The Anderson Erickson Dairy (AE) is the largest independently owned dairy in Iowa. Headquartered in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moine ...

, it was founded in June 1930 during the Great Depression by Iver Erickson and Bill Anderson. After eight years in business, Anderson sold his interest in the company and moved to Minnesota, leaving Erickson with complete ownership of the company. By 2004 the family-owned company was the 73rd largest dairy by sales in the United States. As of 2021, it was still run by descendants of Iver Erickson. Starting in 1930, AE offered early-morning home delivery of milk, in

glass bottles A glass bottle is a bottle made from glass. Glass bottles can vary in size considerably, but are most commonly found in sizes ranging between about 200 millilitres and 1.5 litres. Common uses for glass bottles include food condiments, soda, liq ...

. For the first two decades home deliveries were made seven days a week, because many customers did not own refrigerators. Empty bottles were picked up by the milkman, washed at the dairy and refilled for the next delivery. Additional dairy products were gradually added to the delivery service, and at the service's peak in the early 1950s, AE had about 150 delivery routes scattered around Iowa. Home delivery had dwindled to just two routes serving 350 customers by the end of the 20th century, and the service was ended in 2001. The AE dairy was the first to print photographs of missing children on milk cartons. This began in September 1984, following the disappearance of two Iowa

paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ...

Johnny Gosch John David Gosch (November 12, 1969 – disappeared September 5, 1982) was a paperboy in West Des Moines, Iowa, who disappeared between 6 and 7 a.m. on September 5, 1982. He is presumed to have been kidnapped. , there have been no arrests made a ...

and Eugene Martin. The practice of spreading information about missing children in this way would later be replicated across the nation. In 2020, the AE dairy received a multimillion-dollar loan under the provisions of the

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 20 ...

economic stimulus bill.

Cow sculptures

A large pair of

Guernsey cow The Guernsey is a breed of dairy cattle from the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. It is fawn or red and white in colour, and is hardy and docile. Its milk is rich in flavour, high in fat and protein, and has a golden-yellow tinge d ...

sculptures is located outside of the corporate headquarters, at the intersection of East University Avenue and Hubbell Avenue. The 14-foot-tall cow, named Annie, weighs 2500 pounds, and her calf Eric weighs 200 pounds. Both are constructed from steel and fiberglass, and the pair are a landmark in east Des Moines. The cow statue has been in place since the 1960s, and the calf was added in the 1970s.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite news , last1=Graham , first1=Chad , title=AE Dairy mooooves with the times , work=Des Moines Register , issue=page 1D , publisher=Gannett , date=3 March 2002 {{cite web , title=D&B Business Directory , url=https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.anderson_erickson_dairy_co.5d52b77fd02ae31b3396383a0f27d3b6.html , website=dun & bradstreet , publisher=dun & bradstreet , access-date=15 March 2021 {{cite web , url=https://www.aedairy.com/, title=products , website=Anderson Erickson , publisher=Anderson Erickson , access-date=15 March 2021 {{cite news, last1=Ta, first1=Linh, title=The missing kids milk carton campaign started in Iowa, url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/09/04/missing-kids-milk-carton-campaign-outcome/627165001/, access-date=25 December 2017, publisher=Des Moines Register, date=4 September 2017 {{cite news , last1=Jett , first1=Tyler , title=Wealthiest receiver millions in loans from CARES Act , work=Iowa City Press-Citizen , issue=page A3 , publisher=Gannet , date=21 July 2020 {{cite news , last1=Alex , first1=Tom , title=Iconic calf stutue goes for a ride , work=Des Moines Register , issue=page 3 , publisher=Gannet , date=23 October 2007 {{cite web , title=Fun Facts & Firsts , url=https://www.aedairy.com/fun-facts-and-firsts.cfm , website=Anderson Erickson , publisher=Anderson Erickson , access-date=16 March 2021 {{cite news , last1=Ryberg , first1=William , title=Brown sees bright future for family firm, dairy industry , work=Des Moines Register , issue=page 1D , publisher=Gannet , date=26 May 2006 {{cite news , last1=Laird , first1=Rox , title=AE Dairy: A landmark on the east side , work=Des Moines Tribune , publisher=Cowles media , date=4 June 1981 {{cite news , last1=Rood , first1=Lee , title=25 years later, mom persists in search , work=The Des Moines Register , issue=page 3B , publisher=Gannet , date=5 September 2007 {{cite news , last1=Santiago , first1=Frank , title=First 'milk carton boys' are still missingl , work=The Sheboygan Press, issue=page A6 , publisher=Gannet , date=5 September 2000 {{cite news , last1=Heath , first1=Ellen , title=The milkman vanishes , work=The Des Moines Register , issue=page E1 , publisher=Gannet , date=31 March 2001 Dairy products companies of the United States American companies established in 1930 Buildings and structures in Des Moines, Iowa Companies based in Des Moines, Iowa