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Rushden Industrial Co-operative Society
Dairy

Dial Farm was purchased in 1910, to provide the milk for the Society. This is a large top bottle with "Co-operative Society" embossed in the glass. The top was covered with a cardboard disc which was pushed down into a groove close to the rim of the bottle.

Later tokens could be bought from the Co-op shops and these were put out on the doorstep daily for the required number of pints of milk to be left. Orange juice was also delivered in "milk bottles".

Cardboard bottle top
A cardboard disc

A Co-op milk bottle
After WWII, milk was provided for schools in one third of a pint bottles, and the cardboard tops had a partially cut centre hole into which the children pushed a straw to drink the milk through. The cardboard discs were collected and often used as a template for making "pom-poms" or bobbles for the tops of knitted woollen hats.

This picture shows the new Co-op Milk Cart prepared for the Agricultural Show and is dated Thursday June 9th 1927 - Whit Week. 1927 milk cart
This picture shows the two milkmen with the Co-op Milk Float in Windmill Road. The Wellingborough Road Store was also the main warehouse.

c1936 Jack Dickens & Mr Warburton.

Note: Janet Warren tells us the lad on the left is her father Jack Dickens, and this was his first employment after leaving school in 1936.

Old Co-op milk float

Plastic milk checks plastic milk tokens
(above) Plastic milk tokens from the 1960s.
The colour was changed regularly, as the price increased.

(left) In the 1970s when the Rushden Co-op was taken into the Northampton Co-op Society, which was later absorbed into the Midlands Co-op Society.

a view from the firs station tower
This photo was taken from the tower at the Firestation in 1975 by Ed Hitcham.
In the foregound left is the Co-op Yard where the milk floats were kept.
One of the last Co-op milk floats in Grove Road passing The White House. milk float
The last Co-op Bread basket.

This was saved when the last electric bread and milk floats were sold off in about 1968.

Northern Dairies took over the milk rounds.

The last bread basket


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