🛒 Milk cart
Also known as: milk float
The cart that delivered milk, first horse-drawn, then electric; in 1980, 89% of British milk was delivered to the door.
The milkman's cart was a cart and later an electric van used by the milkman to deliver milk to homes. Before bottles, milkmen carried churns and ladled milk straight into customers' jugs. In Britain these rounds began around 1860, when railways started bringing fresh milk quickly into towns.
Horse-drawn carts were used from the late 19th century until the 1950s. By 1880 British milk was already delivered in bottles, and in 1889, according to Wikipedia, battery-powered carts appeared; the typical speed of an electric milk float is 16–26 km/h. In 1967 the British Electric Vehicle Association claimed that the country had more electric vehicles than the rest of the world, and almost all of them were milk floats.
Then delivery was displaced by supermarkets, refrigerators and plastic packaging. In 1975, 94% of British milk was sold in glass bottles, and according to the trade association Dairy UK, in 1980 89% of milk was delivered to the door. By 2015 that share had fallen to 2.8% (154 million litres), but about 5000 milkmen still served roughly 2.5 million homes. In the USA in 1954 home delivery made up 54% of liquid milk sales, and in 1975 only 6.9%.
Why it matters to you. The name "milkman's cart" covers two eras, the horse cart and the electric milk float; when searching in museums or books, try both. Today home milk delivery exists as a service: it takes a tiny share of the market but still serves millions of homes.
Facts
| Year founded | British milk rounds: around 1860 |
|---|---|
| Duration | Horse carts: from the late 19th century to the 1950s |
| Main use | Delivery of milk in churns and bottles |
How it connects to milk
🛒 Milk cart → carries → 🍼 Bottle ← packed in ← 🥛 Milk
Links
- What it does
- 🫙 Milk churn, 🍼 Bottle, 🚚 Delivery, 🧊 Refrigerator
- Who works with it
- 🧑 Milkman
- Part of
- 🚚 Milk transport, storage and sale
Frequently asked questions
How did the milkman sell milk before bottles?
He carried milk in churns and ladled it into the jugs that customers brought out.
When did delivering milkmen appear?
In British towns around 1860, when railways began bringing fresh milk quickly from the countryside.
Is it true that the milkman always drove a horse?
No. Horse carts were used from the late 19th century to the 1950s, battery carts appeared in 1889, and later electric milk floats became familiar.
What share of British milk reached the door?
89% in 1980 and 2.8% in 2015 (154 million litres), according to Dairy UK.
How fast is an electric milk float?
Usually 16–26 km/h; these carts are very quiet, so they suited early rounds.