H84.380.1

• agriculture

Milking Machine. Description: Portable dual electric and vacuum milking machine. Brown painted tricycle base with two wheels in back and small steel wheel in front, small electric motor mounted in center of base, single handle with rubber hand hold, two swinging bars with hooks underneath hold suction cups (four on each side) and hoses, two cream colored vacuum chambers mounted under handle bar, two vacuum gauges above, two round cut work plates mounted at rear to hold: two glass 10 gallon jars for receiving milk, removable nickel plated gasket sealed lids, with protruding elements for attaching hoses, brown electric wire and 2 prong plug. "National Milker Co. Des Moines Iowa". History: Used in El Dorado conty on the Tyler Dairy Ranch, part of large collection amassed by California Dairy Council with intentions to become part of State Agricultural Museum, now held by State Parks Dept. Remarks: scratch marks on belt shield, few chips overall, spots of missing plating on bottle lids. From the History Information Station: Object: Electric milking machine with eight cups. Used on the Tyler Dairy Ranch in El Dorado County, ca. 1920s. History: Early northern California dairies were along the coast where grass was plentiful and it was easy to ship butter, milk and cheese to communities around San Francisco Bay. By the 1890s, the San Joaquin Valley established itself as the center of the state's dairy industry, in part because of the development of refrigerated railroad cars, the network of railroad tracts into the region and plentiful supplies of alfalfa for the cows. The first "automatic" milking machine was developed in 1862. It was a hand- operated vacuum pump. By the 1920s, electricity was available to power the suction device, enabling dairy farmers to greatly increase the efficiency of production.

Used: Tyler Dairy Ranch ~ El Dorado Co.