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No Milk Today
Traditionally, in British society, the milkman has been a family friend, a sex symbol and a cheerful chappie. He has been the eyes and ears of the community, and his genetic legacy has supposedly passed into the lineage of housewives.
This collection of folk tales about milkmen covers the history of the job and the milkman's everyday experience. The book is structured by the milkman's working day. It starts with the alarm-clock and ends with the milkman returning home in search of sustenance and tender loving care. The book is less about changes in the dairy industry and more about the work experiences of the people who have delivered milk.
Many milkmen are featured: Chris Frankland delivered over eight million pints before he retired at seventy-four; Alistair Maclean drove two million miles across the north coast of Scotland in fifty years; and Tony Fowler, an award-winning Leicestershire milkman, helped to put over fifty people in prison.
For more than thirty years the author has collected milkman stories through oral testimony, newspaper archives, anecdotes, diaries, books and more formal interviews.
Praise for the author:
Barnsley: A Study in Football, 1953-59 (with Ian Alister, Crowberry 1981)
'A rare example of folk history . . . a work thankfully free of sick parrots, bulging nets and exclusive revelations.' ( The Yorkshire Post )
'riveting, dreamy, passionate, valuable and stuff of a past era which must not be forgotten . . . I read it in an all-night session.' (Frank Keating, Guardian )
This collection of folk tales about milkmen covers the history of the job and the milkman's everyday experience. The book is structured by the milkman's working day. It starts with the alarm-clock and ends with the milkman returning home in search of sustenance and tender loving care. The book is less about changes in the dairy industry and more about the work experiences of the people who have delivered milk.
Many milkmen are featured: Chris Frankland delivered over eight million pints before he retired at seventy-four; Alistair Maclean drove two million miles across the north coast of Scotland in fifty years; and Tony Fowler, an award-winning Leicestershire milkman, helped to put over fifty people in prison.
For more than thirty years the author has collected milkman stories through oral testimony, newspaper archives, anecdotes, diaries, books and more formal interviews.
Praise for the author:
Barnsley: A Study in Football, 1953-59 (with Ian Alister, Crowberry 1981)
'A rare example of folk history . . . a work thankfully free of sick parrots, bulging nets and exclusive revelations.' ( The Yorkshire Post )
'riveting, dreamy, passionate, valuable and stuff of a past era which must not be forgotten . . . I read it in an all-night session.' (Frank Keating, Guardian )
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
Published October 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 11, 2025
Alright, buckle up, because I'm about to dive deep into Andrew Ward's "No Milk Today: The Vanishing World of the Milkman." This book gets a solid four stars from me, and here’s why.
First off, Ward's research is impeccable. He doesn't just skim the surface; he really digs into the history of milk delivery, from its humble beginnings to its peak in the mid-20th century. The level of detail is astonishing – you'll learn about the types of bottles used, the breeds of horses that pulled the milk floats, and even the specific routes milkmen took. It's a comprehensive look that leaves no stone unturned. Ward also paints a vivid picture of the social and cultural context in which the milkman thrived. He explores how the milkman was more than just a delivery person; he was a trusted member of the community, a friendly face, and often a source of local gossip. The book delves into the milkman's role during wartime, his interactions with housewives, and the changing social dynamics that eventually led to his decline. These anecdotes and personal stories really bring the era to life.
However, the book isn't perfect. At times, the sheer volume of detail can be overwhelming. There are sections where Ward gets bogged down in minutiae, and the narrative loses its momentum. Also, while the book excels at chronicling the past, it could have offered more analysis of the reasons behind the milkman's disappearance. Ward touches on supermarkets, changing consumer habits, and economic factors, but a deeper exploration of these forces would have added another layer to the book.
Despite these minor drawbacks, "No Milk Today" is a fascinating and nostalgic read. It's a well-researched, engaging, and ultimately poignant look at a bygone era. If you're interested in social history, British culture, or simply want to take a trip down memory lane, this book is definitely worth your time.
First off, Ward's research is impeccable. He doesn't just skim the surface; he really digs into the history of milk delivery, from its humble beginnings to its peak in the mid-20th century. The level of detail is astonishing – you'll learn about the types of bottles used, the breeds of horses that pulled the milk floats, and even the specific routes milkmen took. It's a comprehensive look that leaves no stone unturned. Ward also paints a vivid picture of the social and cultural context in which the milkman thrived. He explores how the milkman was more than just a delivery person; he was a trusted member of the community, a friendly face, and often a source of local gossip. The book delves into the milkman's role during wartime, his interactions with housewives, and the changing social dynamics that eventually led to his decline. These anecdotes and personal stories really bring the era to life.
However, the book isn't perfect. At times, the sheer volume of detail can be overwhelming. There are sections where Ward gets bogged down in minutiae, and the narrative loses its momentum. Also, while the book excels at chronicling the past, it could have offered more analysis of the reasons behind the milkman's disappearance. Ward touches on supermarkets, changing consumer habits, and economic factors, but a deeper exploration of these forces would have added another layer to the book.
Despite these minor drawbacks, "No Milk Today" is a fascinating and nostalgic read. It's a well-researched, engaging, and ultimately poignant look at a bygone era. If you're interested in social history, British culture, or simply want to take a trip down memory lane, this book is definitely worth your time.
April 16, 2018
Underwelming, the chatty snippets of stories are interesting but lacked analysis and depth, a missed opportunity.
Read
May 9, 2024"You have to be made of the right stuff to deliver the white stuff.”
September 20, 2025
Long before Amazon was better known as the name of a giant company rather than a long South American River, many things were delivered to people's homes, including milk. Milkmen (and eventually milkwomen) achieved a greater place in British culture and social history than in any other country. The job seemed simple: pick up milk either from the farm or, later on, from dairies (milk depots), and bring it to where customers lived. But the work was hard: bad weather, inconvenient hours, vehicle mishaps, strenuous and repetitive physical tasks, to say nothing of difficult customers, dangerous dogs, and delinquent payments.
This book by a former milkman provides a dry and exhaustive history of every aspect of the job. With a main text running to 268 pages, it includes descriptions of a typical milkman's life, first moving through the workday, then the seasons, then the career. Then he moves on to trends in dairy farming, milk processing, and finally to the milkman's appearance in songs, literature, movies, and television shows. The book contains extensive quotes from firsthand accounts of milkmen and mibbkwomen, often including four examples when one would have been more than enough after the author's own writings.
Milk was delivered in horse-drawn carts, but these were eventually replaced by electric milk floats which came into use around 1940. The author inforsts us: "In 1967 Britain had 55,000 battery-operated vehicles in total on the road, more than could be found in all the rest of the world."
Before the carts and floats, though, milk was delivered by people carrying buckets on a yoke over their shoulders or in a wheelbarrow or hand cart, at least until dairies began to put the milk in bottles before sale: "The first glass bottles appeared around 1880, and aqua and coloured glass bottles came in about 1910."
Milkmen became ubiquitous in communities of all sizes: "In the fifties and sixties, milkmen took their products to about 99 percent of houses. Those were the golden years for British milk." The authinr notes that there were over 40,000 milk rounds in the late 1960's, but by 2000, there were just over 11,000, and deliveries were only going to 26 percent of households. The UK had about 196,000 dairy farms in 1950, but this number had dropped to 13,000 by 2014.
There are occasional flashes of humor throughout the book, such as this observation about early lawsuits over contaminated milk: "Early legal cases suggested that dairies were more culpable if they left a _large object in a bottle (e.g. a snail) rather than a _small object (e.g. a fly). The small object was harder to spot."
Writing elsewhere about snails, the author notes: "The athleticism of snails has been given a bad press. When they crawl up and down empty bottles they seem to move really fast."
Customers would leave notes for milkmen that often included unintentionally humorous content: "Are your cows kept in a pasture because I want to be sure I'm getting pasteurised milk?"
The story of the people who delivered milk throughout Britain is an important piece of history. While this book offers thorough coverage of the subject, it's too long and repetitious, with a dry tone that makes reading it a challenge. The author has left no stone unturned, but readers may wish to approach the book with a common dairy practice: skim it.
This book by a former milkman provides a dry and exhaustive history of every aspect of the job. With a main text running to 268 pages, it includes descriptions of a typical milkman's life, first moving through the workday, then the seasons, then the career. Then he moves on to trends in dairy farming, milk processing, and finally to the milkman's appearance in songs, literature, movies, and television shows. The book contains extensive quotes from firsthand accounts of milkmen and mibbkwomen, often including four examples when one would have been more than enough after the author's own writings.
Milk was delivered in horse-drawn carts, but these were eventually replaced by electric milk floats which came into use around 1940. The author inforsts us: "In 1967 Britain had 55,000 battery-operated vehicles in total on the road, more than could be found in all the rest of the world."
Before the carts and floats, though, milk was delivered by people carrying buckets on a yoke over their shoulders or in a wheelbarrow or hand cart, at least until dairies began to put the milk in bottles before sale: "The first glass bottles appeared around 1880, and aqua and coloured glass bottles came in about 1910."
Milkmen became ubiquitous in communities of all sizes: "In the fifties and sixties, milkmen took their products to about 99 percent of houses. Those were the golden years for British milk." The authinr notes that there were over 40,000 milk rounds in the late 1960's, but by 2000, there were just over 11,000, and deliveries were only going to 26 percent of households. The UK had about 196,000 dairy farms in 1950, but this number had dropped to 13,000 by 2014.
There are occasional flashes of humor throughout the book, such as this observation about early lawsuits over contaminated milk: "Early legal cases suggested that dairies were more culpable if they left a _large object in a bottle (e.g. a snail) rather than a _small object (e.g. a fly). The small object was harder to spot."
Writing elsewhere about snails, the author notes: "The athleticism of snails has been given a bad press. When they crawl up and down empty bottles they seem to move really fast."
Customers would leave notes for milkmen that often included unintentionally humorous content: "Are your cows kept in a pasture because I want to be sure I'm getting pasteurised milk?"
The story of the people who delivered milk throughout Britain is an important piece of history. While this book offers thorough coverage of the subject, it's too long and repetitious, with a dry tone that makes reading it a challenge. The author has left no stone unturned, but readers may wish to approach the book with a common dairy practice: skim it.
January 18, 2022
I’ve long ignored the celebrity author endorsements of fiction, now it seems that I shall have to ignore similar endorsements of non-fiction. This one has a supportive quote from the first-class social historian David Kynaston.
Given this endorsement, I foolishly expected a nice social history of milk delivery with some anecdotes thrown in. Whilst there is a bit of history toward the end, it is mostly a series of relatively recent anecdotes structured around various aspects of a milkman’s and milkwoman’s job.
In the acknowledgments, the author says it took him over 30 years to write. It seems to me that the 30 years were spent gathering every story he could about doorstep delivery and then relaying them in this book.
It’s easy to be critical. The writer seems to be warm-hearted and enthusiastic and that earns the review an additional star, which otherwise would have been a single star.
Given this endorsement, I foolishly expected a nice social history of milk delivery with some anecdotes thrown in. Whilst there is a bit of history toward the end, it is mostly a series of relatively recent anecdotes structured around various aspects of a milkman’s and milkwoman’s job.
In the acknowledgments, the author says it took him over 30 years to write. It seems to me that the 30 years were spent gathering every story he could about doorstep delivery and then relaying them in this book.
It’s easy to be critical. The writer seems to be warm-hearted and enthusiastic and that earns the review an additional star, which otherwise would have been a single star.
June 9, 2025
I read this book because I wanted to know about the famous milkman. It's a non-fiction book so I put it in my bag to read during my daily commute. (I usually read non-fictions on the way because even if I skip reading a couple of days, I don't lose the flow of plot.) I don't understand why some people wrote that they had lost interest, that the book consisted of just a compiled notes and slips of milkmen put together, that it was boring, there were no funny stories etc. I feel the opposite: it is a thoroughly researched book of the phenomenon of delivering milk to someone's gate or doorstep. It is a very important account of how certain people chose the harsh working hours and difficult physical conditions to offer their service to the people. Kudos to the writer who had been collecting the small notes of milkmen and milkwomen for almost thirty years (!). I consider the book as an achievement, not a failure. It must have been a trying task how one can write such a meticulous book from all those slips and news-cuts, doing research in libraries, interviewing people. It was a real treat (or treatise?) for me.
Since I read the book on my commute, it took some time to finish. But the slow reading gave me the satisfaction of ruminating on each topic related to the milkman. When I thought that I had read a hundred pages and there will have nothing been any more to write about, Andrew Ward found a new topic. And again another one. I was mesmerized how deeply one can go into one single topic.
For those who said that there is no humour in the book: Each chapter starts with a quote of witty note referring to the topic. Then of course, several times the writer plays with the words, give astonishing pieces of information about bottles and floats, mentions "milky" names of never-heard bulletins and magazines, describes stories about the amorous milkman etc.
But the most important aim with the writing of the book is to give accolades to all those committed and brave milkmen and milkwomen who have been serving the people.
Since I read the book on my commute, it took some time to finish. But the slow reading gave me the satisfaction of ruminating on each topic related to the milkman. When I thought that I had read a hundred pages and there will have nothing been any more to write about, Andrew Ward found a new topic. And again another one. I was mesmerized how deeply one can go into one single topic.
For those who said that there is no humour in the book: Each chapter starts with a quote of witty note referring to the topic. Then of course, several times the writer plays with the words, give astonishing pieces of information about bottles and floats, mentions "milky" names of never-heard bulletins and magazines, describes stories about the amorous milkman etc.
But the most important aim with the writing of the book is to give accolades to all those committed and brave milkmen and milkwomen who have been serving the people.
August 16, 2023
Having read Amazon reviews, I had high expectations. However, I found this book dry and incredibly repetitive. I can understand why an ex-milkman might find this nostalgic, but would not recommend to anyone else. There is an attempt to theme chapters, but they often go off on a tangent, end abruptly, or repeat very similar anecdotes from previous chapters.
April 11, 2020
I found this book fascinating. I have fond memories of the milkman who delivered to our family when I was a child and I think it is outrageous that such a social commodity should have been pushed out by the greed of large corporations. Bring back the milkie!
March 31, 2026
I thought this was going to be more interesting and give more of the history of the milkround, the dairies, the fusuion of dairies and the demise of the milkround.
Instead it was a series of anectotes from milkmen which were OK enough but not that good. The writing wasn't brilliant and I got about half way through before i decided enough was enough and cast it aside.
Instead it was a series of anectotes from milkmen which were OK enough but not that good. The writing wasn't brilliant and I got about half way through before i decided enough was enough and cast it aside.
April 8, 2017
A good [but not mighty] try
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews