E22-L*nc*ster Farming, Saturday, June 3, 1995
75th Anniversary Marks DCl’s Commitment To Nutrition Education
SOUTHAMPTON (Bucks
Co.) —From the Roaring ’2os to
the Yet-to-be-Named ’9os, Dairy
Council, Inc. (DCI) has been
keeping up with times while stay
ing steadfast in its mission of pro
viding sound nutrition education
information to Americans.
Whether it was through plays
and puppets or radio and TV, for
75 years Dairy Council has kept
its focus on keeping Americans
healthy with messages about the
role dairy foods play in personal
health.
After National Dairy Council
was established in 1915, it was
believed that grassroots efforts on
a statewide basis would add to the
effectiveness of spreading sound
nutrition information across the
nation. In some instances, these
Dairy Council units were formed
within state lines, and in other
areas they were built around milk
markets.
So in 1920, a Pennsylvania-based Dairy Council was
created—funded through dairy farmers and distributors
each paying one cent per hundred pounds of milk pro
duced or purchased. Following this “milk-to-market”
concept, this new organization would work throughout
the tristate area of southeastern and southcentral Pennsyl
vania. southern New Jersey, and Delaware.
1920s—Free Milk and
Quality Control
“Sleep many hours with the windows open” and ‘Take
a bath oftener than once a week” were two of Dairy
Council’s Eight Health Rules in the 19205. While these
rules may sound archaic, they reflected the needs of the
times.
Undernourishment, for example, was a major problem
in the 19205. In response to this problem, Dairy Council
began to fulfill its health mandate by giving away milk.
DCI provided a pint of free milk daily to more than
20,000 undernourished children in the Philadelphia publ
ic schools. During the first year. Dairy Council contri
buted more than $13,000 worth of free milk and con
ducted nutrition classes. This actually became the fore
runner to Pennsylvania’s School Lunch Program.
In its first year of operation alone. Dairy Council
reached more than 280,000 school students through nutri
tion classes, plays, brochures, and posters.
In addition to building strong relationships with the
public schools in the twenties. Dairy Council also worked
with dairy farmers to ensure quality milk. As part of a
Milk Quality Control Program, Dairy Council staff vis
ited dairy farms, giving demonstrations on milking,
straining, and cooling milk. By 1923, Dairy Council
hosted the World’s Dairy Congress, attended by 1,000
dairy farmers worldwide.
1930s—Drama In the
Depression Years
Undernourishment continued to be a problem through
the Depression years, so Dairy Council stepped up its free
milk program. Free milk was even provided to employees
of several major department stores in the Philadelphia
area, such as Bonwit Teller, Gimbel’s, and Strawbridge
& Clothier. The Dairy Council “ladies”—as they were
called—developed nutrition materials such as “Feeding a
Family of Five for $8 Per Week.”
This decade also saw the beginning of a working rela
tionship with the Philadelphia Zoo that continues today.
In 1936, a dairy bam with live cows was opened there.
More than 100,000 visitors flocked in a single day to
view the bovine residents.
The ingenuity and creativity shown by the staff con
tinued in the form of the dramatic arts —literature, plays,
and music. Dairy Council established its dramatic depart
ment, writing and producing its own health plays and
original songs. This unique approach to nutrition educa
tion appears to have been a wise move—milk consump
tion in Philadelphia was 50 percent higher than the aver
age in the United States during this time.
1940s —Nutrition
Education Marches On
In ihe 1940 s Dairy Council became involved in the
military effort by purchasing war bonds and developing
materials targeted to those working on behalf of the war
effort. In 1942 alone, 451 defense plants were supplied
with nutritional posters, reaching more than 360,000
employees
And despite transportation problems because of gas
rationing, Dairy Council’s Dramatic Department staff
took to the street cars to log more than 2,000 puppet
shows in the 1944-1945 school year.
In 1946, nearly 600,000 children attended the puppet
shows, health plays, and talks given in schools by the
nutritionists. This same year the Philadelphia Interstate
Dairy Council officially changed its name to Dairy Coun-
1950s—Puppets
and Princesses
Suburbia, Elvis, and “I Love
Lucy”—times were good after the
war years. Enter the princesses.
During the 19505, Dairy Coun
cil helped initiate the Dairy Prin
cess Program in Pennsylvania, a
program which was later emulated
by other states. The annual dairy
princess winners represented the
dairy industry at various social
and business occasions.
Today, dairy princesses work
with schools to help students
understand dairy farming and to
interest them in the importance of
milk to their health.
Dairy Council’s puppeteer
program, launched in the early
’3os, was in full swing by the
19505. Giving “Howdy Doody” a
little competition, the puppets
became TV stars during this
decade in a series of short films.
One puppet, “Happy the Healthy,”
had such a following that he even
had his own fan club.
Dairy Council’s collection of
several hundred hand-held pup
pets, worth thousands of dollars,
was retired from service in the
19705, but still can be seen on dis
play in the DCI lobby. The pup
pets serve as a reminder to staff to
continue to search for creative
ways to communicate the message
of good nutrition.
1960s—The Miracle
of Milk
In the 19605, “Geraldine,” the
now famous life-sized traveling
fiberglass cow, joined the Dairy
Council staff. She helped spread
nutrition messages about milk
throughout Dairy Council’s terri
tory by making public appear
ances at schools, shopping malls,
fairs —anyplace she could capture
the attention of the community.
Not only was Geraldine con
stantly on the move in the ’6os,
but so too was Dairy Council’s
newest exhibit, the “Miracle of
Milk.” This fueled-up 30-foot
long trailer caught the attention of
children everywhere.
The mobile exhibit visited
Here’s a performance you’ll like repeated again
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In 1972, the Middle Atlantic
Milk Marketing Association
became the major funding source
for DCl’s nutrition education
activities, providing new oppor
tunities for Dairy Council pro
grams.
In the early 19705, Dairy Coun-
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cil introduced “Big Ideas,” a curri
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first time, the nutrition staff
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Thousands of school children
participated in these nutrition les
(Turn to Pago E 23)
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