Posted by Owen Roberts on June 13, 2005 at 11:45:50 from 194.201.78.129 user OwenRoberts.
In Reply to: Re: Milk, perishables posted by John Wilson on June 12, 2005 at 00:40:22:
Reasonably substantial houses in the UK had cellars. Some cellars had a marble slab against the north wall of the house. Food such as meat, cheese and butter would be stored there and would last as well as a fridge.
However in summer I remember my parents keeping milk in a bucket outside the back door. The bucket was filled with water to approximately 2/3rds the height of the milk bottle and the bottles covered with muslin cloth that dipped in the water.
This saved going down into our cellar (and tripping over the cat in the gloom!) and the milk kept cool enough not to turn rancid.