Harbison Dairy Milk Bottle

Mary: 20th Jun 2008 - 00:24 GMT

I love this shot. What memories it brings to mind. Some good, some bad. Bad was when I had to walk home after dark. The giant factory building enhanced my fear and the darkness. Good were the milk crates and moving rail that we kids in the neighborhood used to hop on and ride down,down,down. What fun. We also climbed the fire escape on the factory that was to the left of the dairy. Good was also when this street was covered with snow. My spirits were lifted as the blanket of white covered the dreariness of the factory wall and the horse manure that covered the street as the dairy horses went up and down Abigail Street with milk deliveries. Good was also Mike the milkman who always had a smile for us kids.

Thom Cartmell: 4th Jul 2008 - 07:06 GMT

I lived at Susquehanna ave and Trenton Ave. 2129 E. Susquehanna ave. I grew up there in the 40's and 50's I remember Mike. Damn I remember the Horse Drawn Milk Wagons and Mike. I think his horses name was Jerry if I am not Mistaken. My mother always knew when I was looking at the Horses. I came home with a Black Screen Print on my Nose I even loved the Smell of the Stable. there. Now I live in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Retired from the Military 25 years service. If You know me write me. Thom Cartmell, sargee7@honduras.com. Went to Hackett School, and Penn Treaty Jr High

Fran Jetcyk: 19th Nov 2008 - 14:04 GMT

I am looking for a picture of the wagon and horse that delivered milk. I forget the horse's name that thrilled me on Columbia Ave. in the early '50's. I fed him or her doughnuts from Marzell's Bakery down the street, and I would love to download or purchase a photo. This was very special to me. I visited the Philadelphia Archives website and could not find anything. If you can direst me to a resource, I would greatly appreciate it.

I remember Mike the Milkman: 1st Mar 2009 - 19:00 GMT

His Horses Name was "Jerry" Delivered Susquehanna ave, Trenton ave, York St (Hackett School)etc. Someone from Kensington drop me a line if You lived anywhere in Kensington. Thanx,

SARGE aka Thom Cartmell, US Army ABN Retired
sargee7@honduras.com

Ed Plowman: 25th Aug 2009 - 22:03 GMT

Hi. I'm 77. My sisters and I lived on E. Cumberland St., between Cedar and Gaul, and attended Hackett elementary school in the mid- to late-1930s. I took my 16-year-old grandson (we live between Dulles Airport and Leesburg, Va.) on a recent one-day excursion to Philly by train. We got off the el at York-Dauphin and took a stroll through my old neighborhood. I was so disappointed to see the old Horatio B. Hackett school had long since disappeared, replaced by the large circular structure built there in 1967. (My grandson gently reminded me of the realities: "Granddad, I don't think I'd want to go to school in a building from 1930; it was better to build a new one than keep fixing an old one.")

Does anyone know if photos of the old Hackett are online or available somewhere else?

The neighborhood, like so much of Philadelphia, has fallen on hard and rundown times, but I found islands of hope on Frankford Ave. and elsewhere in Kensington during my stroll. I hope renewal comes to full bloom, and quickly. I told my grandson about those days in the old neighborhood during the Depression. It was tough for our parents (my dad was an Army sarge), I'm sure, but we seldom heard complaints. Looking back, I remember the horse-drawn wagons bringing milk, meat, produce, and ice cream along the streets. Only the bread guys had trucks, if I remember correctly. No one stole the bottles of milk left in metal boxes on the steps out front. In the alley that ran along the entire block out back, a family came through weekly, soliciting recyclables with shouts from their horse-drawn wagon, "Old rags, old rags!" On the streets, some old men offered one penny for every ten "long" cigarette butts we kids could collect for them from the gutters and sidewalks. (Ugh -- but a penny was a penny, and we could buy a small ice cream cone or flavored snow cone for as little as two pennies.) Kids were everywhere in the neighborhood, and we played together safely, often with no obvious adult supervision. Everyone looked out for each other. Those were wonderful years growing up.

ed plowman

Kathy Wilkinson (Peaches): 9th Sep 2009 - 15:32 GMT

My father was a "Harbisons Milkman", Joe the milkman. working out of Front and Diamond streets. He drove several horses, but Buddy a red roan with a mane that went over both sides, friendly and pleasant and Jackie a pretty dapple gray who had a little bit of a nsty streak, are two that I remember. My dad got up every morning at 3am and and loaded his wagon and would come home about 7, tie the horse to the "tellie pole" out front and have breakfast and get cleaned up.There were many mornings that he took me to school in the milk wagon. Wow I thought I was great being able to drive the horse down Clearfield Street to Conwell School. I can still hear the clinking of the bottles in back as the horse jogged down the street. My father drove a horse until 1956 or 57 and it still one of my favorite memories. Oh those were the simpler times. I'd love it if someone has a picture