Star of the Milky Way

This advertisement appeared in the October 1953 issues of The Canadian Dairy and Ice Cream Journal, an industry publication appealing to, you guessed it, dairy producers. It was taken out by McKague Chemical Company Ltd., a now-defunct chemical firm based out of Toronto. It was an advertisement for their “McKemco Bottle Washing Alkalies” product, designed to clean and sanitize milk bottles. Clearly, this was marketed during a period when milk was still delivered in returnable glass containers. In fact, it was not until the late 1960s that glass bottles were traded in for the distinctive plastic bags that Canadian milk-drinkers know today. This was in part a response to the difficulty and precariousness of transporting heavy glass bottles. But it was primarily the result of the country’s conversion to the metric system, which required all liquids to be sold in litres. Manufacturers, rather than designing and producing a new size of glass bottle, chose to package milk in the familiar plastic bags that we use today.