Industrial Heritage Nova Scotia

                 IHNS NEWS:

Dear Members and Friends,

Our April meeting and talk will be held on Monday April 1, at the Maritime Museum. Our talk for the evening, is “The Milk Can Age”, presented by Bob Taylor.

Even a casual study of history reveals two truths. One is that we never learn anything from the study of history, and two is that if you hang on to that sweater long enough it will come back into fashion. Urbanization and the growth of towns and cities removed people from the direct access to food enjoyed by rural folk. Speciality shops sprang up to provide the meats and vegetable produced on the farm, but more time-sensitive  foods such as milk required delivery on a daily basis. And so the milkman became an early morning feature of the neighbourhood.

And what, might you ask, has this to do with industrial heritage? As it happens, quite a lot. Milk was transported from the farm in metal ‘churns’ that were factory produced, while milk ‘cans’ ,for domestic  and retail use, were made by such craftsmen as Watson Smith in his Shubenacadie shop. What should also not be forgotten is the role that the railways played in the timely delivery of fresh milk to the  dairies and creameries that produced the final product. And the ‘sweater syndrome’?  The latest innovation is the delivery of foodstuffs to your door, but this time by Fed Ex rather than horse and cart….

Bob Taylor wrote his recent book  “The Milk Can Age” as a dedication to his father, who spend 30 years hauling bulk milk into Halifax. This family connection developed his interest in the history of Halifax and Dartmouth dairies and the role that road transportation played in their development. With his personal connection to the subject, and lots of local content, this promises to be an interesting evening.

David Rollinson

Chair

Industrial Heritage Nova Scotia

droll@eastlink.ca

Want to suggest a subject for a public talk? Want to ask us a question?  Please contact our Chair or our Secretary to add your input.