Milk and Society in the 20th Century Milk advertising campaigns in the twentieth century promoted milk consumption,

and these campaigns capitalized on appealing to the familial roles and responsibilities of the consumer as a mother, wife, or caretaker. Common themes in the advertisements were nutrition, health, appearance, and youthfulness. These campaigns also reveal an interesting relationship between the milk industry and the government, the latter engaging in milk promotion traditionally reserved for the private sector. The milk industry and U.S. Government worked in cooperation to reduce milk surpluses and boost milk sales.

Pre-War and War-Time Campaigns Milk advertisements at the turn of the twentieth century in America were printed on trade cards and other types of ephemera, often featuring milk wagons or other pastoral images. One trade card printed by Bordens Milk between 1870 and 1900 is cut in the shape of a milk wagon (See figure 1) advertising various Borden products, filled with lots of print and displaying the Borden eagle icon. The image shows a well-dressed milk delivery man working the wagon; with accompanied words that read one of our wagons passes your door every day. This type of advertising attempts to legitimize Bordens Milk, assuring that their products are reliable and available, found in the clean white bottles also pictured. Another early trade card from 1890 advertising heavy cream by Helvetia Milk Condensing Co. (See figure 2) pictures a young girl and boy dressed in adult clothes, taking care of a baby doll. The card asserts that Highland Brand Evaporated Cream from Helvetia is the

safest food for babies. The young boy is posing as a doctor, claiming that the baby would not be sick if the mother had fed it the Highland Cream. This early advertisement is significant because it signals a future trend in milk advertising, paying attention to a mother caring for her baby and the milk company promising that their product will solve the childs health problems. With the arrival of the twentieth century, a shift in advertising developed with the advent of World War I and government intervention in the private sector. A surplus of war supplied milk would have deflated prices substantially if action was not taken, so the government along with various dairy councils launched promotion programs within schools across America. In Natures Perfect Food, Melanie DuPuis argues that the implementation of these campaigns was one of the principal causes for the large increase in milk consumption in the United States post World War I, and this consumption is reflected in statistics. In 1917, the per capita consumption was 42.4 gallons, and increased to 43 gallons in 1920. Just five years later, it was 54.75 gallons per capita (DuPuis, 107-109). Just years later as a result of the Great Depression, the Work Progress Administration (a government agency that aimed to employ unskilled workers to carry out public works projects) hired artists to create posters advertising milk and its importance in a healthy diet. The WPA Art Program established its work in various cities, encouraging Americans to consume milk for summer thirst, or for warmth. In New York City, a WPA Poster from 1941 (See figure 3) told the public to Eat these every day, with a big bottle of milk as the center piece image. The white milk bottle popped against the dark blue shading, and stood out among the rest of the foods pictured. The image presented on this poster hoped to portray milk as the center piece to a healthy diet, with adults drinking at least a pint and more for children. A similarly themed poster from Oklahoma (See figure 4) was printed that encouraged milk as a staple of a good

lunch. This poster from the WPA of Oklahoma was directed towards school children, and printed in red, white, and blue ink. The simple, bold message against the white background would be easy for the students to read and asserted that milk was a staple item in a lunch consisting of a hot dish, sandwich, and fruit. The American colors conveyed a sense of patriotism involved in eating the government-recommended lunch. In Cleveland, the WPA Posters used stylistically different images. The posters characterized milk drinkers as healthy, attractive, and in shape. These posters illustrate people with shining white teeth and perfectly groomed hair. Milk seemed to provide a vital energy to its consumer, whether in the cold winter or hot summer; milk should be the beverage of choice and the answer to ones problems. One poster (See figure 5) presents a tan man against a light blue background with the sun shining in the upper right corner. He is well dressed with a layered collared shirt and sweater, grinning widely with bright white teeth. The man looks happy with a thick head of brown hair, seemingly young and vivacious. The text on the poster reads: Milk for summer thirst. In this poster, the WPA promotes milk as a thirst quenching drink for the summer heat, and connects the act of drinking milk with a young, attractive, and healthy appearance. This WPA advertisement aims to convince a different demographic, grown men, to drink milk when traditionally women or mothers have been the target of campaigns. Another Cleveland WPA Poster (See figure 6) illustrates a woman bundled up in winter clothes, against a light blue background with snow in the upper right corner. The text reads: Milk for warmth, accompanied by the smaller text of energy food. In this poster, milk is seen as a source of comfort and warmth in the bitter days of winter. The WPA is marketing milk as the perfect drink for both the summer (See figure 5) and winter (See figure 6). The first audience the WPA tries to reach would view milk as more of a luxury or positive addition to

their diet, where the second audience in the Milk for warmth poster seems to need milk as a staple to keep warm and to be drunk for energy. The third WPA Poster from Cleveland (See figure 7) is more comprehensive than the previous two, advertising Milk for healthgood teeth, vitality, endurance, and strong bones. This poster illustrates a giant milk bottle alongside a series of smaller images. The more detailed images are printed in light colors like white and tan, in front of a darker blue and grey shaded background. The white of the milk bottle corresponds to the white found in the characters clothes and teeth. The series of four images is each placed next to a set of words: the first, a man and women with bright white smiles accompanied by the text good teeth, the second, a man and woman swinging golf clubs while grinning widely next to the words vitality, the third, a man and woman playing tennis along the word endurance, and finally a set of plump babies adjunct the text strong bones. The people pictured in the advertisement are engaging in golf and tennis, activities usually associated with upper-class individuals that can afford to participate in such hobbies at places like country or athletic clubs. The themes of this poster include wealth, but focus on health and appearance. The WPA Posters from Cleveland (See figures 6-7) represent important themes and trends that surface in milk advertisements throughout the twentieth century. The advertisements appeal to aspects of health and nutrition, as well as appearance and youthfulness. The posters are targeted towards all aspects of the population, both the underprivileged and the wealthy, as well as the old and the young. The large demographic reached through the persuasion of these advertisements contrasts a typical milk advertisement, most often directed towards mothers of young children.

Consequently, an important element of the WPA program is the basic issue of the government promoting a commercial product. While employing artists the government was able to advertise milk to the American public, something usually reserved for advertising agencies. Why would the government be advertising a product usually represented by the commercial sphere, other than to please its own interest in the success of the product? The relationship between the government and the milk industry is an important reflection of society and economics in the twentieth century. In order to reduce price deflation from a product surplus, the government pushed for the sales of milk and milk products by establishing authority and credibility within themselves through the USDA and FDA. At the time, milk seemed to be a healthy and wholesome food that would provide Americans with a wealth of nutrients, while boosting the economy simultaneously. A conflicting relationship exists between the government and private industry because of the governments duty to serve the American peoples interests, and the private industrys desire to increase the revenue of their products. Throughout most of the twentieth century, milk was believed to be the perfect food, boasting nutrients and minerals that could improve anyones health. Though the government was unaware of these findings earlier in the century, milk and dairy have recently been seen in a less than perfect light. Milk that hasnt been skimmed (a more modern development) contains high amounts of saturated fats which can be extremely detrimental to the average persons health and diet. In retrospect, the governments push for dairy as the the perfect food was not the best idea. The fallibility of the FDAs science in the earlier decades of the twentieth century failed to meet the needs of the American people. An example of this failure can be seen through the USDAs publication of the Food Pyramid. Although the pyramid did not debut until 1992, the

USDA has been distributing similar guidelines since 1916. In 1943, the Basic Seven groups were printed on a wheel where butter was listed as a food group (Luckie), now butter is often seen as an enemy to the healthy diet. Some groups have even filed suit against the USDA, claiming their department unfairly promotes the special interests of the meat and dairy industries through the Food Pyramid. Recently, six of the eleven members assigned to the US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee demonstrated to have financial ties to meat, dairy, and egg interests. Those involved in the agriculture industry have dominated the USDAs advisory committees since the early 1950s. Despite physicians groups and lobby organizations criticizing the Food Pyramid as biased and unhealthful, USDA dietary guidelines have reflected the industrys push for greater consumption of both meat and dairy (Green). Dairy subsidies have been carried over from the Great Depression, where the government considered small dairy farmers essential to maintaining a national food supply. Today, the USDA legislates that every public school serves milk, and free or subsidized alternatives to milk are not offered without a doctors note. The USDA subsidizes dairy farms by purchasing unused milk products while mandating dairy consumption for schoolchildren. The ties between the dairy industry and the federal government are closely woven (Green).

After World War II In the nineteen forties and fifties the themes of health, nutrition, appearance, and youthfulness in milk advertisements surfaced even further. Milk advertisements often featured attractive and healthy babies and children, as well as mothers caring for their family. The advertisements boasted about the positive effects milk would have on childrens growing bodies, both nutritionally and physically.

One Carnation Milk advertisement from the 1940s (See figure 8) pictures a young girl dressed up in her mothers clothes, imitating a movie star illustrated on the magazine cover set on the girls vanity. The largest text printed in the advertisement writes, A star is born! while the smaller text written in paragraph form reads:

Give her time! Shell be as beautiful as her current movie heroine. Her mother will see to that. Mothers lipstick, mothers shoes, mothers great big hat and fur even mothers ways. Little girls are such copycats! Thats why mothers are careful to set good examples- why they take such pains to build the right kind of future mothersand future fathers, too. Thats why they are so sold on Carnation Milk for baby, for growing children, for the whole family. They know its safe milk, and easy to digest, because its sterilized. They know homogenization enricheswith tiny butter globules, readily assimilated. They know its essential milk minerals and extra sunshine vitamins help build sturdy bones and beautiful sound teeth. And they know how good it isfor drinking, creaming, cooking. What flavor and creamy-smooth texture it adds! Families like the milk-rich dishes that Carnation makes.

The Carnation Milk logo next to an image of a Carnation Milk can resides at the bottom of the page. Rather than a simple, to-the-point message, the Carnation Milk advertisement acts as a narrative or advice column. First, the image of a pretty young girl and the notion that a star is born are correlated with the consumption of Carnation Milk immediately when the consumer looks at the images. Once the reader inspects the paragraph of text, Carnation avows that mothers always act careful to set good examples and take such pains to build the right kind of future mothers. Carnation automatically assumes and suggests that it is a mothers duty to take on these responsibilities to help her family. Next, Carnation promises the product will help babychildren [and] the whole family to build sturdy bones and beautiful sound teeth because of its enriched minerals and extra sunshine vitamins. In the advertisement, (See figure 8) Carnation makes the argument that its condensed milk product will help grow a young girl into a woman as beautiful as a movie heroine, while

nourishing the rest of a mothers family safely because of its sterilization and homogenization. In Food is Love Katherine Parkin looks at the emphasis on beauty even further, asserting that it started with small children, like in the Carnation Milk advertisement (See figure 8). The advertisement embodies the recurrent themes in milk promotion: health, nutrition, appearance, and youthfulness. Another remarkable aspect of the advertisement is the role-casting Carnation engages in by assuming that little girls dress up like their mothers, whose duty it is to act as a good example by providing nutrition for ones family in the form of a Carnation Milk product. In a 1941 advertisement for milk, a young girl not even of school age proclaims My beauty treatment is Golden Guernsey [dairy products]. The interview with the young girl reported that her mother said she has to drink just lots and lots of Golden Guernsey it helps make nice straight legs and pretty teeth (Parkin, 170). Similar to the Carnation Milk advertisement, Golden Guernsey sends a message to the consumer that their product will help girls to grow up to become pretty young women. One Nestls Milk advertisement (See figure 9) from the same decade illustrates a much simpler image and scenario than the Carnation Milk advertisement. Nestls Milk promotes their product by printing an image that takes up a majority of the page, picturing a very muscular and healthy looking baby in the bathtub, with enough strength to turn on the water faucets. The baby appears to be happy with a smile, bright blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and curly hair. The text at the top of the page writes Strong man stuff, and the words placed at the bottom read Nestls Milk. The message can be interpreted simply: Nestls Milk is strong man stuff that makes a baby happy and healthy. Underlying tones of this advertisement include a mothers duty to feed her child Nestls milk so that he can develop strong muscles and a healthy complexion, indicated by his rosy cheeks.

The themes of strength and health are important in this Nestls Milk advertisement, as well as the duty of a mother to ensure her son can carry these qualities. Testimony by mothers that the product was responsible for the childs survival and health accompanied the childs picture. One mother testifies in an Eskays Food advertisement for infant milk that the product has built him up to a perfect boy: bright, healthy, and never sick one day (DuPuis, 104). The following decade, themes of mothers caring for happy, healthy, babies persisted in milk promotion. In a 1950s White House Milk advertisement (See figure 10), a young blissful mother is illustrated cradling her wide-eyed, happy, and plump blonde baby in her arms. This image of a baby with feelings and emotions varies from images used in advertisements in the early part of the century, where the primary concern was milk safety. Mothers were apprehensive to feed their children milk at all because of the possible bacteria and disease it carried, let alone feeding the baby milk for the sake of its pleasure and happiness. The blonde hair and fair skin of both the mother and child in the White House Milk advertisement pop against the pink background, and are set above a text box that reads:

Babys First SweetheartIt was love at first sight! Mothers the most wonderful person in the world to her baby. Shes the source of every comfort and delight. At mealtime, for instance, its mother who offers that bottle filled with White House Milk, so creamy-rich and so mighty welcome when a babys hungry. Yes, baby likes White House, and doctor approves it, because it provides the nourishment a baby needs for growth and radiant health. Truly, theres none better! Smaller text at the bottom of the box printed on the advertisement also notes that there are 400 U.S.P. units of pure vitamin D per pint in White House Milk. U.S.P. units refers to the potency of a vitamin, determined by the USDA. The text marking this vitamin D allotment,

probably scientifically meaningless to the consumer, attempts to bolster White Houses legitimacy by using technical terms. The White House Milk advertisement (See figure 10) first connects a loving mother and her healthy child with White House Milk simply when the consumer glances at the illustrations. Next, White House aims to convince mothers that theres none better than White House by associating their product with the intimate nature of bottle feeding and the love a baby gives its mother after the feeding occurs. Interestingly White House, like Carnation Milk, assumes that the mother is the most wonderful person in the world to her baby, invoking this responsibility onto women. White House Milk represents the significant themes of nutrition and health in this advertisement. Carnation Milk, again promoting their product in the 1950s, printed an advertisement (See figure 11) that features a large, close-up photo of a young, bright blue-eyed, plump, baby. The fair skin and golden eyes of the baby correspond with similar images used in other milk advertisements (See figures 9,10). The big head of the baby stands out against the pale blue background shading. The text that reads at the bottom of the page is italicized and in quotes: My doctor recommended Carnation. The first understanding of the advertisement is that the healthy and plump baby pictured is a result of Carnation Milk, recommended by doctors. Additionally, smaller text writes that 8 out of 10 mothers who feed their babies a Carnation formula say their doctor recommended it. Carnation is using first the authority of doctors and secondly the authority of mothers to appeal to consumers. Like the other post-War advertisements, Carnation makes the assumption that mothers are responsible to provide a certain milk product to their family.

After analyzing milk advertisements from the twentieth century, an overarching implication is the importance of nutrition, health, appearance, and youthfulness. These four factors were seemingly vital to advertisers and promoters of milk products to reach the consumer, almost always assumed to be the mother who acted as caretaker for her family. In addition to placing the mother in her role as caretaker, advertisers subjected boys and girls to gendered imaging. Milk was given to boys so they would grow big muscles, while supplementation for girls grew long, straight legs and pretty teeth. The techniques used in milk advertising campaigns reflects greater themes in twentieth century American society, such as the advertising industrys casting and reinforcement of gender roles within the sphere of the home, family, and consumer culture (Parkin) or the conflicting interests of the U.S. Government ties to industry and health of the American people (Green). In todays world, it is important to recognize the influence of advertising companies and even the government on everyday life choices, whether the result is positive, negative or controversial because their interest lies in their success and revenue, not for our health or wellbeing. Take heed the words of Anita Roddick, an outspoken British social activist and business woman: Since the governments are in the pockets of businesses, who's going to control this most powerful institution? Business is more powerful than politics, and it's more powerful than religion. So it's going to have to be the vigilante consumer.

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