4 ms·

If you went back further even more things were delivered to your front door. Coal holes[0] can still be seen in many streets, and there even used to be a 'pop'

by agurk 8y ago

If you went back further even more things were delivered to your front door. Coal holes[0] can still be seen in many streets, and there even used to be a 'pop' man who'd bring soft drinks around. There also used to be deposits on glass bottles that were washed and reused. Talking to people who actually used to get milk delivered, the usual complaints seemed to be unpredictability of arrival, it freezing in winter and getting too warm in summer. Birds & squirrels would occasionally get to it too. I've also heard stories of milk men continuing to deliver when people were away coming back to bottles of off milk. I think the model also works much better when there is someone at home for most of the day. I didn't find any good information on historical milk consumption in the UK, but it wouldn't surprise me if it had decreased over time as well. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_hole

rtkwe 8y ago
The explanation in the first paragraph of that wikipedia article seems like a perfectly fine explanation, more stores started stocking fresh milk so the milkman wasn't needed as much any more because milk could just be picked up with the rest of the groceries.
- Kurtz79 8y ago
  Maybe in a few years we will go full circle and there will be 30-minutes delivery of fresh milk by drone. I find interesting how Germany deals with empty bottles: https://german-dude.de/blog/guide-recycling-bottles-germany_506/ https://german-dude.de/blog/guide-recycling-bottles-germany_...
  - kwhitefoot 8y ago
    Works like that in Norway too. Almost every supermarket has a machine for returning bottles.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  That explanation leaves out the main reason the delivery by milkman declined. The milkman was usually more convenient, as the milk would be on the doorstep before you woke. Many delivered eggs, cream, orange juice, and cheese as well. The supermarkets started stocking milk - initially in the same crates and glass one pint bottles as the milk man would supply, and sold it for an uneconomic huge loss. It wasn't uncommon for the same milk, from the same dairy and bottler to be half the price in the supermarket. Even while the guaranteed minimum wholesale price of the milk marketing board remained. You were even expected to rinse and return the bottles to the supermarkets. Cartons came later, but not too long after. Larger sizes like 4 pint plastic later still. Customer loyalty couldn't last, though it took a surprisingly long time under such pressure for them to die out. In UK supermarkets the price of milk is still held artificially low by all of them as dairy farmers go bankrupt. It might be the only item where Tesco and Sainsbury match price with Aldi and Lidl.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Where we lived in the late 60s and early 70s we had the Corona pop man, coal man, milk man, and greengrocer delivering. There was even a rag and bone man (with horse!) every now and then.

by agurk 8y ago

rtkwe 8y ago

The explanation in the first paragraph of that wikipedia article seems like a perfectly fine explanation, more stores started stocking fresh milk so the milkman wasn't needed as much any more because milk could just be picked up with the rest of the groceries.

Kurtz79 8y ago
Maybe in a few years we will go full circle and there will be 30-minutes delivery of fresh milk by drone. I find interesting how Germany deals with empty bottles: https://german-dude.de/blog/guide-recycling-bottles-germany_506/ https://german-dude.de/blog/guide-recycling-bottles-germany_...
- kwhitefoot 8y ago
  Works like that in Norway too. Almost every supermarket has a machine for returning bottles.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
That explanation leaves out the main reason the delivery by milkman declined. The milkman was usually more convenient, as the milk would be on the doorstep before you woke. Many delivered eggs, cream, orange juice, and cheese as well. The supermarkets started stocking milk - initially in the same crates and glass one pint bottles as the milk man would supply, and sold it for an uneconomic huge loss. It wasn't uncommon for the same milk, from the same dairy and bottler to be half the price in the supermarket. Even while the guaranteed minimum wholesale price of the milk marketing board remained. You were even expected to rinse and return the bottles to the supermarkets. Cartons came later, but not too long after. Larger sizes like 4 pint plastic later still. Customer loyalty couldn't last, though it took a surprisingly long time under such pressure for them to die out. In UK supermarkets the price of milk is still held artificially low by all of them as dairy farmers go bankrupt. It might be the only item where Tesco and Sainsbury match price with Aldi and Lidl.

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

Where we lived in the late 60s and early 70s we had the Corona pop man, coal man, milk man, and greengrocer delivering. There was even a rag and bone man (with horse!) every now and then.