ASHLAND — Back in the day, a great place to hang out with your friends was at the local dairy.
Dairies were very popular in our society for about a half-century and were where high school students often went after school or sporting events. Families would also gather downtown on a Saturday evening for an ice cream cone or a quality, hand dipped, take home quart of one of the popular flavors such as butter pecan or black walnut.
Dairies also delivered milk products directly to local homes.
Although there were many dairies in Ashland over the years, probably the most popular was the Ashland Sanitary Dairy, 161 Center Street, which is the current location of the Save-A-Lot grocery store.
It was also considered a prime business location, central to the small town of Ashland. The Sanitary Dairy started in about 1913 and quickly built a solid clientele.
The thriving business made creamery butter, milk, whipping cream, cottage cheese and ice cream among other dairy items and touted it had “250 satisfied customers a day.” New, healthier technology was also used in processing. Prior to pasteurization, a centrifugal clarifier machine “removed any objectionable matter which might have been in the milk despite a dairyman’s ordinary measures.”
Ashland Sanitary Dairy was also well-known for its customer service. They always welcomed visitors into the dairy to see their plant and the processes they used.
They provided large quantities of their products from the dairy itself and smaller quantities were available from wagons or in local stores. The dairy shipped ice cream to nearby towns via the Southwestern and all telephone calls received prompt attention, according to their ads.
By 1934, the Dairy had also opened a retail store. The combined wholesale and retail operation extended within a 100 mile radius of Ashland. The estimated annual output was 300,000 pounds of butter, 75,000 gallons of ice cream, and daily milk sales of 1,500 gallons. The business employed 30 people and owned a fleet of nine trucks.
Ashland Sanitary Dairy was in business until the mid-1960s when it merged with the Boyer Dairy to form the All Star Dairy.
Contractor found a bottle in a wall while renovating. I cleaned it up and is from this company. Says one pint liquid. Also says to return bottles daily