The object for January is the milk delivery truck.

This rather odd-looking truck was once commonplace in Ohio cities. It is a milk-delivery truck, manufactured by Divco Corporation, which produced milk-delivery trucks from 1925 to 1986.

Home delivery of milk and other dairy products once was common. The introduction of glass milk bottles in 1878 and widespread use of pasteurization made milk safer to drink and easier to transport than ever before. Around the country, dairies found that they could earn more if they provided delivery service of their products directly to consumers' homes.

Dairies at first delivered their products to homes via horse-drawn wagons. As American generally abandoned the horse in favor of gasoline-powered vehicles, dairy delivery also adopted horseless vehicles. Many types of vehicles were used. In the early-morning hours, milkmen made their rounds, delivering their products door to door.

The Divco company of Detroit, Michigan, began production of specialized dairy-delivery trucks in 1925. Their line of dairy-delivery trucks evolved into a very efficient vehicle. Refrigeration replaced ice for keeping products cool, and special controls allowed driver-deliveryman to easily move the truck from house to house.

In 1937 Divco introduced the once-familiar snub-nosed van that brought milk, cream, cheese, and butter to millions of American doorsteps. After some good years, the company fell on hard times. In 1968 Divco was purchased by Glenn Way of Delaware, Ohio, and production moved there.

But the days of widespread home dairy delivery were doomed. Supermarkets and convenience stores drew increasing numbers of consumers, and home delivery declined. In 1973 only 10 percent of U.S. households received daily deliveries; by 1995 fewer than 1 percent purchased the service. While some dairies continue to offer home delivery today, the service is utilized by few households.

The Divco company's distinctive trucks no longer travel the nation's streets. The company filed bankruptcy in 1985, and the last truck left the assembly line in 1986. The era of home mass home milk delivery had ended, and the Divco truck became a collector's item rather than workhorse of commerce.