Sweden: Vattholma milk tokens

[FosseWay]

Vattholma (pre-1905 spelling Wattholma) is a settlement in Uppsala municipality north of Stockholm. It is the location of one of the earliest so-called Vallonbruken, or Walloon foundries, in Sweden with roots in the 15th century. Cast iron production ceased in 1905 but limited smithing work continued until 1939. The buildings are today preserved. More information here; the website is only in Swedish but the main text is reproduced in English on the downloadable map (link on the right hand side of the page).

These tokens are for milk (mjölk). For some reason milk in particular seems to be the object of payment by token in many Swedish industrial settings. I've seen far more milk tokens than ones for bread, for example. I'm unclear what the A means in the middle of the first; the same token exists with no A.

'A' token: bronze/copper, 30.3 mm, 3.36 g
Holed token: iron (possibly tinned/galvanised), 25.2 mm, 1.18 g

Both are listed in the Europeana database, with identical background information on each suggesting that they were both in use until 1924. I don't know what the significance of 1924 is, and I suspect that the bronze one at least is a bit earlier than that.

[Figleaf]

Milk and bread tokens are found all over the world. In general, they seem to serve one of these purposes:

• Prepayment for delivery during absence (e.g. Canada)
• To allow reimbursement for empty bottles, making sure that empties could only go to the party that sold the full bottle (e.g. UK) - the A could indicate bottle size
• Support for the poor members of a co-operative, making sure it could not be spent on alcohol (Belgium, France, UK)

Peter

[malj1]

For some reason milk in particular seems to be the object of payment by token in many Swedish industrial settings.

One point that comes to mind, it was a requirement to provide a pint of milk to workers involved in spray-painting area of the factories for instance. [I have personal experience of this- in UK]

[chrisild]

Milk and bread tokens are found all over the world. In general, they seem to serve one of these purposes:

• Prepayment for delivery during absence (e.g. Canada)
• To allow reimbursement for empty bottles, making sure that empties could only go to the party that sold the full bottle (e.g. UK) - the A could indicate bottle size
• Support for the poor members of a co-operative, making sure it could not be spent on alcohol (Belgium, France, UK)

In the current issue of MünzenRevue (11/13) there is an article about milk tokens in Switzerland. Did not want to start a new topic just for this, but it is interesting how they were used. You could even specify what you wanted (one token was for butter, one for milk, etc.) and you could leave the tokens in a "milk box" next to your house. The delivery guy would then know what to bring next time.

Some dairy cooperatives even had different tokens for "summer milk" (more expensive) and winter milk. And apparently such tokens are even used these days, at least in the mid-1990s and by some farmers: You buy a bunch of tokens in advance, and if the farmer is not there when you go there to buy milk, you just leave a token ...

Purely accidentally the same issue has an ad about a Swiss milk tokens book, written by Ruedi Kunzmann who also wrote the article, and issued by the same publishing house that also makes the magazine. As it costs €90, it will be for special interest collectors only.

Christian

[Figleaf]

Summer milk contains more fat, as the cows will eat grass, not hay. At this time, milk was sold in glass bottles. The fat would float to the surface and it would be visible to the buyer. Buyers typically preferred a large layer of fat.

Sometimes, the fat would be carefully spooned off and used as "coffee cream" when visitors were expected. In winter, it might freeze, expand and pop off the lid of the bottle. The frozen fat was eaten as an "ersatz" ice cream (this was before fridges.) The fat was also responsible for the "skin" that would form on cooked milk (milk had to be cooked once a day for preservation) and be the delight of some and the horror of many others.

Peter

[andyg]

We still have milk like that - delivered by a milkman.
Not sure if he'll be replaced when he retires

[FosseWay]

In winter, it might freeze, expand and pop off the lid of the bottle. The frozen fat was eaten as an "ersatz" ice cream (this was before fridges.)

Yes, I remember that as a kid. My mum would send me up to the road to get the milk, and would then object that I'd broken off and eaten the pillar of frozen cream that had climbed out the top of the bottle by the time I brought it back to the house. To which my attitude was "if you want the cream, you go and get the milk in the pitch black at the other end of a steep hill then".

(This wasn't that long ago, certainly after the advent of fridges - early 1980s.)

When the milk didn't freeze, the bluetits would often peck through the foil top and drink the cream. For some reason they didn't get earache from my mum for doing this. Some unfairnesses rankle years later...