From the papers discovered behind our old kitchen cabinets to the vintage user manual for our dryer, we still get excited when we uncover traces of a home’s past. Recently, while planting shrubs in the front yard, we literally unearthed a small piece of local history:
It’s an old milk bottle cap from the era when milk was delivered right to your doorstep. The little cap brings to mind a quaint, small-town scene—complete with handwritten delivery notes and glass bottles left on porches. We love the printed “Monday” on the bottom, presumably indicating the delivery day (or maybe a reminder of when the milk would spoil).
Curious about its origin, we did some internet sleuthing and found a charming connection: the Richmond Dairy building.
Our milk cap appears to have come from that dairy. Sherry and I had driven past the Richmond Dairy building in Jackson Ward before but didn’t immediately link it to our yard discovery until we saw historical images and references online. Today the building has been converted into the Richmond Dairy Apartments. One of its most distinctive features is the four decorative 16-foot milk bottles that anchor each corner—an unusual architectural flourish that hints at the building’s past. We’d love to see the inside of one of those bottle-shaped units someday.
For now, we’re deciding what to do with our milk cap. It would look lovely in a small shadow box in the kitchen, perhaps mounted on textured linen or worn paper to enhance a vintage, shabby-chic vibe. Other possibilities include incorporating it into a framed collage of neighborhood finds, using it as a decorative accent in a glass cloche, or attaching it to a simple magnet for the refrigerator.
Have you ever uncovered a similar “ancient treasure” while renovating, gardening, or cleaning out an attic? We’d love to hear your stories and ideas for displaying little historical discoveries.
Image courtesy of rvaphotodude’s Flickr stream.