Make an Insulated Milk Crate

15 Shares

This has been the most satisfying DIY I've done in a long time and it would have gone over HUGE in the 1930s. But the milkman - is making a comeback.

That's right, I have a milkman. I get milk dropped off, frothy and cold, to my doorstep once a week from a local dairy. Why yes, it is in glass bottles.

Home milk delivery was a Christmas gift from Betty. A dairy in my area introduced the milk in glass bottles service last fall and I started begging for it for Christmas like a petulant child every day for the next 3 months.

Baby wants her bottle.

The dairy (Summit Station Dairy & Creamery) drops my selections off and picks up my washed bottles once a week bringing me closer and closer to my dream of morphing into Laura Ingalls one old timey step at a time.

Here's the milkman's trajectory over history.

Table of Contents

Late 1700s: Family Cows

If you were a family, you had a cow. That's the way you got your milk - from the cow in your front yard.
People started moving into urban areas to work in the late 1700s. There was no room for the family cow, so people started getting their daily milk from other people who had cows - the dairy farmer boom began.
In 1785 the first home delivery of milk took place; it was delivered in metal barrels. Customers would run out with their pitcher and the milkman would ladle milk into it.

1878: Invention of Glass Milk Bottle

Milk was sold in glass bottles for the first time a year later, in 1879.

1884: It Took Another 6 Years to Invent the Cap

Henry D. Thatcher introduced a glass milk bottle design with a cap.
It was named the "Common Sense Milk Bottle". Ever so appropriate.

1930s-1940s: Decline of Home Milk Delivery

You probably think of the 30's and 40's as the prime milk delivery era but this is when things started to look grim for the milkman.
Homes and grocery stores now had their own refrigerators that could keep milk cold. This reduced the need for daily milk delivery because households could keep milk cold on their own.

1950s: Plastic & Wax

Glass milk bottles were replaced by plastic containers and wax paper cartons.

Now: The Milkman Resurrection

The local food movement, nostaligia and the convenience of online shopping have helped start a resurgence of milkmen & local dairies providing the service again in North America.

Which brings us to right now and my milkman.

At the moment it's still cold out, especially in the morning when the mysterious milkman drops milk off on my porch. But soon it will be warm. And then hot. And then it'll be milk curdling weather and my porch milk will be chunky.

So I made an insulated milk box for my porch and it went a little something like this.

Insulated Milk Crate

If you are one of the 4 people who will make this, note it can also be used for Uber Eats, Skip the Dishes or other food deliveries that need insulation.

Would you like to save this stuff?

We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.

If you aren't familiar with Skip the Dishes, you can learn all about their hide and seek dinner delivery service.

Get the crate. I used one of the many wood butter boxes I own and it's the perfect size for a milk crate.

Get the styrofoam. Get the vacuum.

Fit one piece on the bottom.

Height check to make sure the bottle has room to stand up.

Add a baby bottle just for fun.

Cut styrofoam to fit the sides, leaving enough room at the top edges to accommodate insulation on the lid.

Add in extra insulation I found in Betty's garage from some meal prep service.

Cut it level with the styrofoam.

Cut another piece of the meal prep insulation to cover the top of the crate.

Cut and measure scrap wood for a lid. Glue and clamp it together. Leave it for the day to dry.

Experiment with making leather hinges. Decide against it.

Try hinges in whatever way they'll work. Yes. Even if that means installing them incorrectly and upside down like this.

Apply white or wood glue to the top piece of cardboard insulation.

Spread it right to the edges.

Close the lid and let it sit for a few minutes until the glue sets a bit.

Open the lid - the insulation layer will now be glued in the perfect position under the lid. Flip everything over so you can add weight to the insulation layer and leave it so the glue can dry for a few hours.