The Milkman delivers milk to homes

Question sent via email:

What is the origin of the tradition of delivering milk bottles at home ?
Is there a special meaning or history or is it just a simple way for having fresh milk ?

Originally milk would have come straight from farms. Some people went to the farms to collect their milk whilst others had theirs delivered by the farmer. Milk was transported in milk-churns in horse-drawn carts, hand-drawn wheels or on the railway. The milk was measured out using milk-measures and poured directly into customers’ jugs.

The early 1970’s saw the phasing out of traditional churn collections from the farm. Farmers had to install refrigerated bulk tanks from which the milk would be collected by tankers operated by the Milk Marketing Board. Milk was then sold in pint and half-pint milk bottles.
Most people now-a-days buy their milk at the supermarkets as it is cheaper than home delivery. However, some people still have milk delivered especially homes in the country.

We used have our groceries delivered too and in recent years this has started up again with big supermarkets providing an online home delivery service, made possible with the invention of the world wide web.