Bluefield
Bluestone Valley Dairy
Information needed.
Bowling’s Sunshine Dairy
1933(?)—1937(?)
The first mention of this dairy I can locate is their appearance in a list of graded dairies in 1933 (“Notice”, 1933). Evidently, the Bowling’s Sunshine Dairy was operated by two women named Mary G. Bowling and Mary A. Bowling (“Suits Filed”, 1934). Bowling’s Sunshine Dairy later appears again with a help-wanted advertisement seeking a man to assist in their dairy (“Male Help Wanted”, 1937).
Mrs. C.W. Calfee
1915(?)—1936(?)
The C.W. Calfee farm goes back to at least 1915, when they had an apple exhibit at the Bluefield-Graham Fair (“Fair Management,” 1915). There was an announcement of a dairymen meeting in 1916, with Calfee as a committee member, so I presume at this point they sold milk, and likely had been for awhile given they were on the committee (“Dairymen’s Meeting,” 1916). In 1934, C.W. Calfee passed away, as the magistrates’ office in Mercer County closed in honor of the rites (“Local Magistrates’,” 1934). However, a 1936 advertisement places Calfee’s Dairy on Princeton Road—i.e., the road between Bluefield and Princeton (C.W. Calfee Dairy, 1936)—so perhaps the dairy attempted to continue for a couple years after this.
Clover Dew Dairy
1918—1977
According to a trade mark filed for a bottle design, Clover Dew Dairy is the trading name of Clarence Calfee, of which other earlier bottles exist (“Legal Notices”, 1933). See below for the design trade marked by Clover Dew Dairy/Calfee. Clover Dew Dairy declared bankruptcy in 1977 and had its assets all auctioned off (“Legal Notice”, 1977).
Kirkland Farm
~1921—1946
The owner of Kirkland Farms dairy, J.L. Kirk, announced on April 8th, 1932 that he trademarked the bottle pictured below with its exact embossing, with this trademark expiring in 1935 (“Notice of J.L. Kirk”, 1932). However, a retrospective article briefly mentions that ten years ago from 1934, Kirkland Farms took over Sanders Dairy, so the dairy probably began within a few years of 1924 (“Ten Years Ago”, 1934), with another brief article from 1921 mentioning the sister of J.L. Kirk and her husband moving to Bluefield from Asberrys, Virginia to join Kirkland Farms (“Personals”, 1921). Kirkland Farms presumably closed its doors in 1948, as that year they placed an advertisement selling their entire herd of cows (“Livestock For Sale”, 1948). This is obscured by the claim, by Leatherwood Dairy in 1946, that they had been purchased by the latter (Leatherwood Farm, 1946). I will go with this date, as it was asserted by an actual authority in Kirkland Farm’s conclusion.
Leatherwood Dairy
1940s—1969(?)
Leatherwood Dairy Products purchased Kirkland Farms Dairy in 1946, taking over their routes and customers (Leatherwood Farms, 1946). According to a 1960 article discussing a tour given to the Wolf Creek Demonstration Club, the Leatherwood farm was 1,800 acres, milked 200 cows daily, and processed 8,000 gallons of milk a day (“Wolf Creek,” 1960). A 1968 advertisement from them places their processing plant at 1006 Bland Street in Bluefield (Leatherwood Dairy Farm, 1968). At this time, the president and general manager of the company was Charles Walker (Leatherwood Dairy Farm, 1969). All being said, the company was extremely transparent—advertising individual tours of the farm and processing plant and meetings with their president.
Unfortunately, I am unsure as to when this business closed, but the last mentions of their dairy I can find are in 1969. I am also unsure as to the nature of their connection with Williamson. Williamson is some ways from Bluefield, but perhaps they had a farm there. I cannot find any mention of this operation, though, so this is all conjecture.
Southern Maid, Inc.
1933—1943
The West Virginia Secretary of State records show this business existed, incorporated at least, from 1933 to 1943 (WV Sec. State, n.d.).
Southern Refrigeration Co.
1922—1934
This business existed from 1922 to 1934 according to the West Virginia Secretary of State records. Example needed.
Montcalm
John Wall
1940s
John Wall is mentioned in 1946 as being in Montcalm as a Mercer County dairy producer among a list of others (“Milk Producers”, 1946), but this is the only mention I can find of his dairy in that location.
Princeton
L.C. Weikle’s Dairy
Information needed.
References
C.W. Calfee Dairy. (1936, April 19). 500 votes for each $1.00… [advertisement]. Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 2.
Dairymen’s meeting. (1916, May 23). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 4.
Fair management highly elated over first day showing. (1915, September 15). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 1.
Leatherwood Dairy Farm. (1968, February 7). This is us [advertisement]. Beckley Post-Herald, 8.
Leatherwood Dairy Farm. (1969, May 4). Country born… [advertisement]. Beckley Post-Herald, 20.
Leatherwood Farms. (1946, October 25). Announces… [advertisement]. Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 5.
Legal notice. (1977, May 27). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 35.
Legal notices. (1933, June 9). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 10.
Livestock for sale. (1948, February 22). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 21.
Local magistrates’ office to close during Calfee’s rites. (1934, April 19). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 10.
Male help wanted. (1937, February 7). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 22.
Milk producers. (1946, March 24). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 14.
Notice. (1933, February 5). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 2.
Notice of J.L. Kirk, proprietor of Kirkland Farm of adoption of trade mark as bottler. (1932, May 4). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 8.
Notice to milk customers. (1918, September 22). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 2.
Personals. (1921, September 11). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 2.
Suits filed. (1934, February 16). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 5.
Ten years ago today. (1934, October 2). Bluefield Daily Telegraph, 6.
West Virginia Secretary of State. (n.d.). Business entity details: Southern Maid Dairies, Incorporated. https://apps.wv.gov/SOS/BusinessEntitySearch/Details.aspx?Id=ro4VEx4EQ4o6UWOizJJvKw==&Search=LzymlY9IBpfe48OgmKdQWw%3d%3d&Page=0
West Virginia Secretary of State. (n.d.). Business entity details: Southern Refrigeration Company, Incorporated. https://apps.wv.gov/SOS/BusinessEntitySearch/Details.aspx?Id=jC2LphvdZPPyjNyQeAhKnQ==&Search=gUCQ%2frD5GmpKGQ%2f81eB74uNVzpP3aqpx9onS4dtEP7U%3d&Page=0
Wolf Creek club tours dairy farm. (1960, May 12). Beckley Post-Herald, 5.