Foot-Powered Milking Machine
notes: label: Description
content: The Mehring Company began developing mechanized milkers in 1892 as a way to improve the speed and sanitation of cow milking. The machines continued to be manufactured through the early 1920s, and more than 3000 were sold. Although William Mehring was from Maryland, most of the milkers he manufactured were sold in New Zealand and South America. The foot-powered milker was designed as an improvement to the earlier hand-powered model, and could milk two cows at once with less exertion from the operator.
label: Description
content: The machine consists of a foot treadle connected to several hoses that could be attached to a cow’s udders. When the foot treadle was rocked forward and backward, it produced a suction in the hoses, which would squeeze milk out of the udders and deposit it into a bucket that hung on the milker. The hoses were valve-controlled, so that the operator could stop suction on an individual teat without disconnecting the machine. An 1896 pamphlet advertises that the milker allows one man to milk up to twenty cows per hour, and since physical exertion was minimal, women and children could also help with the milking, making the chore even less time-consuming.
label: Description
content: In addition to improved efficiency, Mehring advertised the sanitation of his machines. The milk can no longer sat on a dirty stable floor, and air exposure was minimal since the milk went from cow to bucket through a sanitary hose. Thus, the milk was not contaminated with the dirt, hair, and germs that plagued milk from traditionally-milked cows.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture and Natural Resources
label: See more items in
content: Family & Social Life
label: See more items in
content: Work
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Earl J. Waybright
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.58A03
label: catalog number
content: 58A03
label: accession number
content: 220004
objectType: label: Object Name
content: milking machine, foot-powered