Giant Containers

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MILK BOTTLES

Milk Bottle
Libertyville, IL		 Milk Bottle
Bloomfield, CT		 Benewah Milk Bottle #1
(Garland St.)
Spokane, WA		 Benewah Milk Bottle #2
(S. Cedar St.)
Spokane, WA

The Libertyville bottle is not as big as the bottle buildings but still worth honorable mention. It is maybe 10' tall and part of Lambs Farm.

The Bloomfield Milk Bottle is another little (but big) example. It is a little over 5' tall and appears to be made of cement. The bottle stands in front of Maple Hill Farms which has been around since 1928.

The Benewah Milk Bottles were designed in 1935 by Whitehouse and Price. They stand 38' tall and are 15' wide. The body of the bottles are stucco from base to neck. The neck and cap are covered with sheet metal over a wooden frame. The owner, Paul E. Newport, had six or seven of these milk bottles built as retail outlets for his thriving Benewah Dairy Company. The bottles were designed to make milk appealing to children. A soap box derby was held at the opening of the stores.

The company folded in 1972 and apparently only these two bottles remain. One on Perry St. was converted into a windmill and may or may not still exist. Bottle #1, the first built, was used as a junk shop and later as an ice cream shop. It has been home to Mary Lou's Milk Bottle Restaurant since at least 1994. For more recent photos, see these websites: 1 and 2. Bottle #2 serves as an office for DTV Wireless. For more, see this website.

Harbisons Dairies
Philadelphia, PA

The Harbisons Dairies' water tower was built around 1914. There were four other locations with these milk bottles - all gone but this one. The building below is now vacant and Harbisons Dairies no longer exists. For more, see this website. [ad thanks Gene Hanlon]

former Bordens plant
Niagara Falls, ON		 Milk Bottle
Memphis, TN

This former Bordens plant, with the milk bottle entrance, was built in 1930. Bordens closed in 1974. In the late 1980s, the building was converted into a nightclub/restaurant. It was known as the "Roman Court", "Castle Rock" and "The Basement" over the years. In 2006, the building was renovated and become the Sterling Inn & Spa. For more, see this website.

The Memphis Milk Bottle appears to be a former water tower for presumably a former dairy building below. The building is now as derelict as the bottle. Does anyone know more about this place?

Bottlegate Farm
Kent, NY

Bottlegate Farm has two 8' tall and two 4' tall bottles at its entrance. I assume this place was once a dairy farm.

Richmond Dairy Building
Richmond, VA		 Milk Bottle
Whately, MA		 Milk Bottle
Corpus Christi, TX

The Richmond Dairy was built in 1913. In 1999, the building was converted into rental apartments at a cost of nearly $8 million. There are three 16' milk bottles at the corners of the building. This building is similar to the Polk's Dairy which was once in Indianapolis, IN. I'm not sure which came first or if one was modeled after the other. For more, see this website.

The Quonquont Dairy Milk Bottle in Whately was built around 1926 and was used for selling sandwiches, pie and ice cream. The dairy operated from 1923-1943. In 1951, it was moved across the street. It fell into disrepair and the Whately Historical Society stepped in and it was restored and moved again in 1995. It is a 16' tall, cement-sided building.

The Corpus Christi Milk Bottle stands in fromt of an RV park and is used for storage. The structure was previously used by a dairy and has been here since at least the 1950s.

Braum's Milk Bottle
Oklahoma City, OK		 Milk Bottle
Michigan City, IN

The Braum's Milk Bottle is taller than the building on which it stands. It has advertised for Braum's, a local dairy company, since 1993. The small triangular building below houses Saigon Baguette, a French-Vietnamese bakery. The bottle originally advertised for the Townley Dairy. It is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. In the past, the building was occupied by the Rib Shak and the Beer Box but I assume it originally sold Townley dairy products. For more, see these websites 1, 2, and 3.

The Michigan City Milk Bottle is now on the roof of La Rocco's Floor Coverings. The building was once occupied by a milk delivery company.

Skip's Milk Bottle
Chelmsford, MA		 City Dairy Co.
Toronto, ON		 HP Hood Milk Bottle
Boston, MA

Skip's Restaurant had an ice cream stand next door which closed around 2000. This bottle (about 8' tall) was on the roof. When the stand was replaced with a car wash, the bottle was moved to the back corner of the lot. For more, see this page.

The City Dairy Co. bottle is a tribute to Toronto's first dairy which was founded in 1900. The City Dairy factory building is located nearby and is now used by the University of Toronto. This sculpture was created by Stephen Cruise in 1997 and is mounted on a 20' pole.

The Hood Milk Bottle is 40' tall and 18' in diameter. If it were real, would hold 50,000 gallons of milk. It was built entirely of wood in 1934 as an ice cream stand which was run by Arthur Gagner in Taunton, MA. Soon thereafter, it was taken over by Sankeys who operated the stand until 1967. It stood vacant for eight years until Hood Milk was persuaded to buy it. In 1977, it was cut into three sections and moved by barge to Boston's Museuem Wharf. During the move, it briefly stopped to "visit" the Giant Bottle in Raynham, MA. Today, the Hood Bottle still serves as an ice cream stand and snack bar next to the Children's Museum. The bottle was completely renovated in 2007. Hood is the biggest dairy in New England and was founded in 1846. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

There was a more modern giant Hood Milk Bottle at Boston's Fenway Park baseball stadium. The 26' tall bottle (modeled after a modern milk jug rather than the old-fashioned glass bottle) was known as the "black Monster". It stood in right field and with each Red Sox home run, double play or strike-out of an opponent, the red cap on the bottle would lift off and milk splashed out. It sounds like today's 2-D bottle only flashes lights for home runs (no splashing). There are also a couple giant Coke bottles in the outfield. For more, see this website.

The Milk Bottle Restaurant
Raynham, MA		 Frates Restaurant Milk Bottle
New Bedford, MA

Both Milk Bottle buildings (New Bedford and Raynham) were erected by Frates Dairy. They were designed by Les Labrose and were painted white with a cream color close to the brim.

The Raynham Bottle serves ice cream take-out through the front windows and has a restaurant attached behind it. The bottle is 50' tall and 20' in diameter. According to the latest report, it is being repainted.

The New Bedford Bottle is 52' tall and was built in 1930. It still serves 43 flavors of ice cream. There were new owners in 2003 who renamed it "Tali's Place" but, as of 2005, I understand the building is closed and up for sale again. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

Voss Bar-B-Q
Yorkville, NY

Voss Bar-B-Q has a 12' tall milk bottle on its roof. Voss opened its dairy/ice cream stand here in 1937. Originally, the bottle was made of tin and outlined in neon. The neon hot dog sign that is there today is 16' wide. Hot dogs were added to the menu in 1950.

More Milk Bottles:
Uhland, TX
Edmonton, Canada
Montreal, Canada: 1, 2
Toronto, Canada

The Asselin Dairy in Norway, MI had a 65' milk bottle. It was built in 1929 of metal-sheated wood and plaster. The dairy moved out in the late 1970s and the abandoned building was destroyed.

For more about these Milk Bottles and milk bottle collecting, see this website.

MILK CANS
Manny's Place Restaurant
Granby, MA

Manny's Place Restaurant is a two-fer having both a milk can and milk bottle. In the 1930s, the sheet metal can was produced in Chicopee, MA and the bottle was produced locally. They were created to draw customers to the Dufresne's Dairy Bar, a side venture of their dairy business. The milk can was used as an ice cream stand. There was a building next door that had tables. It later became a tea house and after than an apartment. In 1963, the building, can, and bottle were moved across the street to the present location. Over the years, the business has also been known as Marion & Ken's and the Maple Brook Restaurant. It has been Manny's Place since 1987. The milk can which is attached to the restaurant contains a few tables. The bottle is used for storage.

Milk Can Drive-in
North Smithfield, RI

The North Smithfield Milk Can was an ice cream stand built in 1929 in the shape of an old-fashioned cream can. It is 32' tall, a wood-frame structure with its cap and handle made of sheet metal. It was originally in Lincoln, RI with a twin in North Providence, RI that was later bulldozed. The ice cream parlor was sold in 1947 and added burgers and other foods. In 1960, it added a roofed patio for outdoor dining. The Can closed in 1968 and sat boarded up for 20 years. It was nearly demolished before being moved here, about 10 miles north, in 1987. There were plans to reopen it but it still never has. The first photo is from its Lincoln days. The other two photos are from Smithfield where it still stands vacant.

Salvador's Ice Cream
South Dartmouth, MA

Salvador's 30' tall milk can was originally located in New Bedford, MA and was moved here next to the owners' house in 1935. There once was a giant dairy building next to the can. The handles and can were originally painted silver and there was a plaster cow on top. In 1967, on-site production of milk and ice cream ended but the ice cream business is still family run. In 2005, new owners began restoring the building (two photos at right). They have repainted it and are adding handles to it. There is also a new rooftop cow. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

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