This 1956 educational film was produced by Encyclopedia Britannica Films (:14) and is a revision of an earlier EB film. “Milk” shows the progress of the dairy industry in the United States. It tells the tale of how pioneers began by moving westward with their own dairy cows, how we changed the cow itself to encourage it to produce more milk and how we changed the industry and our homes to maintain this product. It opens with images of two women waving to a pioneer moving his oxen and cart forward (:23). Milk was considered a valuable food commodity and most pioneers felt it necessary to have a cow with them. Young children often watched as the adults would milk their cows (:47). The film notes cows during this time period in fact produced less milk than cows do today (1:02). After the cream is skimmed from the milk, it is poured into the churn (1:10). The young girl takes up the chore of churning (1:15). She then scoops out chunks of butter (1:34). A woman drags up the milk stored in the cellar (1:40). Milk generally would not remain cool enough to hold for very long using this method. Modern refrigeration (1:49) allowed the product to hold for several days. A Milkman delivers milk from his truck to the stoop of a resident in town (1:59). Two containers of milk and one container of cottage cheese is delivered (2:14). Cows graze amid the field of a dairy farm (2:17). Dairy cows are bred specially to produce more milk than a regular cow (2:23). Dairy farmers work to turn their grounds (2:27). A mother cleans a calf (2:34). Cows must have a baby in order to produce milk (2:36). The calf is taught to drink the milk from a pail as the mother’s milk is taken to be used for humans (2:45). Cows filter through the loafing barns day and night (3:10). Two men work to clean the milking parlor (3:19). Milk zooms through glass pipes ahead (3:31). Cows move into the milking parlor (3:37) twice daily. They are fed ground up grain (3:52). The dairy man washes the cow’s udders (3:58) prior to milking. The strip cup is used to receive test samples of milk (4:10). A worker cleans the milking machines employed by modern dairy farmers (4:16). The machine works to pump the milk into the pipes above (4:39). The product is dumped into a glass container in the next room (4:48). This is transported to a refrigerated holding tank for cooling (4:55). A truck arrives to take the milk to the plant (5:01). Milk is directly pumped into the farmers holding tank on the truck (5:12). Prior to pumping the milk, the driver pulls samples (5:23) which will be tested at the milk plant (5:26). He also checks the products temperature (5:33). The truck moves off (5:42) for the dairy plant (5:48). Large milk cans move down a conveyor belt (5:50). Milk from the tank trucks move through tubes (6:09). Large tanks are employed to keep the milk at temperature (6:20). Samples are shown tested in the dairy laboratory (6:23). Workers sanitize all pipes and machinery (6:41). Milk will move from the holding tanks through the dairy (6:55). It will first move through a pasteurizer (6:58). The milk is sent from the holding tanks to the pasteurizer (7:18). It is heated to 160 degrees for 15 seconds and then rapidly cooled to just above freezing (7:33). As milk stands, cream rises to the top in the jar (7:40). Homogenized milk does not separate (7:51). A machine is employed in order to break the cream into tiny droplets (8:00). An automatic bottle washer cleans the milk bottles (8:10). The bottles are sterilized and cooled by the same machine (8:20). Filled and capped milk bottles are prepared to go to a storage room (9:03) to await delivery. A large churn works to turn cream to butter (9:20). Machinery works to churn a favorite dairy treat; ice cream (9:33). Cottage cheese is scooped into a large vat (9:42). Dairy is loaded into the dairy truck for delivery (9:54). A woman moves down the dairy isle (9:58) plucking two gallons of milk in a wax paper container. The dairy truck is seen arriving at a residential home again (10:13) as the film concludes.

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