This week will mark the anniversary of America's first full-time appointment of an Inspector of Milk, a position created in the city of Boston on August 10th in 1859.
The job was created and funded via a state law intended to prevent fraud in the dairy industry; dairy farmers and distributors caught selling poor quality, adulterated, or contaminated milk were subjected to a ten dollar fine. The Inspector was authorized by law to investigate farms and milk processing facilities to inspect conditions and take evidence that could be used to prosecute offending parties.
To mark the occasion, we're sharing this cover from the O.H. Cow Book trade catalog, created in 1926 by the Our Husbands Company of Lyndon, Vermont. The sales catalog advertised feed and other products like Cow-Tone, Cow's Relief, and Calves' Cordial designed to 'cater to cow health' and improve milk production on dairy farms.
This catalog is call number and is part of Hagley Library's Saul Zalesch collection of American ephemera (Accession 2019.0222.SZ). To view it online now in full in our Digital Archive, just click here!