911爆料吃瓜

An early milk delivery vehicle of J. T. Tebay. Driving the rig was 鈥淭rem鈥� Tebay. The young lad holding the quarts of milk was Del Tebay, all related to the Amos Tebay family. (Photo provided)

In the previous Look Back, an early Wood County dairy and the beginning of rules to protect the milk consumer were shared. The requirement of pasteurization in 1950 caused many small dairies to “get out” or at least alter their business methods. The story that first appeared in the historical society newsletter in 2009 continues:

The dairies that “got out,” didn’t leave the dairy business entirely, they merely found another way to sell their precious white fluid. The only real change at the farm was that their milk was now put in 10-gallon milk cans and sold by the pound directly to the processor. The cans, many of which are now collector items, were kept in a large cooler in the “milk house” and picked up daily by the processor or taken to them by the dairymen. One of these processors was just off 7th Street on Fairview Avenue where they also sold real ice cream. It was possibly operated by the Fairmont Company. Perhaps some of our readers recall enjoying ice cream cones there in the 1960s. This building is still standing and being used. If I recall correctly, two other locations to obtain real ice cream were on Sixteenth Street near Lynn Street, and on Mary Street between George and William streets.

Family Dairies

Though there were probably others, there were two southern Wood County families to whom the term “dairyman” applies to several branches of the family; these were the Florence and Tebay families.

The “pasteurization law” forced the Florence Bros. Dairy, (Earl and Faye) of Lost Pavement Road to “go big” by opening a milk processing plant on Rayon Drive. The building still stands and is now occupied by the Overhead Door Company.

When Florence opened their Rayon Drive operation, they also purchased one of the first milk trucks that many of us may recall seeing on local streets in the 1950s. These early trucks, “refrigerated” with blocks of ice, enabled dairies to get the milk from cow to customer in two days.

Before trucks, the early morning “clip-clop” of shod horse hooves, as shown in the photo above, could be heard making deliveries of milk over the brick streets of Parkersburg.

Tebay Dairy – One of the Earliest

Dairyman, WCHPS member and now retired Wood County Commissioner Bob Tebay grew up in the dairy business. His father, Amos Tebay, purchased the family dairy in 1931. Tebay Dairy also chose to “go the pasteurization route,” resulting in their becoming one of the largest and long-lived dairies in the area. In addition to Tebay milk, their ice-cream and egg-nog were local favorites.

Nature’s perfect food. Even though it may present health risks, raw milk, considered by some to be “nature’s perfect food,” is again becoming popular, and with certain restrictions can be sold in West Virginia.

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Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: roberteenoch@gmail.com, or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.