milk door in brick wall

My Old House Has A Milk Door – I Had Never Heard of Them!

After moving into a new house (new to us, but actually built in the 60s), we found the strangest little metal door in the brick wall near the rear door of the house. There are no markings or emblems on the door that I can see, but after searching about on the internet, I think I have an old Milk Door!

I am old enough to remember faintly when I was a little girl that milk was delivered to us by a truck or van that looks like one of our mail-carrier vehicles these days. The milk was placed in a silver box on the front porch. But here in the suburbs, it must have gone into this box in the wall.

inside view of my milk door

We lived outside the city limits which made us “country girls.” A delivery man came every few days and brought milk in glass bottles. I think we washed those bottles and returned them to him via the box so that they could be refilled.

My Mother could probably tell you everything about The Milkman, but she is no longer with us so I have to rely on my own memory. As I recall, his name was Bud and he wore a little white uniform and hat.

old fashioned milkman

Milk delivery must have been free back then? I know my parents were very frugal and would not have paid any extra for this luxury. So I can only think that if you bought the milk, maybe it was delivered for free?

Andes Dairy was probably where the milk delivery came from, but I don’t know for sure. I just know that Andes was the best known and used milk producers at that time in Fairborn. (Ohio)

Why Would Milk Be Delivered?

We were a one-car family when I was young. There were five children in the family and my Mom was a stay-at-home Mom as was typical at the time. My Dad worked and raised a garden. It was only when we older kids got to be teenagers did he ever consider getting an extra car.

So I guess back then, a daily necessity like milk needed to be delivered so a family could have a fresh supply of milk as needed. In these days of pandemic, we can get a full load of groceries (and anything else for that matter) delivered easily.

14 inch square milk door blocked by table

Can My Milk Box Become An Amazon Box?

With so many thefts occurring with Amazon deliveries, maybe we ought to rethink these old Milk Box units. Perhaps houses could now be built with some kind of Package Box built into the house. They could be used for smaller packages and somehow secured so that they would open for a delivery then automatically lock from the outside when closed.

That could prevent a lot of losses, right?

Of course, the opening cannot be too large because a small person could try and squeeze in through the milk door. My milk door measures 14 by 14 inches and I still am not comfortable leaving it accessible out in the open. I have a heavy metal garden table with heavy slate tiles placed in front of the opening now to prevent anyone using it.

Milk door guarded by heavy garden table

Let’s not get any clever ideas like putting a stray raccoon or squirrel into my house as a prank at Halloween. Luckily, my Milk Door opening goes into the garage but I still don’t want an angry raccoon coming at me in that dark garage!

Nostalgia for The Good Old Days

Thinking about those long-gone days when I was a little girl and our Milkman bringing us milk so often, I remember the apple tree in the driveway that I climbed all the time just to be by myself. I remember being afraid of tractors. I hated that deep chug-chug sound they made.

apple tree against blue sky

Oddly enough, when they did a lot of road work out on that country road, none of the excavators or heavy equipment made me afraid at all. Wonder why the sound of a tractor scared me?

But that’s enough about the good old days. I still have so much work to do outside and I do want to make a quick video so you can see my little Milk Door. Have you ever had one? Do you have one now? What do you use it for?

Is This A Milk Door In Our Old House? Can I Use It For Amazon Deliveries? Found In Our House

2 Comments

  1. Sandra Whittier says:

    How nice! How unique! I am using an apple crate at my front door to prevent the rude delivery people from dumping my groceries on the porch floor at my front door. (At 75 I have a hard time getting my walker over the stairs!!) You could always put a crate on your shelf for deliveries, I use a sign for the delivery people smart enough to speak and read American or trained by companies to read instructions!!!! Wish kind polite humans like Bud still existed!!

    1. That is a great idea for deliveries. And you always be careful when getting them from your porch. Especially if you are anywhere near ice.

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