Milkman


A milkman is a person — traditionally male — who delivers milk in milk bottles or cartons. Milk deliveries frequently occur in the morning and it is not uncommon for milkmen to deliver dairy products other than milk like egg nog, cream and even yogurt or butter. The term "milkman" is used to refer to either a man or woman doing this work.

Originally milk needed to be delivered to houses daily as poor refrigeration meant it would quickly spoil. The near-ubiquity of refrigerators in homes in the developed world has decreased the need for frequent milk delivery over the past half-century and made the profession shrink in many localities, and disappear totally in others.

Despite these drawbacks, the enterprise is still common in the UK and Ireland.

Historically, British, Irish, and other European milkmen have travelled in an electric vehicle called a milk float. In Australia the delivery vehicle was usually a small petrol or diesel engined truck with a covered milk-tray. In hotter areas, this tray is usually insulated.

Milkmen in popular culture