Today is National Milk Day. Do I have any unusual books on milk in my library? Of course.
First is about the animal where milk comes from. I was just walking through a used bookstore, and this book called out to me. I have a bunch of farming books, and had to add it to the Library. ”Udder Diseases of the Cow, and Related Subjects” by A.S. Alexander, 1928. The author quotes that there was “120,766,487,000 pounds of milk produced by the dairy industry in 1926. Disease affecting the udders of these cows not only causes serious economic losses but is a menace, in that it may make the milk dangerous for human consumption.”
“The Miracle of Milk” by Bernarr Macfadden, 1926. The book tells of the virtues of whole unpasteurized milk. If you were ill for almost any reason, you could go on program drinking only milk-four to six quarts a day, for five weeks and you probably would be cured. Who knew that “a quart of milk had the same food value as a pound of beefsteak, two pints of oysters, eight eggs, two pounds of chicken, or three pounds of fresh codfish?”
Macfadden was a bit of a kook. But he was a very healthy kook, and is known as the father of Physical Culture. He was also quite famous in his time, and published many books. He was very interesting, and I have more than a few of his books.
Some of the unusual ones are five volume set of “Macfadden’s Encyclopedia of Physical Culture’; ‘Super Virility of Manhood”; “Power and Beauty of Superb Womanhood”; ”Sweethearts for Life or Marriage Idealized”; and of course “Milk”. Too much milk, and you might need his book “Constipation”, and if reading all these books late at night was hard, try “Strong Eyes-How Weak Eyes may Be Strengthened”.
A biography of him, by his ex-wife is also in the collection. He got a little too wacky for her and their seven kids. While milk ‘does the body good’, it didn’t help his head.
I’ll end with “The Milk Mustache Book, 1998. What a great advertising campaign this was. Naomi Campbell was the first picture. This book lists 78 ad photos. Every star was offered $25,000 to be photographed either to themselves, or two a charity of their choice.
Milk has a great place in the library.
Librarytomes 