Anyone know about milk cans?

[Bar Nuthin 2,274]

I figured this group might a good source of information since we have an appreciation of old metal with patina.

My Son In-law gave me this relic he found while doing demo on an old house and barn he bought.

Does anyone here have any interesting insights on this 5-gallon milk can?

 

   

 

[Pullstart 69,539]

I recently got a few milk cans and know nothing about THAT hobby… 

[rmaynard 17,054]

 

Being in the hobby of hunting and collecting oil cans, an item like this shows up occasionally. However, it's always been described as an oil can. I did see one in a shop in Pennsylvania. painted red and with a price tag of over $100.00.

[Achto 31,460]

8 hours ago, Bar Nuthin said:

Does anyone here have any interesting insights on this 5-gallon milk can?

 

I'm with @rmaynard. Ellisco was in the oil can business. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/117140017505

https://www.ebay.com/itm/377047761911

 

Brief history.

Ellisco oil cans were produced by George D. Ellis & Sons Inc. of Philadelphia, a company founded in 1843, with the "Ellisco" mark used starting in 1920. Known for durable 5-gallon galvanized, often fluted (ribbed) metal cans, they were staples in the 1920s–1930s for distributing fuel and oil to farms, businesses, and early service stations.

Edited 11 hours ago by Achto

[Darb1964 1,166]

They are not worth much, they were used by farmers to transport their milk to market before tanker trucks came to the farm. Back when a farmer could get by milking twenty head.

In 1960 there was 400 farms selling milk in Berkshire County Massachusetts now there's three.

[Bar Nuthin 2,274]

16 minutes ago, Achto said:

I'm with @rmaynard. Ellisco was in the oil can business. 

 

I saw that several were listed as oil/gas cans, but ChatGTP argued that they were often re-purposed as such but were originally for dairy,

The fact that it was painted red leads me to believe it is indeed for oil or fuel.

[Achto 31,460]

1 minute ago, Bar Nuthin said:

The fact that it was painted red leads me to believe it is indeed for oil or fuel.

 

Apparently if you can find them with popular name brands embossed on them the price goes up a might. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/388870147469?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364071570323?

[Bar Nuthin 2,274]

7 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

Apparently if you can find them with popular name brands embossed on them the price goes up a might. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/388870147469?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/364071570323?

 

Yeah, I could see where that would attract a more lucrative collector. There are a few guys around here that have mocked up vintage service stations. You can tell when you drive by that money is not their main concern. 

[Bar Nuthin 2,274]

The patina seems to be mostly original. The pictures don't show the red paint that well. I think I'll give it another good scrubbing with commercial Dawn, then wipe it down with oil to see how well it presents.

[953 nut 64,973]

The MILK cans we used prior to going to a bulk tank were twenty five gallons. They were kept cold in a tank with circulating cold water and the buoyancy provided by the water made them a bit more manageable for one person to move them around. We had a hoist to transfer the 250 pound filled cans to a truck.

 

[Bar Nuthin 2,274]

Lol - having a bit of fun debating with AI this morning.

Neither ChatGTP nor Microsoft's CoPilot are willing to abandon their insistence that this is a milk can, citing significant design differences between dairy and oil cans - even after presenting them with these photos.

 

  

Edited 10 hours ago by Bar Nuthin

[Achto 31,460]

9 minutes ago, Bar Nuthin said:

Neither ChatGTP nor Microsoft's CoPilot are willing to abandon their insistence that this is a milk can

 

Sooo much history is going to be altered or lost by this crap. 

[SylvanLakeWH 30,994]

 

[953 nut 64,973]

The lids on milk cans did not twist to open, they were hammered down and hammered off. Could have been a cream can for dairies that separated the cream, but I'm not too sure I ever heard of the Sinclair dairy.          Guess the milked dinosaurs.   

Edited 9 hours ago by 953 nut

[Gasaholic 361]

Interesting. I happen to have a vintage cast iron milking stool and an actual vintage milk can laying around in my garage ...

 

[lynnmor 8,725]

That oil can might bring a fair amount from rail fans, old locomotives used a variety of lubricants and a can like that would display well next to one.

[Bar Nuthin 2,274]

20 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

That oil can might bring a fair amount from rail fans, old locomotives used a variety of lubricants and a can like that would display well next to one.

It's more likely that my wife will want it cleaned up and painted for her outdoor decor, but I may test the waters to see if I get any enticing offers.

Not sure what price point would sway her into letting it go. 

[clueless 3,368]

They could put milk in it or oil in it, you just can't use it for both unless you rinsed it out first .

[Handy Don 16,189]

5 hours ago, Gasaholic said:

Yep, these were the milk cans used by dairies near me in my growing up years. A wooden mallet hung in the dairy for sealing and opening the cans.

I’d think that the ribbed cans would have been difficult to clean thoroughly--in my classmates’ dairy in PA, they had a long-handled brush and a hose with wet steam for cleaning the cans while they were on a rack tilted mouth down to drain. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Handy Don