Mechanical Cow (Feb, 1950)
This is not our first mechanical cow.
Mechanical Cow
Up in Whitehorse, the largest settlement in the Yukon Territory, children get their milk from a mechanical cow. Actually, the machinery works in reverse — it churns milk stock, pure water and butter back into rich milk. The water is heated to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the milk stock added. Then the mixture is brought to a boil and butter mixed in at a temperature of 145 degrees. Electric heaters churn the mixture for a half hour, when it is homogenized and passed over the corrugations of the cooler where the temperature is dropped to 30 degrees. The result is a smooth and creamy milk. The mechanical cow produces milk at 30 cents a quart, compared to the former cost of 75 cents a quart for milk shipped to Whitehorse.
As you might guess, the resulting brew was absolutely disgusting.
But considering the shelf life of milk and the shipping costs I can see where the idea for this came from.
Having lived in the north, I will have to say it was better than straight 0% Carnation Dehydrated Milk (that we used to buy in 2 gallon boxes – made 6 gallons or so of blue milk.) The milk/butter mixer at least gave it some mouth texture other than “fuzzy.”
They weren’t common, though, so I guess it never caught on.