Historical information

This bottle was manufactured in 1954 and donated alongside an accompanying note which implies it was a free school milk bottle given to a girl in Grade 2 in that year. In 2018 it was shown to the original recipient's grandchild, who wrote the accompanying note, before both were likely donated to us. The year of manufacture can be determined from the '4' by the Australian Glass Manufacturers maker's mark; the context indicates the bottle is from the 1950s, while the 4 indicates it is from a year ending with 4.

The free school milk program for children up to 13 was established by the Federal Government in 1950 and implemented in Victoria by 1951. This was not the first free milk program - for example, Victoria had a winter-only program for a time - but was the first to standardise it across Australia. The program continued for two decades until a 1973 report assessed that the program was poor value for money, causing the Whitlam government to abolish it. In the words of Australian Food Timeline: "Recollections of the scheme vary. While some remember it fondly, most seem to have unpleasant memories of milk left to become warm and unappetising. Many claim it put them off milk forever. Personally, I would rank the abolition of school milk as one of the crowning achievements of the Whitlam government."

Significance

The free milk program in many ways seems to be a remnant of a time where Australian nutrition policy aimed to counter hunger and maximise caloric intake rather than minimise it. This bottle and its accompanying note is an example of how much nutrition policy and educational standards has changed since the 1950s.

Physical description

This item was donated with a printed note which has been included in its record.

This main item is a small glass milk bottle with a thread for a screw-on lid (not included). For a little over half its heigh, the walls of the bottle are vertical, before they curve inwards to make the top slightly narrower than the base. The base is stipled, and near the base is a makers mark and a pattern of dots denoting the mould from which the bottle was formed.

The printed note is two pages, stapled in the top-left corner, with page numbers handwritten in red in the top right.

Inscriptions & markings

Bottle, Makers Marking: "4 [Australian Glass Manufacturers Logo] M10357"

Accompanying Note:
Page 1: "I interviewed my Grandma about when she was in / Grade 1 in 1953 and how school has changed to / now in 2018. / That is 65 years difference."
Page 2: "Some other things that have changed. / - Girls could only wear skirts to school, no pants. / - Boys and Girls had different play areas. / - At recess every child was given a bottle of milk to drink. / - Everyone walked to school."