Monday, February 13, 2012

Serendipity Estate Sale Find

Sunday's Washington Post:
A story about the dairy business in the DC area. (Click to enlarge.)
 
They had a band! That became the Redskins Marching Band!  

Here's some history from the Brawner Bulletin,  Vol. 2, No. 1 Fall 1996
 MILK BARON
One of Northern Virginia’s most prominent natives is
Henry Newlon Brawner, Jr. (1876-1937), whose turnof-
the-century one-horse dairy became by the time of his
death one of Washington, DC’s largest dairies. In 1896,
George M. Oyster Jr. started Chestnut Farms Dairy and
five years later hired Henry Brawner as a bookkeeper.
During their tenure together, the strict Mr. Oyster would
often fire an employee for a slight rules infraction, only
to have Henry hire him back later the same day. Mr.
Oyster died in 1921, and Henry continued as the sole
owner of the dairy. In 1925, Henry, who was known for
his expertise in business, engineering and finance, built
a large dairy at Pennsylvania Avenue and 26th Street in
Washington DC. “The new dairy plant “was widely
known for its beauty of design and arrangement, its
efficiency, and the outstanding quality of its products
....” [Record of Progress, Chestnut Farms Dairy, by
George B. Taylor, 1929]. Several years later, Henry sold
the dairy to National Dairy Products Corp. for close to a
$3,000,000 profit and, in 1931, merged his interest with
Chevy Chase Dairy to become Chestnut Farms - Chevy
Chase Dairy.
In addition to his success in the dairy business, Henry
invested in real estate, sponsored the first Washington
Redskins Marching Band (stocked with Chestnut Farms
employees) and was active in a variety of church, civic
and charitable organizations.
Henry was born on a farm in what is now Loudon
County, Virginia. His father probably was the Henry N.
Brawner who fought with Mosby’s Rangers in the Civil
War. As a child, Henry’s family moved to Alexandria,
Virginia.
Henry married Edith Graham (1874-1933). With
Edith, Henry had two children, Sarah (married Edward
S. Pardoe) and Edgar N. Brawner. After Edith’s death,
Henry married his second wife, Iola.
Henry died suddenly of a heart attack on July 7, 1937
at his summer home at Cape Neddick, Maine. He had
been ill for several weeks, but his death was unexpected.
He was survived by his wife, Iola, son Edgar and
daughter Sarah Brawner Pardoe, all of Washington DC.
Edgar continued the family’s dairy business after his
father’s death.
[Thank you to Donald Virdin for providing a copy of
Henry Newlon Brawner, Jr.: Outline of His Career and
Accomplishments, which served as the source for much of the
information in this article. Other information came from the
Washington Herald, July 8, 1937 and the Washington Evening
Star, July 8 and July 9, 1937].

From Sunday's estate sale:  Chevy Chase Dairy started in 1885.  I'm guessing this is circa 1930's.
 
 

Don't cha luv it when it comes full circle?
I'm adding it to my bottle collection.

3 comments:

  1. Such nice milk bottles. I remember we went to the dairy to fetch the milk in a small bucket. Or it was sold in glass bottles which could be returned and used again. Change is not always for the better! Globalization has a lot to answer for!T♥

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  2. I have one like this, downsizing, how can I sell it, not on Facebook.

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  3. Thank you for this interesting information! Do you have any idea when Chestnut Farms was acquired by Sealtest?
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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