Milk Bottles On Display At National Milk Bottle Collectors Convention CHARLENE SHUPP Special Correspondent GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.) The halls of the Holiday Inn at GrantviUe, Dauphin County were hill of activity as members of the National Association of Milk Bot tle Collectors strolled from room to room to see milk bottle and dairy paraphernalia on display. Each room display reflected extensive time and planning, however, the work did not matter to these members who show a de votion for their hobby and enjoy sharing their knowledge. Attendees of this convention traveled from across the United States and from as far away as Germany to gather for their an nual meeting and share in their joy of collecting. The convention kicked off on Thursday, June 5 as collectors set up displays in their rooms offer ing a wide variety of bottles for sale. However, this was also a time to visit with other collectors, perusing the numerous collect ables available and gain insight about bottles in their collections. Each room’s display was dis tinctive of each collector’s loves and unique finds. One such find was the cow button collection on display by John and Sonja Force of Flemington, N.J. John, who is known to button Known as the “Purple Cow,” Ralph Riovo greets people with a large Hol stien Cow outside his room. Riovo has recieved national recognition in milk bottle collecting as having one of the largest collec tions in the United States. Dean Shippy of Newark, Del. earned the People’s Choice Award for his comprehen sive display of college milk bottles. Lancaster FjU^mg collectors as “the cow man,” re cently won a first place at the New Jersey Historical Society for his cow button display. “I was so proud of myself. I designed this display and the po sitions the buttons were in,” said John. “And I was so happy that I got it (the award).” Although John and Sonja enjoy adding to their cow button collection, the Forces’ primary passion is for the quality of the milk bottles of yesterday. “The new bottles are not as de tailed as the older ones and the quality of the glass is not the same,” said Sonja noting that older glass bottles have the look of almost crystal and pointing out the pride in workmanship of the older bottles. For Charles and Judy lager of Fulton, Md., the convention pro vides a nice break from the run ning of their registered Holstein farm. “I enjoy coming to milk bottle convention it’s a vacation away from the farm,” said Charles. The lagers’ enjoyment of dairy farming is evident with their col lection of Maryland dairy milk bottles. To date they have col lected 700 bottles from the esti mated 900 dairy bottlers known in the state. Besides having their display to sell bottles at the convention, the lagers participated in the “three milk bottle display” this year. The three milk bottle display is open to any collector to exhibit three favorite bottles in their col lections. This year, the lagers submitted three bottles that were printed in red and blue encourag ing Americans to buy war bonds for World War 11. “I thought it was appropriate, with everything we had going on this year with our troops,” said Charles. Many collectors at the conven tion have a specialty area that they enjoy to collect. For Larry Ibach of Lancaster, Lancaster County, it is a love of the local dairy industry that drives his col lection and his mission to find bottles of Lancaster County. A fluid milk production man ager for Turkey Hill Dairies, Larry has been collecting since the early 1970 s and feels it’s a re- Darwin Braund of State College, Centre County won the most educational award for his display about the history on the Penn State Creamery bottles. Larry Ibach, left, is joined by bottle col lector Jerry Gerard of Brattleboto Vt. Larry has been collecting since the 1970 s and enjoys the fun he has every year at the convention. flection of his tie to the dairy in dustry. His hard work has paid off, to date Larry has collected 200 Lancaster County bottles. Jokingly saying he has the milk bottle collecting “bug,” Larry will sell several milk bottles during the convention, but go home with little profit because he will spend most of what he has made on new bottles for his col lection. However, it is a man known as the “Purple Cow” that gets ev eryone’s attention going down the hall. With purple cow sugar cookies to give away to everyone that visits and a giant Holstein Cow outside his door, walking into his room to view his display is a tribute to the history of the dairy industry. With one of the largest milk bottle collections in the United States, he has added on into his collection with milk bottle caps. “Back in the depression, kids still wanted to collect,” said Ralph Riovo of Alburtis, Lehigh County, “so they collected things that did not cost anything. Milk Ralph Riovo of Alburtis, Lehigh County, submitted a trio of bottles for display at the convention, including a rare green milk bottle from the East End Dairy of Harris burg (center). bottle caps (were popular) be cause everyone has to open a bot tle of milk in the morning.” With binders brimming with bottle caps of all shapes and sizes, Ralph noted, like in the de pression, milk bottle caps are a great collectable because unlike milk bottles, one can get started with a few dollars. “They are affordable to start,” said Ralph. “You can buy one for a quarter or several for a dollar.” Convention attendees also were provided with the opportu nity to participate in a milk bottle display competition, showing off their best to be judged. The dis play room was open all day Fri day and the displays were judged among several categories. This year’s winners were for the Most Original Display was Charles Focht of Carlisle, Cum berland County for his Abbot’s Dairy display. For the Most Edu cational was the Penn State Creamery Display, by Darwin Braund of State College, Centre County. The People’s Choice Charles Focht of Carlisle, Cumberland County, was se lected as the winner of the Most Original Display for his Abbott’s Dairy entry. Award went to Dean Shippy of Newark, Delaware for his com prehensive display of College Milk Bottles. Each winner was recognized at the dinner Friday night in the ballroom at the Holiday Inn. To summarize the experience of the milk bottle collectors con vention in Grantville, one exhibi tor said, “it’s great fun and a chance to meet people and to share in the fun of milk bottle collecting.” In the spirit of patrio tism, the lagers entered three World War II bottles as their three favorite bot tles this year.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers