Milk Bottle, Miller Dairy, Orange Pyro ACL, One Pint, Indiana, Vintage

• Pattern:  Vintage Milk Bottle, Miller Dairy One Pint 
• Made in USA
• Vintage 1950's -1960's
• Details:  This is a really cute vintage glass milk bottle from the Miller Dairy in Cambridge City, Indiana.  It is a Pint size, which tradition suggests customers with poor quality ice boxes, or no refrigeration, were more likely to prefer half or quarter-pint containers.  The text is a wonderful orange pyro (pyroglaze), with a cheerful sunrise design.  One side reads "Miller Dairy" with the large sun rising over a country lane in orange pyroglaze.  The other side reads: "Try Miller Vitamin D homogenized Whole Milk" with cut-out letters on an orange pyro background.  The bottle has a square bottom which dates it post 1940's.  The off-center round "scar" at the base of this bottle suggests it was made by blown parison molds. This is true with both Owens machines and later press-and-blow machines. The scars can be faint or distinct, but they are always off center, but we are not experts, please review and make your own determination.  We have 5 Pint size milk bottles available, and 2 other sizes (Half Pint and Half Gallon), available as well.  We're offering a 10% discount for the purchase of 3 or more Miller Dairy bottles, mix and match sizes.  Please Contact Us prior to placing your order for discount code, provide the quantity/sizes desired.  We'll set up an exclusive listing to match your exact request. 
• Material: Glass
• Dimensions:  7.0 inches Tall,  approx. 2.5 inches square (bottom).
• Condition:  Vintage - Used.  Very Good Condition.  WE HAVE NOT CLEANED THESE, some like the rustic vintage/used look.  We have 5 of this size, the one photographed may not be the exact one you receive, however, all are in approximately the same condition.  There are no chips, cracks or scratches on any of these bottle except as acceptable due to age/use/wear.  The ACL label is in surprisingly good condition, very little wear considering these were returnable/reusable bottles.  Please review all pictures and make sure you love this item before purchasing, we can't accept returns.  Please remember these are VINTAGE and ANTIQUE items, they are NOT new, every effort has been made to show scratches, wear and tear and imperfections.

The Miller Dairy was founded in 1926 by F. Lote Miller and his cousin in Cambridge City, Indiana. It prospered quickly from the mid '50s until about 1980.  We believe it closed in the 1980's due to the increase of big-box retailers, they couldn't compete with the lower prices.  The buildings and land were all closed and sold to other owners.  John Miller was the last one who ran the company, he signed the deed to a former Miller Dairy building over to the town of Cambridge City as a donation to the city, worth approx. a quarter of a million dollars.  For many collectors, milk bottles carry a nostalgic quality of a bygone age. The most prized milk bottles are embossed (raised glass lettering) or pyroglazed (painted) with names of dairies on them, which were used for milk home delivery so that the milk bottles could find their way back to their respective dairies.  Milk bottles since the 1930s have used pyroglaze or ACL (Applied Color Label) to identify the bottles. Before the 1930s, names were embossed on milk bottles using a slug plate.  Some interesting stats:

• The first home milk deliveries occurred in 1785 in rural Vermont.
• The first glass milk bottle was patented in 1874 in the United States.
• In the 1920s advertisements began to appear on milk bottles, etched on the glass using a sandblasting technique.