Big question, small answer. Quite often.
The other day I was supposed to be at a doctor's appointment. I was, instead, in an antique store nearby. The Centralia antique article I recently wrote drew such interest, I had antiques on my brain. I remembered my doctor's appointment two hours later. Must have been a pre-senior moment, right? (They forgave me and rescheduled.)
Anyway, I was in the store full of antiques when a rather unassuming pint milk bottle with Yakima City Creamery and a phone number printed in dark green on the side caught my fancy. The phone number was letters and numbers, so I knew it had to be from the sixties or before - it certainly was no antique yet. (If my memory serves me, the phone company went to all numbers shortly after.)
Since the bottle was not in a clearly visible area, I guess it called out to me and I decided I had to have it, though I noted it needed some cleaning.
I picked it up and remembered about being small and visiting my grandparents in Yakima in the 1950's. I also, for some reason, remembered being outside the fence of my grandparent's front yard. My grandmother hurriedly brought me inside the fence and I heard her tell my grandfather, "Mad dog!", the term in those days for a rabid dog. Nothing to do with the milk bottle, but I knew I was safe in my grandmother's arms in Yakima.
One of life's other moments, no doubt.
After wandering in my mind for a while I bought the milk bottle, then I returned home and spent some time surfing the internet to see if I could find some history. No luck. So my next stop a few days later was the Washington State Library in Olympia to do more research.
I discovered the dairy started in 1901 on the main street of what is now Union Gap, Washington. In 1905 they made their first ice cream, Charmichael Ice Cream.
Emil Erickson sold his 1915 Yakima dairy to Yakima City Creamery in 1927 after he achieved the distinction of the first dealer in the area to sell Eskimo Pies! He sold 100 of them to the Central Lutheran Church folks there as they took a long time to decide which synod to join at an evening meeting.
 |
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Jerri Brooker's Washington State topic, please visit the Discussions page.