A milk churn is a tall, conical or cylindrical container for the transportation of

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

. In North America, it is often referred to as a milk can.

History

The usage of the word 'churn' was retained for describing these containers, although they were not themselves used for 'churning' butter. The milk churn was also known as the ''milk kit'' in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

or a ''tankard'' in the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...

. The 12-gallon steel churns were later replaced with 10-gallon aluminium alloy churns. Their lids had a small hole in its outer rim for tying the producers label on.

Milk churn stands

In Britain, Ireland and other European countries, milk churns would be left by dairy farmers by the roadside on purpose-built platforms, or stands, at the right height to be loaded on to the dairy's cart or lorry. They fell out of use when milk began to be collected by tanker from the farm and ceased entirely by 1979. Some stands remain in the countryside as historical features, but most have been dismantled or left to decay.

Gallery

File:BicyclesMilkChurnsKolkata gobeirne.jpg, Milk churns being carried on bicycles, Kolkata, India, 2007 File:Waiting for the milk lorry - geograph.org.uk - 1726411.jpg, Variety of types File:Metal churns, Cork Butter Museum.jpg, A selection of steel-made milk churns in the Cork Butter Museum, Ireland

References

{{Milk navbox Dairy farming Dairy farming in the United Kingdom Milk Milk containers