Any C'Hound Baby Boomers?

[lucyis]

I was wishing recently that the Dugan's delivery truck still came around. I'd love to have the driver come up my front walk and hand me a box of Whole Wheat raisin muffins for breakfast. My mother didn't drive and we had all our food delivered by the appropraite service; butcher, fruit and vegetables, fish, etc.
What food service came to your house?

[melly]

I grew up in Montana and Wyoming. We had a dairy guy..he brought milk in glass bottles, cottage cheese, eggs, and butter. We'd leave a little check off list of what we wanted each week. I also remember a produce truck in the summer..it would come down the street the same time every Saturday morning. There was also wild game delivery..everything packaged and stamped from local hunters. The good old days. We had a small business in town that butchered the game and packaged it.

[OCAnn]

Though I'm not a baby boomer, I do recall the tofu cart guy in Yokohama in the 70s. And in the early 90s, HomeGrocer.com. here in OC.

[Potomac Bob]

Had milk delivery until the 80s. My parents worked so milkman came into the house, usually with nobody from family home, looked in the fridge to see what we needed and left it. We had grocer that delivered (ordered by phone from small family grocery store). The iceman cameth into the 50s (the icebox was on the front porch and we, and everybody else, had a little square sign that you turned to indicate whether you wanted 5, 10 or 25 pounds of ice); the produce farmer came once a week and delivered sweet potatoes and other veggies in season, the bread guy came, as did the Fuller Brush Man, the Watkins Man, the Singer Man (sewing machine rep who had threads, needles, etc.), and there were always independents (many of them children of varying ages) selling buckets of wild blackberries, or other wild fruits or field veggies they'd picked to get a little extra cash). We didn't buy tomatoes - if it was a good year neighbors gave them away. This was in Southern Appalachians, and people seeking work often knocked on our door to see if they could do some work in exchange for a meal. Or even to ask if they could take a drink of water from the hand pump in the back yard. It all seemed so normal I didn't think anything about it at the time. Today, memories of the foods are fondly held. There were lots of other things about those times, however, that leave me with no desired to return to those days.

[Catinat]

Ah, yes. The Dugan Man. He always came on Saturday morning, so we would have coffee cake for breakfast before church. Gee, the coffee cake smelled good!

Others who came by were the milk man, the door-to-door peddler, the scissors and knife sharpening man, the vegetable truck man with his brown paper bags and scales, the dry cleaner man, the Good Humor man, the ice man, the Fuller Brush man, the mobile swing; and more.

The ice man was my favorite. He would open the doors to his truck where the ice was covered with black tarp, and the cold air would surge out. He had a huge pair of tongs that he would use to carry the ice up the stairs. When he came back, he would chop a piece of ice off for me, which always had little pieces of gravel embedded in it. I didn't care about the gravel; I just thought the ice really hit the spot on a hot summer day. I wonder what a kid today would say if you offered him a piece of dirty ice to suck on? The icebox had a tray under it to catch the water from the melting ice, and my mother would sometimes forget to empty it. Then you would hear my father carrying on early the next morning when he ventured into the kitchen in his stocking feet and stepped in a rivelet of water.

Also, the butcher in town would have your meat order delivered to the house.

[chazzerking]

grew up in Westchester, had Dellwood dairy milkman 2x week brought milk eggs, butter, sour cream etc. The Cushman's Bakery came 1x week, as did the soda man, although we didn't buy much from him(my mother didn't really believe in kids drinking soda, but that's another story). We also had Charles' chips man and the various ice cream trucks( I can remember the song we used to sing about the Bungalow Bar man, who we felt was definitely inferior to the Good Humor man"bungalow bar, tastes like tar, the more you eat it, the sicker you are." Clever Kids. Had the general plethora of door to door men, but the one that sticks in my mind was the tinker, who came in a little truck with a bell on it and who had a foot powered grinding wheel in the back and who would sharpen knives scissors, hedge clippers, and pretty much anything with a blade. He was an older Medditeranean fellow with an enormous moustache and a cool hat. He probably stopped coming around in about 59 or 60 but made quuite an impression on me. I wish we had some of those delivey men now. It was sure convenient and they all had good products

[woodburner]

you know, there was a bit of war at play between good humor and bungalow bar. in my neck of the bronx, we had the bungalow bar guy, Stevie was his name, come by every day. Well........... one day a good humor guy showed up. then stevie showed up right behind him. there was yelling and screaming. almost fistacuffs, but not quite. the good humor man did not come back. hehehehehehehe.

[dolores]

Same here, chazzerking, although I don't, sadly, recall all those trucks. No doubt because I grew up in a mixed use (although never knew it) area. Had a commercial bakery in my back yard, a live chicken market (ewww and my mother dragged me to it with her) around the corner, as well as a pastry, grocery, and butcher shop. Loved the place back then.

I do recall the Fuller Brush man and the 'cristolene' man -- my mother had shelves FULL of bleach stored in the basement. She was a cleaning fanatic! The one horse drawn cart I do remember was the fruit and vegetable guy -- I remember his sing-song 'water-mel-oon, water-mel-oon'.

Nice memories.

[pikawicca]

Dairy and we had a bakery/donut truck that came by every morning! When we lived in England, the butcher delivered, as did The Strawberry Lady.

[Gio]

We also had a milk man with the glass bottles, bread man, rag man, ice cream truck and during the summer an ice man with large blocks of ice also someone who sold buttons, sewing thread, band-aids....notions from a tray hanging around his neck.

But the delivery truck which was the most anticipated was the elegant S.S. Pierce truck that brought delectables from all over the globe. Painted shiny black with fancy lettering in gold that truck was a wonder to behold. S.S.Pierce. were importers of gourmet foods, wines, choice teas, and foreign fruits... a huge range of speciality foods, which were delivered to our side door twice a month. When I went away to college the S.S. Pierce truck followed me and delivered a box of treats once a month for 5 years.

[Local]

In Pasadena, CA, I remember we had Helms, Good Humor, Adour Farms and Alta Dena Dairy for milk, (and of course, Mr. Barz, our Fuller Brush man! since every else seems to be including them). Jurgensen's and Hines (Heinz? can't remember the spelling) delivered groceries, no charge (my great-grandmother was proud to say she'd never stepped foot in a "supermarket!") Lou at the Village Market (on Lincoln Ave. near Orange Grove, still there, but not quite the same after 40+ years) would have your order ready for pickup, kept chilled in the walk-in.

[PDeveaux]

In Jacksonville, Florida we had those glass milk bottles with the crimped paper tops, Fuller Brush men, Charles Chips, diaper services as late as 1980, and the ice-cream truck! Boy, those days seem so simple now. I miss it.

[smartie]

there are still are milkmen in the UK and I do miss that living in the US. They also deliver OJ, bread, butter, cream, eggs etc.

We used to have the rag and bone man come round on his horse and cart (I am 50) - he would call out 'any old iron', as well as the Jacon fizzy drink man who used to collect the returnable bottles, also the knife sharpener man from time to time.

[janetofreno]

You know, its funny...this thread reminded me of an incident with my son recently. We were helping him move (and were hot and tired from packing and cleaning) when I heard a familiar melody...the Ice Cream Man!! (The Ice Cream Man may now deliver paletas along with the popsicles, but the melody hasn't changed!!). Anyway, I went rushing out to buy us all treats.

My son watched me somewhat bemused....he had never bought anything from the Ice Cream Man before. He told me he had heard that melody before, but never realized it was a signal to run outside for treats.....

He was amazed when I told him that when I was a girl we used to have ice creams almost every day in summer!!

[janeer]

In Cedar Grove, NJ: Dugan's, O'Dowd's Dairy (with a driver called "Ocapock" who gave us kids free chocolate milk sometimes, or ice to suck on), Good Humor, and I think a fruit man. There was a tinker who sharpened knives or scissors right on his truck. I miss them all.
www.littlecomptonmornings.blogspot.com

[MeffaBabe]

Growing up in Medford Massachusetts we had the usual milk deliveries 3-4 times a week.

We also had an old man 3 days a week come around selling fruits and veggies. His name was Bennie and he had this old truck with doors on each side/back and the fruits and veggies were in baskets, boxes and such in the back of the truck. He had a big scale and on the doors on the sides of the truck he would write what he had and the prices per pound.

We didn't have a butcher delivery but there was a small store front around the corner that was attached to a house Van's Market and it had a great butcher shop. If you wanted hambuger they would take the sirlion and grind it right there for you. They had great veal/chicken cutlets AND they also had a snow cone machine that had what seemed like 100 flavorings to add. It was a real grocery store with milk, bread and such. It was great. I remember riding my bike (with the metal baskets over the rear wheel.) for a gallon of milk, loaf of bread and snow cone and would buy it all for 1.50!

[lucyis]

Wow, this is fun! I had forgotten about this thread and I'm so glad to share with other boomers. I have tried to duplicate the flavor and texture of the Dugan's whole wheat raisin muffins, but either I'm missing it with my recipes, or maybe it's a matter of nothing being able compare with the perfection of memory.

[clepro]

We still have lots of ice cream trucks here in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I grew up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania 22 miles from the nearest town of any consequence, so our milk men wore barn boots. But we had regular visits from Avon ladies, Jewel Tea men, Watkins Spice men, and ooo...I can't remember his name or his company, but he came around selling shoes. He had quite the foldout case filled with just the fronts of shoes, leather samples, leather creams and polishes, and wonderful smells. And on a few memorable occasions, a big panel truck came driving up. It was cream colored and covered with red shale dust from our dirt roads. The driver would leap out of his high seat, unlatch the back doors and throw them open to reveal tall stands with metal pullout shelves full of huge glazed donuts. Probably lots of other goods too, but all I remember are those sweet, raised donuts that were nothing like the ones we made in our own deep fryer.

[WendyBinCT]

Neat-o! Another nostalgia thread, like Sixties Food!

When I was growing up on Long Island in the Sixties, our milk was delivered in glass bottles to a metal box on our stoop. Mom bought bread and cupcakes from the Dugan's truck. On summer afternoons, kids clamored for ice cream from the Good Humor man and Mr. Softee. A knife sharpener would drive down our block verrry slowly, clanging his bell, and housewives would hustle out with knives and scissors that needed attention. We had a Fuller Brush man, and an Avon lady… and my dad had wine delivered, four cases at a time. Must have been an arrangement with the local liquor store. One shipment arrived during our first meeting with the parents of my kid sister's fiancé. Their eyes were like saucers! They must have been wondering what sort of family their son was marrying into, LOL!

[WalterT]

Back in the day (in Madison, NJ) we had daily visits from Dugan's (noon) and Good Humor ice cream (3:30pm right after school). We also had a truck M.E. & W.E. Flint, that sold perishables like eggs and baking goods like flour. The Flint's truck showed up 3 days a week right behind the Good Humor truck. Finally we had daily milk delivery early each morning in glass bottles (not homogenized) where we had to shake the bottle to mix the cream at the top with the main milk in the bottom.

[Cheflambo]

Im a boomer who grew up in suburban Chicago. We had milk delivery, and once or twice a week the Omar Man would come by with bread. He had a two-tiered display tray, and it always contained some kind of danish/sweet items that my sisters and I would BEG for (sometimes mom caved it and bought them, but most of the time she stood firm). I too remember the Avon Lady and the Fuller Brush man (those were damn good brushes too!) and of course the Good Humor man. I havent checked lately (I also have Boomer Butt and watch the calories) but for a time you could buy Good Humor products in the freezer sections of supermarkets.

[meatn3]

We had the milk man, Charlie Chips, Ice Cream truck, dry cleaning & diaper services too. Also had a once a year photographer with a pony come through. When milk delivery fell out of favor our area had a drive through mini dairy/convenience store called Farm Stores. Lots of housewives would drive up in the morning in their pj's & rollers to get milk for cereal & a pack of smokes. Last I visited there was still a couple of them open.

[Sharuf]

My father was a milkman for a while. He would get so thirsty shagging those bottles that he would gulp down a quart or more. After a few years of that, he got to the point where he couldn't drink milk anymore!

He had funny stories to tell about some of the weird characters and lascivious females he would encounter on his route.

[Pakkai]

Wake up Boomers this thread is not dead!
In the East Los Angeles area we also had our Milk and OJ being delivered to the house in glass bottles in the early 60's. The fuller brushman. The Helms truck with the jelly donuts and bestest cream puffs in the world. The japanese fishman in a UPS kinda truck would sell fresh fish/produce and other exotic food items. My fav was "fish sticks".

We called the fridge the "ice box". Getting our first television. PF Flyers and Pro-Keds tennies. Swanson's frozen fried chicken (the best). Hot dogs with real casings from the butcher. Whewwwwwww! I'm gonna take a nap now.

[shar0n]

We had a popsicle guy in Columbus, Ohio in the fifties. We called him the yummy man. I've been trying to find a picture on the net, with no luck, of the three wheeled tricycle that had an attached chest with the dry ice cooled treats inside.
It was a bright blue. Does anyone have any links? Thanks, Sharon

[bigjimbray]

Back into the 40`s and early 50`s my family had a ice box not a refrigerator. I remember
when the Ice man would come around and deliver ice for everyone. big square of ice in
25 and 50 lb blocks.

[Gary Soup]

I'm a pre-Boomer myself, and I can still remember the iceman coming to neighbors (we had a Frigidaire). Milk was delivered, of course, and there was the Jewel Tea man.

[lov2trav]

The Mc Arthur Dairy. We jotted off what we needed from their list. Also, Charles Chips. The neighbors had seltzer water and chocolate syrup delivered!

[Candy]

I think the majority of us posting on Chowhound must be boomers.

[lucyis]

Thanks for sharing, hagar. It's great to go back and edit out the stresses we had then and just remember what makes us smile. Yesterday I asked my dad, aged 90, if he recalled the delivery people who came to our house. He was at work when they usually came but he did recall that one year he and Mom went away on vacation and left the front door open. It was discovered and taken care of when the fruit and vegetable delivery guy reported it to a neighbor. That spontaneous 'homeland security' doesn't seem to exist anymore.

[Fanciesmom]

This brings back so many memories - the milk man, I recall a bread truck - my Dad would pick out the bread. There was the Spudnuts guy who delivered these wonderful doughnuts made with potato flour.

Not too long ago, (geeze was it really 30(!) years ago????), we had the Jewel Tea guy who delivered spices, seasonings, etc. We still have the Schwans truck that comes around - it was great while I was going through radiation - I think there might have been nights when dinner wouldn't have happened if there wasn't Schwans in the freezer!

Our local grocery store will deliver - you call in your order and hope that the kid who picks out your groceries is as picky as you are! It works when you can't get to town.

[hagar4316]

I must be the grandpa on this thread.
I remember the knife and scissor sharpening guy coming around with his grindstone mmounted on a wheelbarrow; the fish and fresh shrimp seller with a push cart calling out as he went down the street; milk delivery in glass bottles which would freeze in the winter and push the paper lids off; the bread-man from McGavins Bakery who wouldn't deliver anymore because our dog chased him; the Fuller Brush man: the Watkins guy: the east Indian man who delivered fire wood in a decrepid old truck for our wood furnace ad wood stove; the chinese grocery fellow with his small van who came every Tuesday when we moved to the country.
Thanks for letting me remember these people who I haven't thought about for years.

[thenurse]

I live in Toronto and still have Mr. Softee Ice Cream daily in the summer, and the knife/scissor/lawnmower blade sharpening guy weekly in the spring/summer/fall.

[personalcheffie]

The Helms Bakery truck. Every day. Chick was the driver. You could get donuts, bread, oh my!

[whomever1]

You had this cardboard blue "H" you put in your window if you wanted the Helm's truck to stop at your house.
Another service I was learned has become almost non-existant--you can only get diaper service in a few (mostly ritzy) areas of Los Angeles. In fact, it's almost impossible to buy cloth diapers at all.

[personalcheffie]

I see you are from the L.A. area. I grew up in the Valley, and I don't recall the cardboard "H", because we always heard the horn and would run out to greet him. Our driver reminded me of Soupy Sales.

[karins]

Chow Chow Cup...a truck selling chinese food.

[lucyis]

Omigosh,karins! You just reminded me of them. The ChowChow truck stood outside the Queens College gates when I went there in the (gulp)1960's. I think the cup was made of fried noodle like a taco shell is used in a taco salad. I never actually ate one, but I did frequent the Mr. Softee truck out there.

[mrsbbrenpro]

What memories!!! I grew up in northern New Jersey and looked forward to the Dugan's delivery each week. I specifically remember their cupcakes. They had chocolate frosting you could peel off and eat in one piece. We also had Charles Chips, a milkman and someone coming around with hot bagels on Sunday morning. What I would give to have all of that again! I miss those days.

[CindyJ]

I remember those cupcakes! In fact, when I think of Dugan's, it's those cupcakes I think of first. That "slab" of chocolate over yellow cake. And I remember Charles Chips from when I lived in North Jersey. Those big tins -- funny, my mom RARELY had snack foods like chips or pretzels in the house (I grew up thinking that slices of green pepper were the BEST snacks of all); yet, for a short while she had Charles Chips delivered. Go figure!

[luv2bake]

I still have a Charles Chips tin from the 80s when they were still delivering some places in Louisiana.

The convenience of Internet shopping reminds me of the days of home delivery. You can get almost anything delivered to your door. It's not as good as the old delivery services, but it's closer than what we had for a couple decades.

[morwen]

I still have a Charlies Chip tin too, from central PA. Now it holds huge loads of cookies during the holidays!

[pikawicca]

In England during the 60's, we had a woman come around with a tricycle-like cart selling huge, super-sweet strawberries.

[The Engineer]

I can't believe I forgot this. Until they closed around 1990 or so, Sheerhan's (like a deli, a 7-11, and a liquor store combined) in Jersey City NJ delivered. Many elderly people (and others) relied on this service; milk, water, laundry detergent etc are heavy, and when you don't have a car...

I should remeber this because I worked there doing deliveries!

[Ed Dibble]

Not only did we have milk delivery in the small Oregon town of 25,000 in which I grew up back in the 50s (Medford), but the best local grocery "Quality Market" delivered. I have all sorts of memories of my mom talking with them -- "I want the roast around 4 pounds, but not a lot of fat" or whatever. A couple of hours later all the groceries arrived. It was more expensive, I'm sure, than shopping at other stores, but I don't think there was a delivery charge. Also, of course, we had an account at the grocery, so money wouldn't change hands at delivery.

ed

[RIChowderhead]

Small town? The capital city of Vermont (Montpelier) has about 5,000.

Sorry. I just thought it was comical.

[laylag]

When I was very little in Canarsie (a section of Brooklyn) we had lots of drive up services including mini mobile amusement park rides for kids. Foodwise, aside from the milkman, the seltzer man was a staple in the neighborhood.

[CindyJ]

Those little amusement rides must have gone from Canarsie to Flatbush, because I remember them, too -- the Whip, the Swing, the merry-go-round... I think they cost about 10 cents a ride.

[coll]

We had them on Long Island too.

[Missyme]

Another Canarsiean! It's nice to know that Canarsie produced an abundance of people with good taste. So, what street did you grow up on?

[laylag]

Missyme, with all that's going on with the board lately I didn't have this thread on my post list so didn't see any reply. In any event, if you see this, I was on E. 84th Street, #1369. I've been just recently advised by Rafi (during a discussion on the tristate board) that this means I lived between M and N. We moved when I was seven so my Canarsie geography is minimal although in the past few years I've met and become good friends with several people who grew up in Canarsie and stayed through high school . I went to PS 115 for kindergarten and first grade.

You?

[Elizzie]

Fairfield County, mid 1950s-about 1962:
We had the milkman (Charlie!) and one of the best things about winter was when the cream at the top of the milk froze onto that little cardboard/paper top--my brother and I would dip it in a bowl of maple syrup and eat it like a popsicle.
The egg lady came twice a week--unless we stopped by her house to pick up a dozen fresh-laid eggs to go with the bacon and ham from my grandfather's smokehouse (not in CT--out on Shelter Island).
The soda man would drop off a mixed flat of Cokes, ginger ale and tonic water once a week.
My mom frequently called Gristede's and had them deliver the entire week' worth of groceries...seems unbelievable to me now.
The vegetable man made his rounds, but he didn't stop at every house--he'd drive up the street ringing his bell, then park at the end of the road and all the moms (and most of us kids) would walk up to see what he had. He also sharpened knives and scissors.
It's kind of a wonder my mother left the house at all.

[The Engineer]

Can anyone give a quick explanation why it was once economically feasible for dairy companies to deliver but no longer is?

What would be the perfect conditions in which to operate a milk/bread/produce delivery business? My instinct is that it might work in exurban NJ... high density housing, proximity to dairy farms.

Sorry if this is too far off topic.

[coll]

There are places that still do, it's just extremely expensive. Most people would rather get a deal at their local supermarket.
Here's one that's by me http://www.limilkman.com/

[The Engineer]

thanks, coll. I'll need a third career in a decade or so, maybe dairy farmer?

[RShea78]

I doubt anyone in their right mind today would want to be a dairy farmer. Milk cows 2-3 times a day is a 24/7 job. Naps are optional.

[The Engineer]

and yet there's plenty of milk around...

[coll]

I hear goats are the new thing.

[The Engineer]

naaaaaaaaah

[bryan]

Surely you kid.

[RShea78]

Most stores didn't have the refrigeration space needed to maintain a fresh and properly rotated stock. So the stores stocked whatever it could and the dairy companies somewhat was their extension.

On the economic end, spoilage would kill the dairy industry quicker than anything else. Their survival mostly was, and still is, in turning out the product.

Deliivery? Let me stick out my big toe and see if a hammer is out there.

FYI dairy products kind of have the delivery costs built into it. Careful in this thought process.

To the store or to you?

Both! Actually, it is feasable to deliver milk products, as long as there is enough takers. So this is where todays problems are, having enough takers. Stores do not mind it at all.

Product out to sell = Money

-----

[pikawicca]

It's only really feasible to deliver dairy products if someone is home to get them out of their little box fairly soon. Even though the old dairy boxes were insulated, they could not keep milk or eggs at a safe temperature all day long in the warmer months or unfrozen in winter. Most houses these days have no one home until evening.

[RShea78]

I was discussing that it is still feasible to deliver dairy goods to the home.

Feasibility in my context dealt more with being profitable for the dairy company, nothing else.

However, you do bring up a valid point that perhaps it is unsafe to leave behind perishables. That would mean you would not be able to benefit from the home delivery program if was in place. It's not their problem in that case, so check your local store.

-----

[coll]

I don't remember milk boxes being insulated, they were just plain metal. The milkman came before dawn so it was there when you woke up, if you weren't going to be there you told them in advance.

[RShea78]

Ones I recall, coll, had a thin perhaps a painted wood liner to them.

I know the one dairy outfit did as you said. very early deliveries. We had a second one that also supplied a small store in our little town. Most of his routes were for those after 9 am or so.

My aunt always had the drivers home phone number and was on the phone at anytime there was something to report.

-----

[HillJ]

..and in those glory days MOM was home :)

[luv2bake]

A few of us still are. ;-)

[HillJ]

ah..but luv...do you get home deliveries?

[luv2bake]

Actually, I did get Schwanns deliveries for a while! Then they built Sam's, and I got a membership, and they had mostly the same stuff for less money.

A repeat of the end of the home delivery guys. :(

[HillJ]

Same here, I was getting dairy delivery (milk, butter, eggs, cream) in NJ about 15 years ago but then Price Club/Costco came to town...changed my habits about monthly shopping.

I miss the delivery guys of our youth as much as I miss the friendly grocer who brought in fresh produce. Farmers markets work but always crowded.

[cayjohan]

Many customers take advantage of home delivered groceries (in the Mpls/StP market it's "Simon Delivers"), and there are a lot of perishables in these orders. No different than dairy deliveries, from a must-get-them-into-the-fridge standpoint.

My inlaws often had these deliveries while they were at work. I think the delivery company used dry ice in the totes containing the orders.

Couldn't we do this with milk/other dairy products?

[Sam Fujisaka]

In real rather than nominal terms, delivered milk cost a lot more back then.

[whomever1]

I think that part of the deal is that not everyone had cars back then--or these outfits lasted until well into the time when everyone did have transportation. Possibly that's why ice cream trucks are still around--kids can't drive to the store. After gas prices go over $5.00 per gallon, we'll see more of these people.

[katiepie]

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's memories... it's sad what's happened to our country... everyone is so disconnected now.

I'm 34 and grew up in a small town. I remember being very young and having a milkman come to our house. The milkman and the mailman... bringing some excitement into my everyday small town life, lol.

[coll]

I still get excited when the mailman comes, don't know why since all he brings is bills! Waiting for that surprise million dollar inheritance to show up I guess.

[HillJ]

Mountainside NJ early 60's we purchased milk, eggs, cream and butter on a weekly basis. We also bought our first freezer from an appliance salesmen where they fill your 500.00 freezer with meat. Anyone else?

Bread man came weekly (and oddly included pound cake)
Burry's cookie man arrived once a month

Vague memory of a fish monger and an ice man but we didn't order from them, although neighbors must have.

Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

[coll]

This thread makes me happy and sad at the same time.
I grew up in Levittown NY in the 60s, we had Dugan for coffee cake mainly, milkman for milk and cream (until Dairy Barn opened) and I remember the little order form you put in the night before; the metal box was a great seat when sitting on the stoop. Bungalow Bar and Good Humor (I have a recent picture of a restored Dugans truck and Bungalow Bar truck as both frequent the historic car shows around here, I'll see if I can figure out how to post), we also had a ride that blasted early rock music (probably Beatles and Stones) that we thought was so cool and a pony ride with a big and little pony, I remember the old Italian lady on my block running out each time with a shovel to grab the manure for her garden!!! My father was an ice man while he was a teenager, still had the metal tongs, had to go up many, many stairs in the Bronx. My husband still talks about the coal delivery in Brooklyn too, all the coal dust all over everything.

[coll]

Just testing the attach photo thing.....

[coll]

Cool, I can get into this!

[coll]

OK here's my other picture:

[mepolo]

We had the Charlaps milk man over here near Buffalo, NY. He would deliver our milk once a week, and we always hoped mom was at work when he delivered because my sibs and I would talk him into leaving a half gallon of ice cream that mom wouldn't know about til she got the bill! It was always gone by the time she got home from work.

[Deenso]

I grew up in the 50s near Pittsburgh, PA. We had regular back-door deliveries of bottled milk (the kind with the cream on top. I would race to be the first one to pour the milk over my cereal. It made me crazy when someone else in the family got to the bottle first and shook it vigorously to blend the cream in), eggs, white bread and English muffins, seltzer, soft drinks by the case, and enormous tins of potato chips, pretzels and chocolate chip cookies from Charles' Chips.

I loved it when I was lucky enough to answer the door for the bread man, because he always had a big selection of individually-wrapped lunch-box size cakes and pies.

[melly]

Dairy products. I loved the sound of the milk being placed on the porch...the clinking sound the bottles made. It meant I had an hour to get to school. I especially loved it the day the fresh cottage cheese came. [wyoming..had a dairy farm near our little town]

Yes..the fuller brush man, the avon lady, and the kirby vacuum guy. We also had local farmers who would pull up, randomly, in their pickup trucks loaded with produce. My favorite!

[macca]

We had the milkman and of course, the ice cream truck. There was also an ice man- and a rag man (though I have NO idea what that was all about). When I was really small, I remember the coal man delivering the coal, and my dad having to shovel it into the furnace. My brothers and I loved to play in the coal bin. Wow, things are sure different.

[bryan]

Wow, the coal truck. I remember my Mother forgetting to close the vents or something once when there was a coal delivery. My God, the house was a mess for weeks. I remember her just crying and crying.

We had milk delivered up until the 80s. Once, in deep winter, my Dad was getting the milk (dressed in his usual undershirt and cotton boxers) and I shut and locked the door on him. I was about four. The more he pounded on the door, the more scared I got. I remember him saying, "Barbara!! Open the door and let me in." My reply? "Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin." Couldn't sit down for a couple days after that.

[luv2bake]

ROFL

[ChinoWayne]

In L.A. the Helms Bakery man would pull up in his truck and you would hear the unique sound of this whistle he would blow, then he would open up the back of his delivery truck and all these wonderful smells would waft out.

The milkman of course.

[OldieButGoodie]

I remember they had the best cream puffs ever.

[CindyJ]

In Brooklyn in the 50's, the milkman came every day; Sid, the egg man came a couple of times a week; the seltzer man came weekly, and the Dugans truck also came often. Hmmmm... so my Mom had a steady stream of men coming and going -- never quite thought about THAT before. :)

Of course there were the ice cream trucks in the summer -- Good Humor, Bungalow Bar and Mr. Softee are the three that come to mind.

There was also a guy with a pushcart selling fruit and vegetables. I could hear him calling out as he walked down the street -- "Get your fresh peaches here... I got watermelon today... Red, ripe tomatahs here ..."

And, on the non-food side, there was the Fuller Brush man, the knife and scissors sharpening cart, and the "water truck" -- a Department of Sanitation truck that would come through the streets in the summer, spraying the "gutters" with water and sending all of the debris up onto the sidewalks.

[Yongeman]

We had an eggman in Toronto until about 15 years ago! The original one got too old to drive, and his nephew did it for a bit, but it was a tough go.

[coll]

One thing we never had was an egg man, all I can think of is Pink Flamingos!

[Dee S]

Fuller Brush! My mom was a Fuller Brush lady when I was a tot (way back when dinosaurs ruled the planet) and I was dragged along with her. She still had some of those supplies and swore by their mops. Found some cleaning stuff after she passed. I'm sure there are replacement mop heads stashes somewhere!

[Scagnetti]

Re: Brooklyn. We had a guy who used to come around in a brightly colored hand cart selling candied apples and I think he also sold popcorn.

[RShea78]

Holland Dairy (Mostly treats and ice-cream. We already had cows for milk)
Fuller Brush
Marion-Kay (seasonings)
Wisconsin Cheese.
Icelandic Fish & Seafood (Independent)

Schwans was very late in getting established here. I was thinking around 1978

-----

[cayjohan]

RShea78, I would give my eyeteeth for a Fuller Brush man. Or a Watkins salesman. If only for the nostalgia.

Still, in this day and age we don't open our doors, as our parents did, for door-to-door sales reps. Do we really want that model back?

[RShea78]

Well, granny said something about missing a special brush (Handi Brush) by thinking Fuller Brush was out of buisness. Oh, they changed a bit, but good portion of their brush line is still available.

http://www.fullerprods.com

>> Do we really want that model back? <<

What happened to the salesman is something. Their approach changed, and I mean really changed. Under the old ways if nothing was needed this month, it was customary to drop in the following month. Todays Reps plan on a full fledge debate, arguing every step of the way.

The world is getting a bit hostile with the pushy sales approach. I recalled the one fast food order speel that went something like; "do you want fries, with that order?" was counter attacked as- "no, if I wanted friggin fries with that order, I would have ordered them!". Way to much unnecessary chatter with the ordering process, messes up the order.

--- Scenero 2

Customer- A) I want for 2 orders of the 2 for $3 of the Double Cheese burgers on special and __nothing else__!

R) Want fries with that?
A) NO!

R) Want to try our new...
A) NO!

R) How about...
A) NO- Cancel order- you have a listening problem. BYE!

Good grief! The pushy home salesman started all this.

_____

[cayjohan]

I absolutely miss the humble, pleasant door-to-door salesman. That pleasant quality is what we B-boomers miss, I think.

[momjamin]

I always heard my dad and his siblings speak proudly of my grandmother, who once sold a refrigerator to a farmer who didn't have electricity...

[MakingSense]

In uptown New Orleans, in the 50s, we had:
-the milkman who delivered the milk with the crimped paper caps and other dairy products and bread.
-the Coca-Cola man who delivered the cases of 6 1/2 oz green bottles to the back porch.
-the ice man who delivered the ice for the "air-conditioning" in the church and to some houses.
-Aaron, the snowball man, who came in his truck every summer afternoon. We waited on the front porch with glasses and spoons and he made our snowballs right in the glasses.
-the seafood man who came on Friday. Now there are still some who set up in several places in New Orleans to sell fresh shrimp and fish by the side of the road.
-the produce man who came twice each week. There are still trucks that set up in the same place by the side of some streets even after Katrina.
-the Roman Candy Man with his white mule drawn cart. He made a taffy-like candy in the cart and sold it along the streets. He still does.
-the popsicle man. Like an ice cream man but it was too hot to eat ice cream in the summer.

[luv2bake]

LOVE the Roman Candy Man. My kids would drag me to the cart every time we went to Audubon Zoo. :) Time to go back!

We have a great fresh shrimp roadside guy here, too. Never think that they probably don't have those just everywhere!

[cayjohan]

Ooooooh...popsicles and ice cream. Until our neighborhood got "sick of the bell and the nuisance" we had the marvelous luck of the ice cream guy at the end of our alley. Only 8 or so years ago, so I don't know if it qualifies. I do miss it. As do the kids.
But I still miss the fresh eggs on the doorstep, in my childhood, and fresh cream in a can - will those days come again?

[jfood]

Did anyone have seltzer delivered.

I remember (mid 1960's Staten Island) my uncle used to have a wood case of twelve bottles in a bluish tinted bottle. Then one year he bought a home maker where you bought these little cannisters of gas, added some water to a thermos, screwed in the cap, gas into water and voila, seltzer.

[lucyis]

Yes,we had the soda/seltzer delivery. Thanks for reminding me. I think it was Cott's, Dr. Brown's or Hoffman's soda, and the seltzer was in those really powered up siphons that would explode the bubbly water into your glass. We kept U-Bet syrup and Coffee Time in the cupboard to mix with the seltzer.

If we were surprised by a cold snap overnight there was a mess on the back porch of burst glass and soda volcanoes.

[CindyJ]

Sure! In B'klyn in the 50's, the seltzer man (who also delivered soda) made deliveries weekly.

And like The Engineer, I also remember the knife man, who also repaired umbrellas. I laugh now to even think of having an umbrella repaired.

[RShea78]

From what my dad tells me that seltzer was delivered more or less as double to a fire extinguisher. In other words it was ok for an upset stomach. but not for an every day thing. Then it doubled in case of a kitchen fire to put it out.

Now you lost me with the Thermos. The ones I am familiar with have replaceable glass vessel in them. Heck a watered down or nearly flat coke would blow them. They were more designed for hot beverages because when capped tight a slight vacuum was created. That in turn helped hold in the heat for hours.

-----

[CindyJ]

In our house, seltzer was an everyday thing -- good by itself and awesome (and necessary) in egg creams! In fact, there was an ice cream parlor in Brooklyn called Jahn's that had seltzer on the menu -- called it "two cents plain."

[RShea78]

Hi, Cindy.

That is probably the cultural difference between the city folk and the country folk for the given times.

Dad said there was a concoction that was mixed with seltzer that tasted somewhat like a cross between a tea and root beer. It was the only thing they saw fit to use it for. Dad and Granny forgot the name, and my suspicions of sarsaparilla doesn't click. The mention of Coke as in cola, was perceived as the drug, in the syrup form. Rather unwelcome in the household.
-----

[CindyJ]

...or maybe we have different definitions of "seltzer." The product I'm talking about is carbonated water. Period. No flavors, no minerals, no additives. Similar to club soda. In my house, its most frequent use was as a drink in place of water, but we also used it to make egg creams, a very popular drink in Brooklyn (milk, chocolate syrup, seltzer -- no eggs).

Seltzer was delivered in pressurized glass bottles that had a metal cap with a squirt gizmo attached. Something in the cap gave the seltzer its carbonation (sorry for the un-technical explanation).

I get the feeling that what you're referring to is more along the lines of Alka-Seltzer, used for indigestion. Sarsparilla (in my house, anyway) was a carbonated beverage very similar to root beer.

[woodburner]

Yes, CindyJ, I was in the Bronx and we had the seltzer guy. HUGE man with GIGANTIC muscles who used to carry up (on his shoulders) a heavy, crazy, wooden case, with probably about 8 or 10 thick glass bottles of seltzer, full... I was 6 or 8 yrs old, so I don't know what those dang things weighed, but I can tell you it was major. In the spritzer-cap there was a co2 pod. When we finished them off, he would come take the empties and leave full ones. They would replace the co2 and water... and that was the business.

[PaulF]

We had a soda guy in Brooklyn when I was growing up. We moved in '74 to Cali -- do they still have soda guys in Brooklyn?

[luv2bake]

There was a soda/seltzer guy in NY who was selling bottles on eBay after 9/11. I bought a couple. His stories he put in with his auctions were great. He told me to call him when I got up that way. He had said that the seltzer in bottles was totally different than the delivered seltzer and that I really needed to try it.

Unfortunately, I still haven't. Last time I was headed up that way, I emailed him before I went. He said it was a horribly hectic week for him, and he wouldn't be able to meet up with me. I'm going to be back this spring. Maybe I'll luck out this time!

So the short answer to the question would have been, yes, there are still soda guys in Brooklyn!

[The Engineer]

I don't know about soda guys in brooklyn, I know there was a soda guy in NJ as recently as the mid 80's.

One very cool Brooklyn truck- not exactly a delivery service- is the knife sharpening guy. He drives slowly through the brownstoney neighbs ringing his bells. People come running with their scissors and knives. (Yeah, you really should walk.) :)

[manomin]

Yup, we had a knife guy too in Naperville, IL. He would walk around though with this
red metal thing attached to him like a front backpack and he only came twice a year.
People would like you say, run out to catch him although by him walking it was pretty
easy to get him! We also had Oberweis Dairy milk delivery in glass bottles and it was
left in an insulated metal box left next to the porch door. Once I caught a chipmunk with
my bare hands and put it in there briefly to show my mom our new pet and she immediately released him back to the wilds - which at that time our neighborhood was
almost no houses at all. Sadly it is now all giant ridiculously huge homes with my
mom being one of the last 3 holdouts in her house built in 1960.

[optimal forager]

He used to come through our neighborhood in Glen Ellyn, too. Joe, I think. I've been told now he's at the Naperville Farmer's Market, $5/knife. Must be getting up there.

We had Oberweis delivery, too, into the '80s. I don't know why my mom stopped it (I'm not a boomer). $$$ probably.

[wally]

I had Oberweis milk delivered to me in glass bottles in the 80's and 90's. It was left in the insulated box. I lived in Wheaton at the time.

[luv2bake]

I found my info on the eBay guy who still delivers seltzer. His name is Walter Backerman, and if you want to read some seltzer nostalgia, visit his "me" page on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....

[Glencora]

I'm not quite a boomer, but I remembering having milk and other dairy products delivered to us until maybe '71 or '72. We'd put out a plastic "fan" with the products we wanted sticking out and he'd leave butter or yogurt or whatever. I can't quite remember. The poor guy must have had to make two trips. One to see what we wanted and another to get the stuff. AND we lived at the top of four flights of stairs.

[luv2bake]

You're about where I was (early 70s) in remembering my milk delivery, but I don't remember anything but milk. I'll have to ask my mom. I mostly remember the little door they put it in. I have always had a thing for little storage, doors, etc., in odd places. Maybe it started with my "milk port."

[Midlife]

I'm old enough to remember milk delivery and Good Humor (both in NY), and the Helms trucks (in LA...... and not really that long ago.) The Helms Culver City location was (maybe still is) an antique market place for quite a while too. Seems to be mostly restaurants now, though I don't get by often enough to know.

[bklynite]

I remember the Helmsman (as my cousin always referred to him) delivering baked goods from the Helms Bakery in L.A. which later became the Jazz Bakery nightclub. We used to get amazing doughnuts from that truck. Mmmmmm, doughnuts!

[Gary Soup]

Did you hum "Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman" when he came?

http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/m...

[mothrpoet]

Growing up in Santa Monica in late 50's--early 60's, we also had the Helms bread truck. Great donuts, and they handed out recipes, with groovy pictures a la June Cleaver, of a mother bent over her oven, sniffing a wonderful casserole!

[luv2bake]

I'm on the tailend of the boomers. In fact, my mom is a year too early for boomers but is way more a boomer than I am. But anyhow, I do still have some memories of those long-gone treasures thanks to some "backward" (someone else's description, not mine!) places I lived and/or visited.

We had a milk delivery port (what was it called? Door? Box?) at one house. Even as a very little kid, I remember thinking it was kind of cool to get my milk delivered right to my garage.

We also had an ice cream truck. My mom would get frustrated at my typical disgusting choice of a screwball (sherbet in an upside-down cone-shaped plastic container with a gumball at the bottom) when I could get some delicious kind of ice cream. (She had the same problem with me when we'd go to Baskin-Robbins, and of all the flavors to choose from, I'd always pick vanilla.) We have been fortunate to be several places where there are still ice cream trucks so my kids could experience the thrill.

Just about 3 years ago, in the small town where we live, we had a horse-drawn vegetable truck go around our neighborhood once or twice a week from about June - September, I guess. That evolved into a local farmers market, though, so we don't have the vegetable cart anymore. :(

About 20 years ago, my grandmother decided to ease back on her cooking a little, and I was introduced to the phenomenon of Schwann's. A few years after that, we had one in our neighborhood. Until we got a Sam's about an hour from us, I got some good ice cream and "emergency" frozen meals delivered to my door. He still delivers somewhere around here because I see his truck.

[RIChowderhead]

Sherbet! We had an bar available from the local ice cream men for a few years that was called a "Brownie Bar" (early 60's). It was a dark chocolate coating over lemon or orange sherbet (maybe either). I just remember how good they were.

[Pumpkinseed]

When I was a kid we had milk delivered in glass bottles with crimped paper lids. Each week the milkmen delivered the milk onto the side porch; the empties would be left there to be picked up. When it was cold, the cream would rise in a frozen cylinder from the top of the bottle, with the paper cap still perched on top.

There was also "Dave the Bread Man," who delivered bread and cake. One time Dave arrived while we were eating breakfast and I told him it was my little sister's birthday. Dave went back out to the truck and brought her a little cherry pie.

It makes me sad to realize that I am talking about a vaished era....I don't feel that old but I guess having these memories means I am.

[Sam Fujisaka]

In the 1950s and early 60s in Fresno, California, the fish man would come once a week. Central Fish was a Japanese market that catered to Japanese Americans. We got fish, seafood, sashimi, nori, shoyu (which the hakujins than called "bug juice"), and tomoe ame candy for the kids (the one wrapped in edible clear rice paper).

[Gin and It]

My mother says there was a beer delivery man that came to the house once a week. He delivered a case of Black Label, in quarts, and took the empties. This was in Schenectady, NY in the '60's.

[RIChowderhead]

Cushman's bakery truck (we still rib our Mom about "Baker")

A number of different milk delivery trucks were available. Remember the paper coins in the waxed/folded paper caps on the milk bottles? A picture of my Dad as college football hero was on one of them during the early 50's.

Don't remember any other food deliveries besides the ice cream trucks.

[sandramrma]

Cushmans-black and white truck? Fuller brush salesman.

[RIChowderhead]

Sorry sandramrma, I meant to reply to you, not to myself.

So, apparently you were there. I didn't remember Cushman's black & white trucks, but we also had the Fuller Brush Man.

[RIChowderhead]

OMG, you were there?

[baileyrcjr]

Was surfing...Looking for a model truck (Cushman's Bakery Circ 50-60) saw your comments..thought I would add mine. I worked at Cuchman's Bakery, Portland, Maine late 50's to 61, both production and delivery...Great place until they sold out and a sorry union outfit moved in witrh the wrong ideals...Best products in New England....remanents of the bakery remain in Portland...go to Tony's Donuts...hand cut and delicious. Bob

[nancybur]

Does anyone remember a delivery employee named Jack Peoples? He was a good guy and we couldnt wait for him to deliver!

[Candy]

As a kid in Savannah, mid-50's the Starland Dairy still used horse drawn milk carts. The drivers would often let us ride a block or two. Of course the milk was in glass bottles.

Another childhood memory was living in Japan and every night hearing the Soba man calling out his noodles for sale. It was usually my bed time then and it was what I fell asleep to each night.

[Chris Rising]

Charlie Chips still delivered potato chips in New Jersey into the 70's.

[Texchef]

I'm from Shreveport, LA and I remember Charlie Chips too!

[scubadoo97]

I do remember getting milk delivered. Charles Chips was a regular at our house

[jfood]

1960's NJ:

- Good Humor - every night while we sat on the stoop. Oh how I miss the bittersweet chocolate sundae and for an extra 5-cents you could buy the pop with the chocalte bar in the center
- Vegetable truck - every saturday a truck came up and the back was converted into a single aisle vegetable truck. You could buy fruits, veggies, all in a paper bag, weighed on a scale that hung for the ceiling
- Milk - Can still get milk delivery in CT, but milk was delivered to our house in glass bottles. Butter as well.

That's about it

[KellBell]

We got milk delivery in Great Bridge, VA in the mid 80s. I remeber we had a metal box on the front step and it came in glass bottles and everything.

[Val]

Yep, I lived in Hackensack til I was 10, then moved to Jersey Shore area...we also had milk delivery in Hackensack (I don't remember the name of the dairy but I do remember my younger brother trying to carry a 1/2 gallon bottle in when he was like 4 or 5 and he dropped it of course, broken glass & milk all over the place...where the heck was an adult??? Not sure how the 5 of us survived but anyway...) ...I remember Dugan's, too. Oh, wait...Mr. Softee Ice cream truck also came around.

[atlantanative]

Not my house, but when I would visit my grandmother - the summer afternoons when the Schwans truck would deliver always meant ice cream treats - loved to hear that truck come up the gravel road!