Blast from the Past

"The Milk churn" ..... I have happy childhood memories of ladling warm milk from these as a small child.

Milk was originally distributed in 'pails', a lidded bucket with a handle. Often two pails would be carried on either end of a wooden yoke. However when milk needed to be carried via the railways these pails proved less than practical having a strong tendency to spill. Dairy farmers were using tall conical wooden containers to "churn" their milk to make butter and these proved ideal for the safe transportation of milk. These wooden churns were however very heavy and in the 1850's a steel version was introduced and the name "churn" remained.