TimesLeader.com

July 2
Time in a bottle

By Shelby Fisk sfisk@theabingtonjournal.com
Reporter/Photographer

EAST BENTON - William Popovich, an East Benton dairy farmer, said, “When I come across an interesting bottle, I keep it.”

At left is the interior the Montdale Farm Dairy’s ice cream shop, which is open from noon to 9 p.m. daily.

Abington JOurnal Photo/Shelby Fisk

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Popovich recalled that there were 102 dairies in the area in 1945; he said now there are only two.

As for collectible milk bottles, the rarest, Popovich said are “ruby red bottles. They sell today for $1,000.” He said there is a “cop” face bottle, a baby face bottle and amber colored bottles.

It was from those now collectible amber bottles that the milk business moved to porch boxes, which were used to protect bottles from the sun. Popovich warned collectors against quart bottles in green, blue and pink, as they are reproductions that were never used in the dairy business.

Today there aren’t any places in the United States that produce glass milk bottles, according to Popovich. The only place in North America is in Canada.

In the 1950s, Popovich said paper cartons hit the scene, diminishing the existence of glass bottles, but many like him still remember when glass milk bottles were all that America knew.

He and his wife Marie Popovich run Montdale Farm Dairy. “Fifty-eight years ago, America was all agriculture. There were small farms of 30 to 40 acres everywhere, producing two to three cans of milk each day.”

Those cans, he said would be brought to town every day, providing communities with fresh milk. Then, when pasteurization laws were passed, the sale of raw milk was banned.

Previous to that, individual names were placed on glass bottles, signifying which farm produced the milk. Popovich said “small farms, were being forced to buy pasteurizers, but not everyone wanted to.”

“In 1924 my father came here from Europe and got a job in the mines. He did that for five years then bought this (Montdale Farm Dairy) property, starting with a group of cows and some mules.” Popovich explained that his father had so much milk he started giving extra milk to his miner friends, then finally started selling milk to the public for $.04 per quart. With changing times, in the 1930s his father purchased a pasteurizer.

With it, his father helped smaller farms down the street, by pasteurizing their milk with his equipment, until eventually the farmers got tired of hauling their milk, Popovich said.

At the peak of the business in 1955, Popovich related that the farm had five retail trucks delivering milk.

Today, Montdale Farm Dairy has turned its focus toward the ice cream business.

William and Marie’s son, Ray Popovich, now runs the ice cream business at Montdale Dairy. “He and his wife make all the ice cream. It’s all homemade,” said Marie. She added “We’re open from noon to 9:30 or 10 p.m. most every day. It’s getting nicer out so we’re staying open later.”

Changing along with society, Montdale Farm Dairy has existed in East Benton for the last 84 years, providing dairy products for neighbors, no matter the form.