Old Milk Bottles - Various uses
Some decades ago, our local dairies used to deliver milk in stout and strong glass bottles. I remember that the capacity was half a litre. Buffalo milk was popular. Consistency of contents in terms of fat, quality, colour and flavour was of high order. People used to return empty bottles in exchange for a fresh supply. So, the bottles were in great circulation. Breakage was rare compared to the volume of business. Though customers used to wash them before exchanging empty bottles, cleaning was not proper. Dairies spend a lot of time and money cleaning them after every use, otherwise fresh filling will be spoiled. Progress in technology affording much better and cheaper polythene sachets / pouches made such glass bottles obsolete. Those days are gone but not memories connected with them.
At times you are left with a couple of empty milk bottles. They were put to different uses. Some of them that I can recall are listed below:
1. Filled with coloured sand, it can be used as a paperweight on our Tables
2. Filled with hot water, it can be used as a hot compress for wounds / injuries / sprains
3. Filled with Ice Cold water, it serves as a cold compress for reducing fever
4. When you want 500 ml of a liquid in the kitchen, it turns into a measuring device
5. It can be used to grow small creepers / flower plants etc decorating the window
6. Painted bottles become handy candle holders, hangers etc
7. Broken bottles too may be sent for recycling
8. Persons practicing onanism may find a handy tool in this ubiquitous glass bottle
9. Of course, it can be used for storing Puja oil or other liquids
10. Some may sell it to the scrapes collector and make some pennies
Ten is an ideal count for any enumerative write-up. Therefore, I stop right here.
