Delightful Dairy Items

Image Gallery At front, a DeLaval milker, completely restored to a gleaming finish. At back, left to right: A Calf Way, BLK, and another DeLaval.

Those in the dairy industry will tell you that June is Dairy Month. But for dairy items collector Joe Pedro, every month is Dairy Month. 

Joe, who operates a dairy at Visalia, Calif., has built an extensive collection of everything from milking machines to homogenizers, milk scales to cheese cutters. Housed in a two-story building at his home, the collection takes all comers.

"I don't turn anybody down when they bring me stuff," he said, "or they won't bring it anymore."

Joe's collection is the natural result of a life spent in the dairy industry.

"My first milking machine was a DeLaval," he said. "My dad bought a dairy in '46, and that's what we had. I've been accumulating this stuff since then, but I never had any time to put it together or do anything with it until about 12 years ago."

And time, of course, is what a collection of this caliber consumes in vast gulps. When it comes to restoring the vintage milking machines, for instance, Joe is a master craftsman.

"One of those lids takes two weeks to do," he said. In theory, his approach to restoration is fairly simple.

"I just tear it all apart and clean everything," he said.

But there is a secret ingredient: "It takes a lot of elbow grease," he said.

He buffs with extremely fine sandpaper until the piece gleams. Then he sprays the piece with Varithene, a clear plastic sealer used on decks and boats.

"That seals it so I don't have to polish it again," he said. "On the real light brass items, it will darken it a little bit."

The rubber hosing on his milking machines hasn't needed any restoration work, and is in good condition, he said. He tries to keep it that way: When he's not showing his collection, the rubber hoses are kept coiled in the bucket.

"Somebody told me it'll keep better if it's kept in the dark," he said.

Dairy items are hard to come by, Joe said, especially in California.