Milk bar

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For New Zealand, after normal trading hours, owner-operated convenience shops, see Dairy (store).
For other uses, see Milk bar (disambiguation).
Fitzroy North

In

corner shops or corner stores.[1] Similar, but not identical, establishments include tuck shops. Milk bars are traditionally a place where people buy newspapers, and fast-food items such as fish and chips, hamburgers, milkshakes, and snacks. They are essentially a smaller-scale suburban form of the convenience store
but are more likely to be "mum and dad" small businesses rather than larger franchised operations.

The National Milk Bar franchise was a café chain in the United Kingdom, founded in the 1930s.[2]

History

Central railway station, Sydney milk bar, 1946

The first business using the name "milk bar" was started in India in 1930 by an Englishman, James Meadow Charles when he opened Lake View Milk Bar at

Temperance Society as a morally acceptable alternative to the pub, and over 1,000 milk bars had opened nationally by the end of 1936. Milk bars were known in the United States at least as early as 1940 as evidenced by contemporary radio recordings.[citation needed
]

By the late 1940s, milk bars had evolved to not only sell

pinball machines (later upgraded to video games
), with tables and chairs to encourage patrons to linger and spend more money.

The milk bar as a social venue was gradually replaced by

convenience stores
.

Modern era

Australia

Milk bar film-set from Strictly Ballroom at former Darling Island Junction rail yard, Pyrmont

Milk bars in Australia today almost universally sell

cigarettes and occasionally fast food
. Most generally serve milk (in cartons or bottles) or other dairy related products. Although there are far fewer milk bars than there were during the 1970s and 80s due to changing shopping habits, most people living in suburban areas still have a milk bar within walking distance or a short drive of their home.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the National Milk Bar

corner shops
serve a similar function to milk bars in modern Australia, providing everyday groceries, sweets, newspapers and such.

There is a campaign in the United Kingdom to encourage schoolchildren to consume more dairy products, by installing 'milk bars' in schools.[citation needed] The idea is that if the dairy products are attractively presented and properly stored, the children will be more willing to buy them. The organisers behind the project work to develop links with school caterers, so that the handling of milk and dairy produce can be improved, and they promote milk consumption and encourage milk drinking to become a habit that will be carried into adulthood. The milk bar project has been extremely successful in Scotland for 18 years, and it is currently being extended across England and Wales.[citation needed]

Similar establishments

A "dairy bar" is the term for a similar restaurant/store common in the Northeastern United States, especially upstate New York, which is a large producer of dairy products. A "malt shop" (named for the ingredient in a malted milkshake) is very similar to a milk or dairy bar, serving milkshakes and soft drinks as well as limited foods, such as hamburgers and sandwiches. Although there are still a few around, these have largely fallen out of fashion in favor of fast food.[5]

The term dairy is also used for these establishments in some places, particularly in New Zealand.[6]

The term

communist era that still exist today. They provide a wide range of government-subsidised meals. In 2011, however, the Polish Government began to withdraw their subsidies, and this led to protests by people opposed to their closure.[7]

See also

References

  1. New York Times
    . Retrieved 2023-01-10. ...one part corner store, one part candy shop and sometimes a deli or news agent or neighborhood social club.
  2. ^ "One shop left as Aberystwyth National Milk Bar closes". BBC News. 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  3. ^ "A tribute to National Milk Bars". Retrieved 2007-06-27.
  4. ^ One shop left as Aberystwyth National Milk Bar closes BBC News 23 December 2010
  5. ^ "What is a Malt Shop? (with picture)". wiseGEEK.
  6. ^ "The Kiwi Dairy | New Zealand". www.newzealand.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved 2018-06-07.
  7. ^ "Eating cheap - Polish style". BBC News. 2012-04-25.

External links

Media related to Milk bars at Wikimedia Commons

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