Dairy Crest Milk Float

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

The latest addition to our fleet is this Dairy Crest Morrison Marsden Milk Float. It’s origins are unknown but it is likely to be a former Guantlets Dairy Milk Float. Gauntlets were predominant in the area during the 1950s – 1970s before The Co-op had taken over.

Milk Float No. 11

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

Another Milk Float I have been wanting to ‘get’. Yes I know it is another Smiths Elizabethan but this one is used on a franchised round operated by ‘Denvilles Dairy’ according to the yellow headboard. Franchised rounds are quite rare these days as they have been proven to be more costly to the Dairy than managing the round themselves.

I think I have gone as far as I can photographing Milk Floats in my area so I have decided to make some videos instead! My first video should appear on my YouTube website on Friday.

Milk Float Bonanza!

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

Today I went to visit my local dairy to photograph more Milk Floats and successfully taken no.s 8, 9 and 10! This includes a type I have not captured before – a Smiths Cabac. This is the earlier version of the Elizabethan. I believe this is the only Cabac at this depot, the rest being Smiths Elizabethans and Wales & Edwards Rangemasters. The other two I took today were Smiths Elizabethans, one each in the current Dairy Crest livery and the old Unigate livery. Certainly worth waiting the gails for! For my full collection of Milk Float photographs, please visit this page!

Milk Float No. 7

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

I now have yet another Milk Float to my photographic collection! This timewarp Smiths Elizabethan Milk Float is owned by Dairy Crest but is still painted in the old Co-op livery complete with the Co-ops slogan ‘A Fresh Way To Shop’. These are the style of Milk Floats that I remember when I was younger and I am very happy at least one has survived to the present.

Milk Float No. 6

Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

This former Milk Float is a Morrison Marsden which is currently being used to transport medical equipment around St. Mary’s Hospital. This one was parked just outside the grounds therefore I could take the photograph. This is the first Morrison Marsden I have photographed and makes a change from those boring Smith Elizabethans and W&E Rangemasters!

Milk Float No. 5

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

The fifth Milk Float I have photographed this year is one of the few remaining relics of the 1980s monopoly of the milk home delivery service – Unigate! It is yet another Smiths Elizabethan but is one of the few to still be in the Unigate livery (I believe only this one is still in this livery at my local dairy). It also has an old fashioned registration plate, possibly it’s original, which was not swapped for a ‘Q’ plate. Exciting times at the moment as they upgrade and expand the fleet.

Milk Float No. 4

Dairy Crest Milk Float

Originally uploaded by Black Telephone

It is not even the end of February and I have already taken my fourth Milk Float photograph! This may not sound a lot considering the time scale but as Milk Floats are rarely to be seen these days it is a lot.
Today is pay day but as I didn’t get up in time (I knew I should have set that alarm!) I didn’t pay him. Therefore I had to drive to the local dairy and pay directly. I then took this opportunity to take a photography of a Milk Float that was parked near by. Of course I asked for permission and he rudely told me to hurry up and take it because a Forklift was approaching to load up for deliveries. This was 10:30 in the morning and they are still preparing to make deliveries for the day, no wonder they are losing more customers than Northern Rock! Anyway here is that photograph.

YaCult

I love Yakult. Not the drink itself, that is horrible! I love their branding, it is very 1980s and retro. Take this leaflet I received along with three free samples I got with my daily pinta. From the basic design and the colours of the traditional dairy kind – Red and Cream – this is the kind of retro branding that could convince me to buy the nasty drink! The ‘modern’ uniformed milkman silhouette complete with a caricature of an old fashioned wire milk crate with Yakult shaped milk bottles really sends a nostalgic shiver up my spine. The figure reminds me of ‘Fat Charlie’ of Little Chef fame. Although the leaflet is basic it gets it’s message across yet I don’t know why they used the very informal word ‘Gut’, this could refer to any part of the stomach whereas Yakult only helps the intestines. Apart from this, this is a really good leaflet and I wish every company remembers how great it was in the eighties and returned to this style.

As a result of boredom I recently made this computer diagram drawing of a traditional Wales & Edwards three wheeler Milk Float. I wish all Milk Floats were like this as they proclaim style and functionality in one.

Snow White Milk

Hooray I got another Milk Float today, in the snow! This particular one I didn’t know existed in my local Dairy Crest depot (at least in the Dairy Crest livery) so was quite a surprise. It is a Wales & Edwards (W&E) Rangemaster. These were very popular with Unigate and to some extent Express Dairies although the latter were more associated with Smiths and Morrison Milk Floats from the 1980s. Cought in a snow storm I still ventured out into the freezing wastes to photograph it!

Click on the photograph to see a larger version!

Another Milk Float!

After a couple of close misses I finally got another photograph of a Milk Float today, this one being different to the previous one. It is still a Dairy Crest Smiths Elizabethan but is a newer version of it and it is in the latest livery. The batteries have either been changed or refurbished as, as you can see, they are very clean!

Click on the photograph to view a larger version!