Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Milkman Cometh!

I was watching the news last night and there was a segment about the high gas prices.  Ugh.  I almost turned the channel  The thought of paying $4 a gallon almost makes me sick to my stomach.   The thought of paying $5 per gallon DOES make me sick to my stomach.   But then I saw a truck on the news . . . a truck I recognized.  The news segment was filmed in Orange County, California, where I grew up.  It was following a milkman and his truck to see how the high gas prices impacted him and his business.   And on the side of the truck was a sign - "Rockview."  And I excitedly yelled to my son, "Look!!  Look!!  That's the dairy we used to get our milk from!"  "Mom, I'm sitting right next to you, you don't have to yell."    I was so excited, and seeing that truck, and the milkman with his white uniform and hat, brought back so many memories!  The Rockview milkman was part of my childhood and, thus, part of my life!  


The Rockview milkman used to deliver our milk, twice a week, in glass bottles, and leave it on the front porch.  Who does that anymore?!  Well, apparently Rockview still does!   How cool is that?   Sometimes there would be orange juice or chocolate milk waiting on the porch for us as well.  And sometimes, when we would run out, we would drive to the Rockview Dairy and go through their drive-through, and they would bring out what we needed and sometimes my mom and dad would buy us ice cream.   And that sweet memory brought back another, and then another and another, that I will share in a subsequent blog.   There used to be a dairy on the corner across from our junior high school.  It really stunk, but to me it was a good kind of stink.   And there was an orange grove next to our elementary school.   That dairy and that orange grove have been gone for many, many years, but the memory of them is a part of me.

Simple times, or so it seemed to me as a child.  Magical times, as seen through my child eyes.   Thank goodness for my parents and parents around the world who provide those sweet, simple, magical times for their children.    

13 comments:

  1. There used to be orchards and citrus groves all over where I grew up in Southern CA. Most of them are all gone now. We had an orange, lemon, and tangerine tree in our own backyard. There are still some dairies out in the far reaches of the county. We call the smell dairy air.

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  2. Gas in Eureka was $4.37 on Thursday, while a little south in Willits, it was $4.06. per gallon.

    Annie is drinking goat's milk these days, and making cheese from it each week to sell at market. The stuff is expensive. Casey and Amber drink raw cow's milk, that they get from the owner of the feed store, who has dairy cattle; it is not legal in California to sell raw milk in this way. Isn't that dumb?

    Simple times are a way of life here. I enjoyed this post!

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  3. My grandad was the local milkman here many, many years ago (1960's) I was little, but have vague memories of that era and a few times he picked me up in the milk truck. He passed away several years ago but his one request was to be taken on his last milk run.
    I think the gas prices are ridiculous and am starting to think the elected in DC are working for oil barons. : (

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    1. What a great last request. He must have loved his job.

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  4. Those memories sound wonderful! I'd love to have milk delivered in glass bottle! Sounds perfect.

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  5. We had a Milk Man growing up too :) Glass bottles, foil tops... yellow tops for skim milk I think... and a metal box on the porch that he'd leave them in. I didn't know there were still Milk Men either.

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  6. Wow, that really brought back some already happy memories of my childhood. I CAN still remeber those days of the Milk Man. I so wish they were still around!

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  7. There was a dairy very close to my elementary school too - best thing was that we got to go on a walking field trip there once and they gave us ice cream! The milkman came to my neighborhood but we never got milk from the truck (powdered milk was way cheaper - yucky stuff). Did the Helms Bakery truck come to your neighborhood? When Mark and I would stay with the grandparents, the big treat was to stop the Helms Bakery truck in the mid morning and be able to get a donut. It was such a treat.

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    1. Yes! My sisters and I talk often about the Helms Bakery truck! Our favorites were the chocolate covered coconut patties! Thanks for reminding me :)

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  8. if one thing is for sure, it is that the times are a.. changing !

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  9. My daughter desperately wants milk delivered to our house! She's finally found one dairy that does deliver out here in the sticks and her dad said sure. I guess we're about to join an old school milk revelation! The crazy thing is, when I was growing up, everyone had a dairy in our town. Even my grandparents! But now, not so much.

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  10. What wonderful memories. Isn't it cool how a simple thing can trigger our brains like that?

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  11. Judy I left you a little gift, but you have to collect it on my blog. : )

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