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> Growing up in communist Poland I remember having to bring to the store empty milk glass bottles to swap them for filed ones It was common practice in Italy b

by asjw 7y ago

> Growing up in communist Poland I remember having to bring to the store empty milk glass bottles to swap them for filed ones It was common practice in Italy bas well, until the 80s. [Including schools everywhere and inexpensive public transport] It changed when economy of scale kicked in, I blame our politicians that let companies implement the "American way"

jaclaz 7y ago
Well, speaking of Italy, that was in the cities, I am old enough (while not being that old) to still remember in the late 70's/early '80's (we had a house in a relatively small country village and as kids we went there with grandmother from June to September) that in the late afternoon the milkman (actually milkwoman) made her round with a donkey carrying two or three huge (probably some 30 or 40 liters each) large aluminium containers/canisters, similar to this: https://i0.wp.com/www.ilvecchiotarlo.it/bidone_latte.JPG https://i0.wp.com/www.ilvecchiotarlo.it/bidone_latte.JPG and we (we intended as the kids) were sent downstairs with either a glass bottle or often with just a pot, and get either a liter or half a liter of milk. The milkwoman would have "graduated pans" and get from the large container the asked amount of milk and give it to us, noting it down in a small notebook, and every week or maybe two produced a bill (actually that page of the notebook) to get paid.
- chinesempire 7y ago
  Oh, the memories! Speaking of Italy, my family comes from central Italy, in the country, 100kms from Rome, I was born in Rome, but spent a lot of time there. My mom's sister still lives in a tiny village of about 15 hundreds inhabitants. My grandmother was a farmer, my grandfather a tailor, they used to have all kinds of animals in their farm, from cows (they had two, they made milk that they sold to the local milk consortium), they had pigs, sheeps, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, everything one imagine in a small family farm. I used to drink fresh milk and eat tomatoes straight from the plant, we slaughtered our pigs every year near the epiphany and we hate "polenta e spuntature" on the "scifa" (a large plate of wood) together (like these fine gentlemen in the picture http://i.imgur.com/zcYK800.png http://i.imgur.com/zcYK800.png), we made, and still make, our own wine and olive oil. It wasn't much different from what Americans imagine in their tv shows and movies Soviet villages with babushka in the 50s, but it was the 70s in Italy and we already had cars and trucks (the milk tank truck was very much like this one already https://www.autocarri.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/20190506_113901_resized.jpg https://www.autocarri.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/20190506...) and, of course, there was the occasional donkey cart, but it was already more folklore than the norm.

by asjw 7y ago

jaclaz 7y ago

Well, speaking of Italy, that was in the cities, I am old enough (while not being that old) to still remember in the late 70's/early '80's (we had a house in a relatively small country village and as kids we went there with grandmother from June to September) that in the late afternoon the milkman (actually milkwoman) made her round with a donkey carrying two or three huge (probably some 30 or 40 liters each) large aluminium containers/canisters, similar to this: https://i0.wp.com/www.ilvecchiotarlo.it/bidone_latte.JPG https://i0.wp.com/www.ilvecchiotarlo.it/bidone_latte.JPG and we (we intended as the kids) were sent downstairs with either a glass bottle or often with just a pot, and get either a liter or half a liter of milk. The milkwoman would have "graduated pans" and get from the large container the asked amount of milk and give it to us, noting it down in a small notebook, and every week or maybe two produced a bill (actually that page of the notebook) to get paid.

chinesempire 7y ago
Oh, the memories! Speaking of Italy, my family comes from central Italy, in the country, 100kms from Rome, I was born in Rome, but spent a lot of time there. My mom's sister still lives in a tiny village of about 15 hundreds inhabitants. My grandmother was a farmer, my grandfather a tailor, they used to have all kinds of animals in their farm, from cows (they had two, they made milk that they sold to the local milk consortium), they had pigs, sheeps, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, everything one imagine in a small family farm. I used to drink fresh milk and eat tomatoes straight from the plant, we slaughtered our pigs every year near the epiphany and we hate "polenta e spuntature" on the "scifa" (a large plate of wood) together (like these fine gentlemen in the picture http://i.imgur.com/zcYK800.png http://i.imgur.com/zcYK800.png), we made, and still make, our own wine and olive oil. It wasn't much different from what Americans imagine in their tv shows and movies Soviet villages with babushka in the 50s, but it was the 70s in Italy and we already had cars and trucks (the milk tank truck was very much like this one already https://www.autocarri.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/20190506_113901_resized.jpg https://www.autocarri.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/20190506...) and, of course, there was the occasional donkey cart, but it was already more folklore than the norm.