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Rising to the Top:
Dairy collectibles a logical choice for Pennsylvania farm family
By Mary Margaret Pecht
Photos by Jason Minick
One way or another, it started with DeLaval.
At least partly, it's because Terry and Shirley Womer use DeLaval milking equipment.
"There's a lot of advertising out there," says Shirley Womer, as her eyes sweep some of the extensive collection of antique dairy equipment and DeLaval advertising memorabilia in her farm home near Paxtonville, Pa.
"We got into farm signs, anything to do with DeLaval, and it just escalated ... veterinary things, collectibles. We call ourselves pack rats."
A cream separator did exactly what the name implies - separated the cream from the rest of the milk. The cream was sold for a variety of purposes, including table use, sauces and dressings, baking, whipped cream and ice cream, as well as churning butter.
The machines fell out of vogue when farmers started getting refrigeration.
Cream separators came in different sizes, but basically in two varieties: the gravity flow machines, and thosethat worked by centrifugal force.
The gravity-flow models simply sat there while the cream (which is lighter than the rest of the milk) rose to the top. The skim milk was drawn off the bottom through a spigot. They didn't take a lot of work, but they were time-consuming.