Hood Milk Bottle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Boston Children's Museum. (Discuss)

The Hood Milk Bottle, originally constructed in Taunton, Massachusetts, now serves as an ice cream stand and snack bar next to Boston Children's Museum.

The Hood Milk Bottle is 40 feet (12 m) tall, 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter and weighs 15,000 pounds. If it were a real milk bottle, it would hold 58,620 gallons (221,900 L) of milk. It was constructed in 1933 by Arthur Gagner on the banks of the Three Mile River on Winthrop Street (Route 44) in Taunton, Massachusetts. He used the structure as a stand to sell homemade ice cream next to his store. The Hood Milk Bottle was one of the first fast-food drive-in restaurants in the United States and was built using the "Coney Island" style of architecture.

Gagner sold the bottle to the Sankey family in 1943. It was abandoned in 1967. The bottle stood vacant for ten years until H.P. Hood and Sons, Inc. was persuaded to buy it. After purchasing the bottle, Hood refurbished it and donated it to Boston Children's Museum. On April 20, 1977, Hood shipped the bottle by ferry to Boston on a voyage it called the "Great Bottle Sail."

The Hood Milk Bottle now serves as an ice cream stand and snack bar next to Boston Children's Museum. Movies are sometimes projected onto the side of the structure for museum events.^[1] ^[2]

The bottle recently underwent extensive renovations. In fall 2006, the bottle was "uncapped" -- its original top half was sliced off and preserved -- so that its base could be moved slightly and rebuilt on the new Hood Milk Bottle Plaza in front of Boston Children's Museum. A renovated bottle was put back in place on Children's Wharf and officially re-dedicated by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino on April 20, 2007, thirty years to the day after it was moved to Children's Wharf.^[3] ^[4]

The Hood Milk Bottle was featured in a cartoon captioning contest in the Boston Globe on March 14, 2007.^[5]