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The Village Cow: Life at Home in Hanover before Big Dairy Productions
Researched and written by Emily Hauser, Exhibit and Collections Intern, Hanover Historical Society, 2014
Dairy farming in America has a long history that dates back to the early
1600s when people brought cattle overseas from Europe. However, it wasn’t until
the 1800s that farmers began to breed cattle specifically for milk production. While
dairy farming started out as small operations in the home, it slowly grew into the
booming milk and dairy industry that we know today. Around the turn of the
century it became necessary to mass-‐produce milk due to increased
industrialization and the influx of people moving away from the country and into
urban settings2.
Mehring Milking Machine An early milking machine in Maryland, 1908 USDA Bureau of Dairy Industry Records. Special Collections, National Agricultural Library
"New Milking Machine." Popular Mechanics Aug. 1907: 868. Google Books. Web.
Although the mass production of milk began in the early 1900s, the shift from
small dairy farms to large dairy productions took many years. Some of our very own
residents of Hanover grew up in town from the 1930s to the 1950s. They recall
Hanover at this time to be quite rural. It is remembered as a time when children
were brought up on raw milk from the neighbor’s cattle and would run and play in
the open pastures that once made up the town of Hanover. “It was the happiest time
of our lives,” said Hanover resident Beverly Hayes “We never wondered what to do
or where to go, we never said ‘I’m bored.’”
Between the 1930s and the 1950s, the village of North Hanover was known
for its dairy farms. The three largest farms in the area were John Brooks’ Farm,
Charles Bray’s Farm, and Ben Ford’s farm. These three farms were very close to one
another, around the intersection of Webster Street and Main Street in North
Hanover. While North Hanover was known for its cow farms, South Hanover and
Hanover Center were known for their horse farms. Long-‐time North Hanover
resident Roger Leslie remembers this well. As a child, he and his friends would get
into fights with children from South Hanover. Not your typical skirmish between
neighborhood kids, the boys from North Hanover would throw cow flops at the boys
from South Hanover, while the South Hanover boys peppered the North Hanover
boys with horse buns.
A Map of North Hanover Hanover Historical Society
Apart from engaging in neighborhood fights, Leslie spent much of his
childhood around Ben Ford’s farm. Ford’s farm was the largest of the farms in North
Hanover, and much of the milk produced there was sent up to Boston. The farm
housed nearly 200 milking cattle, all of which were kept in the pasture near Webster
Street. When it was time for milking, all of the cattle would gather around the edge
of the fence. “They had one cow with a leather collar and the bell attached,” said
Leslie “One cow was the leader, and when they wanted the cows to cross the street
to milk, they would ring the bell and say “Come Boss! Come Boss!”
The Cows I woke up early in the morn, Before the sun proclaimed the dawn, And listening heard the well known call, That’s heard so oft from spring to fall, Come boss, come boss. And then I heard the tramp of feet. From field through lane they come to meet The one who ties them in each stall, And who had just sent out the call, Come boss, come boss. They found some grain was there to greet, And green feed too for them to eat. As they were milked the pails to fill, Quite oft that voice kept calling still, Come boss, come boss. When all the milk was taken, they Were sprayed to keep the flies away, Theyere started down the lane again And I can hear him calling then, Go on, go on. After the milking hour at night, They wander out to get a bite, And then lie down their cud to chew, Waiting the morning call anew, Come boss, come boss
“The Cows” Circa 1900 Poems of John F. Brooks Hanover Historical Society
To care for the cattle, there were 15 to 20 men that worked on Ford’s farm.
Many of the men came down from Boston to work. Leslie describes the men as
“tough guys” who seemed to enjoy playing with Leslie when he entered the barn
around milking time. “They would take the cow’s udder and squirt it right in my
face,” he recalls.
Leslie is not the only one who remembers the workers at Ford’s farm. Kenton
Greene and his wife Janet Briggs Greene remember a man named “Jerry Ben Ford”
who was named after Ben Ford because no one seemed to know his last name. The
Greenes describe him as a tall and skinny man in his fifties, who was completely
Cow Bell Circa 1900 Donated by Fred Phillips Treasurer of Lot Phillips & CO in the early 1900s Hanover Historical Society
Tom Ford with a worker and young Guernsey Ford’s Farm, Circa 1940 Charlie Gleason Scrapbooks Hanover Historical Society
harmless. Jerry Ben Ford would run the till cart (or manure wagon) up and down
Webster Street. A 9-‐year-‐old Roger Leslie remembers Webster Street covered with
cow flops after Jerry Ben Ford had driven by with his wagon.
Another Hanover resident, Mary Sides, grew up in North Hanover next door
to the Bray’s farm. As a young girl, she remembers running across the street to the
farm to bring milk home for her family. “Everyone knew everyone!” She said, “You
didn’t misbehave! Your father would know before you got home!” Sides recalls that
the farm workers were very patient with the children, even when they would hang
onto the back of the hay wagon to get a ride with their roller skates.
Although North Hanover was littered with dairy farms, everyone in the area
worked together to support one another. “[The farms] weren’t competitors really,
Bray Farm Ad Hanover Directories Early 1900s Hanover Historical Society
just farmers trying to make a living” said Sides. Mary Sides spent much of her
childhood playing in the cow barn. She remembers that the cattle on Bray’s farm
were kept on the street level of the barn and the hay was kept in the upper level,
while Brooks’ barn had three levels. The cows were kept in the lower level, barrels
of grain were kept in the middle level, and the hay was kept at the top level. Barns
such as these became a second home to many children all over Hanover.
Peter Gluckler moved to Hanover when he was 2-‐years old after his
grandfather purchased property on Broadway. Growing up, Gluckler was friends
with a young boy named Lee Marden, whose father had purchased Sylvester Farm
along Washington Street in 1949. Gluckler, like many children in Hanover at the
time, had his fair share of memorable experiences in the cow barn. Upon jumping off
Twin steers “Pete” and “Repete” Sylvester Farm, Circa 1946 Charlie Gleason Scrapbooks Hanover Historical Society
of a tractor parked in the barn, he fell through the trap door in the floor to the
manure pit, where he landed safely in several feet of manure. After roaring with
laughter, Lee Marden and company were able to pull Gluckler out of the pit with a
rope they had attached to the tractor. Looking back on the incident, Gluckler is
relieved that he was not hurt.
In the early 1940s, when many young Hanover residents spent time playing
in the cow barn, Lorine Bergeron was working hard on Elmwood Farm. Mr. and Mrs.
George W. Mitton owned Elmwood Farm at this time, land previously owned by
Michael Sylvester. The farm was located where Cardinal Cushing School is located
today.
Bergeron worked along side four other employees, Herbert Casey, Caroline
Lea, and the Foreman, Ed Sykes. He spent his time at work mowing the hay fields,
Elmwood Farm Ad Hanover Directories Circa 1940 Hanover Historical Society
cleaning the barns, milking the cows, and delivering the milk. Bergeron milked 50
Guernsey cows twice a day, and sold the milk all across the town of Hanover.
Pasteurization became routine in the United States in the 1920s, and was
widespread by the 1950s3. Many Hanover residents growing up at this time
remember drinking raw milk at home, and Bergeron recalls that Elmwood Farm
sold pasteurized milk, but also had raw milk available for purchase.
With the enactment of the Meat Inspection Act of 1890, the US Department of
Agriculture also began inspection of dairy industries to ensure sanitation and
hygiene. Inspection officials observed the health of the herd, the cleanliness of the
cattle and employees, as well as the cleanliness of the milking tools and the handling
of the milk2.
Cows in pasture on Mitton (Elmwood) Farm Circa 1946 Charlie Gleason Scrapbooks Hanover Historical Society
In the beginning of the 20th Century, Dr. Charles E. North was the first to
encourage dairy farms to pasteurize their milk. North was a both an agricultural
scientist and a public health officer. He developed a 6-‐step system that he believed
any dairy farm could implement to ensure sanitation:
1) Healthy cows
2) Careful grooming of cows
3) Clean hands and clothing
4) Clean, dust-‐free barns
5) Thoroughly washed and sterilized milking utensils
6) Prompt and efficient cooling of milk2
On Elmwood farm, Bergeron would use milking machines to milk the cattle.
From there, the raw milk was poured into large 20 and 40-‐quart cans where it
would remain until it was poured into the pasteurization machine. Having worked
with Mrs. Caroline Lea to pasteurize and bottle milk, Bergeron recalls that “The
place was spotless, [and] Mrs. Lea was a peach of a lady.”
The pasteurization machine was operated by hot water and steam, and
would automatically record the temperatures of the machine at different times
during the day. “You had to watch the chart and watch the temperatures or you
could ruin it and burn it” said Bergeron. At the end of the pasteurization machine
was a bottling machine, which would automatically turn as the bottles filled with
milk. After the bottles were filled to the top, the machine would secure a cardboard
cap on the bottle. When capping was finished, they were placed into milk crates for
delivery.
Bergeron and other workers on Elmwood farm delivered milk to different
sections of Hanover each day of the week. After loading the farm’s 1941 green Ford
pick-‐up truck with milk, the workers would head out on their milk route. “We
would drive down the street, and one guy would deliver to one side, and the other
guy would deliver to the other side” said Bergeron, “In a very short time you knew
where the next house was, who your were delivering to, and how much they took.”
Elmwood farm not only sold milk, but light and heavy cream as well. Quart-‐
sized bottles were reserved for milk, while pint-‐sized bottles contained light cream
and half-‐pint bottles contained heavy cream. On Elmwood farm, bottles that were
used for delivery were orange. Bottles that could be purchased at the local market
were red, and often had a red “STORE” label around the neck.
Elmwood Farm Milk Bottles Circa 1940 Courtesy of Mark Lancaster
Beverly Hayes remembers the milk delivery well. “In the winter the milk
would freeze, and the cream would come to the top and push the stopper right off.
And we would take the cream right off the top and put it on our cereal” said Hayes.
Her family got their milk from Brook’s farm because her father worked for Brooks.
Having grown up on raw milk, Hayes said that the milk no longer separated in the
bottle after pasteurization was implemented.
Elmwood Farm 1 Pint and ½ Pint Bottles, Bray Farm (Red Clover Farm) 1 Quart Bottle 1940-1945 Hanover Historical Society
As pasteurization became more popular, so did large dairy farms. Around the
1950s, small dairy farms began going bankrupt. For a long time dairy farming had
been a family business. However, younger generations were no longer interested in
farming. “Nobody wanted to farm anymore,” said Lorine Bergeron “The big dairies
put the small guys out of business”. Small dairy farms began selling their land, and
housing developments began to appear where pastures once were. Peter Gluckler
remembers this time well: “Milk regulations were stiffening, and even with the
federal subsidies, the farmer could make much more money by selling off land one
lot at a time or wholesale development. Post-‐war demand for housing and the
outpouring of young families from Boston… nailed the coffin shut.”
Milk Bottle Lid Circa 1935 Brooks Farm
As the small dairies died out, people purchased milk from big name suppliers
such as H.P. Hood. The small rural town of Hanover had slowly grown larger right
under everyone’s noses. Said Peter Gluckler, “With residential development came
commercial development, came increased need for infrastructure like better roads
and schools, came the end of rural life in Hanover.”
References
1. “Company Overview." Hood. HP Hood LCC, 2014. Web. 2. "Early Developments in the American Dairy Industry." (2014): Special Collections, National Agriculture Library. United States Department of Agriculture, Web. 3. "Raw Milk Questions and Answers." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.gov, 7 Mar. 2014. Web.
Hood Milkman, 1950 From Dairy to Doorstep. HistoricNewEngland.org, Web.