There was a time when most people did not go to
the grocery store to purchase their milk; it was
delivered to their door. Many adults today have
childhood memories of a uniformed milkman
placing bottles of fresh milk on the front porch and
leaving with empty bottles their mother had put out
in exchange.
But there was something else the milkman
collected—dairy tokens. From the late 19
century
to the 1960's, consumers could buy dairy tokens to
"pay" for the milk or cream that was delivered.
Many dairies had their own tokens. They were
valued at such quantities as ½ or 1 pint, 1, 2 or 3
quarts or ½ gallon and specified whether the token
was for cream or milk and what kind (pasteurized,
Jersey, skim, etc.).
Dairy tokens were used in all ten provinces across
Canada. And although they offered customers a
price advantage by pre-ordering, most people today
cherish dairy tokens for the memory they
preserve—a quieter, simpler time when the
milkman came calling.
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