Kanawha County Milk Bottles
Outside of Charleston itself, many towns in Kanawha County supplied milk to the city or to their local community, including known bottles thus far from Blue Creek, Elkview, Guthrie, Hansford, Nitro, Pratt, Quincy, Sissonville, and South Charleston.
Blue Creek
Mrs. Hoover & Sons — Blue Creek Dairy
Information needed.
Elkview
Oak Dale Farm
Information needed.
G.B. Surface Dairy
Information needed.
Guthrie
Guthrie
Guthrie had at least four dairies. Being very near to Charleston, many examples of these bottles were dug closer to Charleston than Guthrie itself. This implies these dairies likely existed to serve Charleston. The dairies include A.T. Bonham, I.G. Casdorph, Jenkins’ Dairy, Farmer Dairy Co., and V.C. Tate. The only dairy not represented from Guthrie here is V.C. Tate.
A.T. Bonham Dairy
Coming soon.
I.G. Casdorph
Coming soon.
Farmer’s Dairy Co.
Coming soon.
Jenkins’ Dairy
early 1930s—1947
Jenkins’ Dairy first appears in a late 1932 financial statement from Kanawha County (“Financial Statement”, 1932). According to an article on the 1934 dairymen’s meeting in Huntington, the owner of the dairy was George Jenkins (“Dairymen Will”, 1934). As of 1945, the company was still around having their milk tested (“Health Officials”, 1945), though in 1947 George Jenkins listed all of his dairy equipment for sale, likely marking the end of the company (“Complete Dairy”, 1947).
Oather Good Dairy
Information needed.
Oather Good Dairy. Pint.
V.C. Tate
1931(?)—1954(?)
V.C. Tate’s first advertisement in newspapers appears in 1931, with the dairy selling whole milk from a “government-inspected herd” (V.C. Tate, Dairy, 1931). I presumed the V.C. Tate Dairy went out of business when they posted a great deal of farm equipment, including their herd, for sale in 1947 (“Loan Sale”, 1947), though apparently the Tate Dairy was around in some form or another in 1954, when Mrs. Tate was noted as the co-owner of the Tate Dairy Company (“Plans Launched”, 1954).
Hansford
Kanawha Dairy Co.
early 1930s—1938
Kanawha Dairy, along with Clifton and Blossom Dairy, donated milk to survivors of the Paint and Armstrong Creek floods of 1932 (“Extend Relief”, 1932). In 1938, it is listed with its owner Russell Cook along with other delinquent companies in the Cabin Creek district of Kanawha County (“Delinquent Personal”, 1938). I am presuming this is the end of the Kanawha Dairy Company (of Hansford).
A somewhat plain, circle-slug Kanawha Dairy Co. quart.
Nitro
U.S. Explosives Plant “C”
19??—19??
The U.S. Explosives Plant “C” was constructed by a the Thompson-Starrett Company of New York, which filed to operate in West Virginia in 1918 to build the chemical and powder plant as well as the housing for workers in “Crawford City,” now Nitro (“Corporations Admitted”, 1918). They placed advertisements in the paper for 5,000 laborers, touting 37-1/2 cents per hour pay, or around $8 per hour today (Thompson-Starrett Company, 1918) with the company being at Nitro, which was renamed by the U.S. government after nitrocellulose, a key ingredient in gunpowder (Wintz, 1985).
It is notable to include that the U.S. Explosives Plant “C” never saw real production, as World War 1 ended in November of that year, and the facility’s main purpose was the production of powder to supply that war. In fact, West Virginia Congressman L.S. Echols took out a section of the paper to disparage the facility as a “criminal waste of money” (“Congressman Echols”, 1920).
There is no mention of the dairy in any of these articles, nor any other literature I can find on the town and its complex, but I assume these bottles were for workers constructing the plant, or for those actually working in production at the plant.
Pratt
Clifton Dairy
ca. early 1930s
It is noted in the Charleston Daily Mail that some Clifton Dairy was headed by George J. and Emma Edwards in 1930, which I am presuming to be of Pratt (“161 State”, 1930). Clifton Dairy was amongst others—including Blossom Dairy, Charleston, and Kanawha Dairy, Hansford—to donate milk to those who fled Paint Creek and Armstrong Creek during the floods of 1932 ("Extend Relief”, 1932). Other than that, I cannot find any more information about this dairy right now.
A paneled quart Clifton Dairy. Held "Baby Special Milk."
Quincy
Quincy Dairy Co.
19??—19??
It seems that the Quincy Dairy Company was one of the earlier dairies in Kanawha County, with their available first advertisement being in 1923 (Quincy Dairy Co., 1923). In 1925, its cow named Beauty won the Tri-County Cow Testing Association first place prize for the sheer volume of milk it produced, reaching 1,626 pounds (“Quincy Dairy”, 1925).
Quincy Dairy sold their entire herd of 175 cows in a 1956 auction, likely marking the end of the dairy (“Whitlock Stock”, 1956).
Sissonville
J.H. Ranson Dairy
1930s—19??
Ranson Dairy first appears to me in 1933, listed amongst other local subscribers to the National Industrial Recovery Program Pledge (“500 Additional”, 1933). Another article from 1945 about a school bus crash notes that they went over an embankment near the Ranson farm, located on Tupper’s Creek Road (“Students Hurt”, 1945).
South Charleston
Tebay’s Dairy
1943(?)—1950s
The Tebay of this Tebay’s Dairy is the grandson of Howard Tebay and son of Amos Tebay of Parkersburg, both of which had their own dairies there. The first mention of this dairy that I can find is in 1943, being in Spring Hill in South Charleston (“42 Dairies”, 1943). It likely began several years prior to this, given their choice in milk bottle, though a pyro probably exists from them as well yet undiscovered. Tebay’s Dairy was purchased by Broughton Dairy around 1955, but continued to operate under its original Tebay name (“Tebay Spokesman”, 1955).
References
42 dairies given grade A ratings. (1943, August 18). Charleston Gazette, 3.
161 state appeals are set for trial. (1930, June 20). Charleston Daily Mail, 24.
500 additional names are added to NRA honor roll. (1933, August 12). Charleston Gazette, 7.
Complete dairy equipment. (1947, May 23). Charleston Gazette, 28.
Congressman Echols hotly denies hostility to armor plant scheme. (1920, September 5). The Charleston Daily Mail, 27.
Corporation admitted. (1918, January 11). The Wheeling Intelligencer, 2.
Dairymen will go to session. (1934, December 2). Charleston Daily Mail, 24.
Delinquent personal list. (1938, August 2). Charleston Gazette, 10.
Extend relief into section. (1932, July 14). Charleston Gazette, 1.
Financial statement. (1932, December 19). Charleston Daily Mail, 8.
Health officials classify dairies. (1945, September 21). Charleston Gazette, 12.
Loan sale. (1947, October 14). Charleston Daily Mail, 17.
Plans launched for new Four-H Camp; union district site on Poca selected. (1954, November 7). Charleston Daily Mail, 4.
Quincy Dairy Co. (1923, May 5). Milk, Doctor says [is] necessary [advertisement]. Charleston Daily Mail, 6.
Quincy Dairy cow is honors winner. (1925, February 1). Charleston Daily Mail, 16.
Students hurt in bus accident. (1945, November 7). Charleston Daily Mail, 14.
V.C. Tate Dairy. (1931, May 23). Whole milk [advertisement]. The Charleston Daily Mail, 2.
Tebay spokesman admits powdered milk was used. (1955, March 2). Charleston Daily Mail, 13.
Thompson-Starrett Company. (1918, March 30). The Wheeling Intelligencer, 14.
Whitlock stock to be auctioned. (1956, July 20). Beckley Post-Herald, 6.
Wintz, William (1985). Nitro, The World War 1 Boom Town. Jalamap Publications.