A Brief History of Milk
4000 B.C.
Early evidence of milking cattle is evident in neolithic Britain and Northern Europe; discovered through the analysis of “degraded fats on unearthed potshards.”
1611
Cows arrive in Jamestown, Virginia.
1796
English physician Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine due in part to making observations about people who had cowpox.
1810
French confectioner and distiller Nicholas Appert first successfully preserves milk by sterilizing it in sealed bottles.
1837
Charles Rockwell becomes one of Wisconsin’s first cheesemakers, beginning production near Fort Atkinson. Dairy production in Wisconsin began growing in the 1840s; by the end of the century, dairy cows were found on more than 90% of the state’s farms.
1848
A U.S. patent is granted on an ice cream freezer.
1859
The first creamery was established in the United States.
1862
Frenchman Louis Pasteur completes his first successful germ-killing test using a critical process that would come to bear his name. However, the test subject was wine, not milk.
Photo of Getty Images
1866
P.H. Kasper, who became known as the “World’s Greatest Cheesemaker,” was born in Sheboygan County.
1869
Swiss immigrants start to produce Swiss cheese in Green County, in southwestern Wisconsin.
1872
William Dempster Hoard (a future Wisconsin governor) and six other “wise men” create the Wisconsin Dairymen’s Association, which creates regulations, establishes quality standards and sets prices for the dairy industry.
1874
The ice cream soda (similar to a float) was created by soda jerk Robert M. Green of Philadelphia. After running out of sweet cream in a popular drink that included sweet cream, syrup and carbonated water. He replaced the cream with vanilla ice cream, and the ice cream soda was born.
1880
The first reported upright silo in Wisconsin is built in Oconomowoc.
1880s
“The Filled Cheese Crisis” was an early controversy in Wisconsin’s attempt to become America’s Dairyland. Global importers started to notice that cheese shipped from Wisconsin had been tampered with and “filled” with lard or vegetable oil.
1881
The first ice cream sundae is said to be created by Edward Berner at his Two Rivers ice cream parlor, after customer George Hallauer asked for chocolate sauce on his ice cream instead of in an ice cream soda.
1881
Wisconsin passes its first anti-margarine law. Some form of ban would stand until 1967.
1883
Racine food processor William Horlick creates the method of making malted milk. He was asked to create it after physicians asked for baby food that was prepared from milk and cereals. Malted milk is created from milk, malted barley and wheat flour.
1884
The first glass milk bottles are patented.
1888
W. D. Hoard became Governor as the “cow candidate” on the Republican ticket.
1891
UW-Madison opens America’s first dairy school, run by the first professor of animal husbandry in the United States, John A. Craig.
Was a Wisconsin Jersey cow partially responsible for the growth of Wisconsin’s Progressive party?
When Republican incumbent governor Edward Schofield was caught transporting a Jersey to Madison for free, constituents took note. Schofield was elected on a platform that criticized public officials accepting gifts from railroads and express companies. By the time the 1900 election came around, Wisconsinites took their feelings to the polls. Robert La Follette was then elected governor and worked to kick off America’s progressive movement.
1903
James L. Kraft opens an eponymous cheese company in Chicago, a turning point for Wisconsin dairy farmers. Within 20 years, Wisconsin had doubled its production of cheese.
1906
Beer baron Fred Pabst establishes a farm near Oconomowoc, raising purebred Holsteins. He was a major force in the state’s dairy industry as well, serving as director of the Holstein-Friesian Association from 1918-30.
1912
Elm Grove farmer and dairy advocate Adda Howie becomes the first woman appointed to the Wisconsin state board of agriculture.
1914
The first Green County Cheese Day is held; it’s the oldest food festival in the Midwest.
1915
Wisconsin becomes the leading state for dairy production.
1915
The National Dairy Council was founded.
1915
The first paper container for milk is used. It would become standard packaging in the 1950s and ’60s.
1920s
A Holstein cow in Waupaca County was a traveling salesman of bootleg whiskey during the prohibition. The cow traveled on a truck with a false bottom that carried the bottles of hooch around to customers.
1920
More than 90% of Wisconsin farmers owned dairy cows.
1931
Georgia O’Keeffe paints Cow’s Skull: Red, White and Blue was painted. The painting was said to be inspired by Wisconsin photographer Grant Gill.
1933
During a statewide “milk strike,” 5,000 farmers hold a demonstration at the State Capitol. Some 400 were arrested.
1933
Fluid milk is added to army rations.
1933
Frozen custard debuts at the Chicago World Fair. It arrived in Wisconsin five years later when Paul Gilles opened the state’s first stand on Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa.
Photo courtesy of Gilles Frozen Custard
1944
The number of cows in Wisconsin peaks at 2,367,000.
1949
America’s Dairy Shrine is created in Fort Atkinson.
1951
The first successful cow embryo transplant takes place at UW-Madison.
1971
The dairy cow becomes the state’s official domesticated animal. State officials pile on in 1987 by making milk the official state beverage.
1983
Wisconsin’s Milk Marketing Order was created to develop new dairy products, grow domestic milk and dairy sales, and educate dairy customers.
1984
Gov. Anthony Earl names Ellsworth the official Cheese Curd Capital of Wisconsin.
1987
Milwaukee County Zoo’s dairy complex opens, featuring a dairy barn and herd of cows, which were milked on and off throughout the day for demonstrations.
1993
The famous “Got Milk?” advertising campaign launches, eventually featuring celebrities like David Beckham, Hugh Jackman, Taylor Swift, Elton John and Brett Farve rocking the milk mustache.
1995
In response to the huge success of the “Got Milk?” campaign, Mattel releases a limited edition “Got Milk?” Barbie doll.
1997
Craig Culver opens a custard and burger stand in Sauk City, the first location of what would become a fast food franchise bringing cheese curds to new regions of the country.
2008
The FDA approves the consumption of milk from cloned cows.
2017
After a lawsuit, Kerrygold Irish Butter becomes legal to sell in Wisconsin.
2020
The COVID-19 pandemic causes dairy farmers to dump up to 3.7 million gallons of milk per day due to the steep drop in demand from restaurants, schools, cafeterias and other food service providers.
