Eagle Archives, April 3, 1967: End of the road for Milk Dealers Assn.
3 minute readPublished: Friday, April 3, 2026 at 4:01 am
Pittsfield Milk Dealers Association Disbands After 40 Years
Pittsfield, April 3, 1967 – The Pittsfield Milk Dealers Association is closing its doors after four decades of operation. The association, once a vital part of the local dairy industry, is dissolving due to a significant decline in the number of dairies in the city and the rise of alternative packaging.
Treasurer Stanley Wojtkowski, the sole remaining officer, cited the dwindling need for the association as the primary reason for its closure. The association's primary function was the Milk Dealers Bottle Exchange, which facilitated the collection, sorting, and return of milk bottles.
The bottle exchange, managed by Nathan Bookless for the past 12 years, will continue to operate independently. Bookless will continue to collect empty bottles from the remaining dairies, sorting and delivering them to their owners. He will utilize his own garage for this purpose, as the association will not renew the lease on its warehouse.
The warehouse, a two-car garage section, once housed a vast collection of obsolete milk bottles, estimated at over 7,000. The bottles ranged in size from gills to gallon jugs, including a few old-fashioned milk cans.
The bottle exchange, which mirrored the association's age, was once a profitable venture, allowing the association to host monthly dinner meetings. However, the decline in the dairy industry and the increasing popularity of paper cartons have significantly impacted its operations. Bookless noted a dramatic decrease in the number of bottles handled, from 1,000 per week a decade ago to 1,000 per month currently.
The empties were collected from various locations, including distant places. The shift away from glass bottles in stores and the reduction in the number of local processing plants packaging milk in glass have contributed to the decline. Only two processing plants in Pittsfield, Crescent Creamery and Dairy Center of the Berkshires, still package milk in glass.
BNN's Perspective: The closure of the Pittsfield Milk Dealers Association reflects the broader changes in consumer habits and packaging preferences. While the nostalgia for glass milk bottles may remain, the economic realities of the industry have made their widespread use increasingly unsustainable. This shift highlights the dynamic nature of business and the need for adaptation in the face of evolving market trends.
Keywords: Pittsfield Milk Dealers Association, milk bottles, bottle exchange, dairy industry, paper cartons, Crescent Creamery, Dairy Center of the Berkshires, Stanley Wojtkowski, Nathan Bookless, glass bottles, milk packaging, business closure, industry decline.