would rinse them out and give them to me. I tried to make them into bird houses, and hang them up outside, but no birds ever used them, and I ended up taking them down, and would cut the things up to use for other model building projects. Money was tight, and the cardboard these had in them, even though they were plastic coated and resisted drawing in them, was a cheap source for craft material. Most people back in the day would just crush these things and throw them away, and if they were used for anything,the bottom halves were cut off and they were used for starter planters for starting seeds for vegetables or flowers. It amazes me that when they show up intact now, as to how they have even survived this.

To me, finding an intact milk carton from the 1950's, 1960's, 1970's or even the 1980's is an amazing bet beyond all odds that they survived to this point, and for that reason, besides the nostalgia I have in association for these cartons, makes them more desirable to me than the glass milk bottles from that same time period...

The top picture is a mid 1960's Penn Dairies of Lancaster, Pennsylvania Pensupreme plastic coated Vitamin D half gallon carton. This image here is of two late 1950s to early 1960's wax coated quart cartons from the same dairy.

This picture, here is a carton from Penn Dairy's biggest competitor in Lancaster, PA, Queen Dairy. This is a waxed carton with the older style peel open corner spout from the early 1960's. These cartons once they were opened did not reseal tight, and if knocked over, even when closed would spill out the opened corner. That is why the paper companies developed the "PurePak" design. These also would leak when opened but would close up tighter, and less milk would be lost that way if accidentally knocked over, until you had the chance to set up upright, again.

When we moved to the North side of Lancaster, Mom would send me to the A & P that was one block down from where we lived, and I came home with milk in cartons like this early 1970's quart carton...

Here is a quart Pensupreme milk carton from around 1966. I figured it was from around that time period as it has a purple ink stamped price mark of 25 cents on the top panel of the thing there.

Here is a rare Pensupreme waxed pint carton from the late 1950's to early 1960's of what they called "H.V.D." milk. AKA Homogenized Vitamin D Milk. 

There is a lot of cool old stuff out there in the way of  cardboard dairy ephemera, but you really have to keep your eyes pealed to find it!

Here is another A & P carton to complement the quart carton I have in the pic above. Like that one, this half gallon carton also is pre barcode from the early to mid 1970 as there is still an encoded date stamp on the badly wrinkled spine on the top of the carton. Notice the "A & P" circle logo is not printed like a dish as like the prior quart carton here. It is just a flat red colored disc, here.

Here is one of my latest additions. a Lenkerbook Farms carton out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles from here in Lancaster County. It looks like it dates from the early 1970's as it is also pre barcode, but it does have an embossed numerical month a day only sell by date on the top spine.

Here are two more quart cartons that are from local dairies here in Pennsylvania. "Dairimaid" Brand from Chambersburg Dairy Co. in Chambersburg, PA. These are also pre-barcode, so they are from the late 1960's to mid 1970's

This is one of my most recent additions. This Sealtest Vitamin D milk carton from the late 1960's. I remember my Mom buying these cartons of milk when I was a kid with these sweet looking graphics. These cartons are practically non-existent, now. Found this on eBay about 2 weeks ago as of this update.

Here is a nice Bohack 1 gallon milk carton from the early 1970's from the grocery chain of the same name in New York City. They went out of business in 1977.

Jim.

Star Barn 1993 scratch built.

Here is a small model I built out of posterboard and balsa wood in 1993 of this locally well known Harrisburg, PA landmark. Located along Route 283 in Highspire, just outside of Harrisburg, the structure  had been languishing for years. Built around 1872, by a well to do horse breeder and trader John Motter, this barn and its outbuildings were meant to be a showcase farm.

 North side, (View one would see from Route 283).

In the early 1990's the barn had fallen into such disrepair, that people were concerned that it would be demolished for a high density housing project, and a grassroots effort was made to "Save the Star Barn".

 South side, or barnyard side view.

There were numerous articles and fundraisers to stabilize the condition of the barn, and it's outbuildings. The owner put the place up for sale. In the meantime, in 2000, the barn was cosmetically restored by the Millport Conservancy, headed up by Robert Wolhsen, Sr. In the meantime, it was sold for a second time to the Agrarian Country, a non profit organization dedicated to preserving icons of agricultural heritage. including the likes of the Star Barn.

West gable end view.

The plans are to dismantle the barn, and move it to Grantville to be the centerpiece of a big farming museum complex. This is where we are at right now.

East gable end view. 

In 1993, during the middle of what I call the "Star Barn frenzy Years", I decided to build this model.

Northeast 3/4 view.

It is rather small. The foundation footprint of the model is only about 7" by about 4-1/2", not including the barnhill or the barnyard enclosure. I put shingles on the  roof of this model, as opposed to the corrugated metal roof the actual barn has now, as the barn originally had  a cedar shake shingled roof that would have turned quickly gray after being exposed to the weather, so that is why I painted the roof gray, as originally built in 1872.

Southwest 3/4 view.

I used a dried out ballpoint pen to heavily emboss the cardboard with grooves to simulate the siding and louvre textures of the barn's siding and ventilators.  I did the same thing to  simulate the stone foundation, and barnyard fence by embossing wavy lines on it to simulate the mortar lines in between the stones, then I hand painted it gray.

Cupola detail.


Jim.