Kalamazoo Creamery Company Collection
Scope and Contents
“This leaflet and recipes are provided you through the courtesy of your milkman,” and explains the correct way to whip cream and how to use it to enhance different dishes and desserts. When whipping cream, day old heavy whipping cream is the best to use and has to be cold (32-44 degrees) and the bowl and whipper must also be chilled. If the cream becomes too warm (48 degrees or warmer) it will likely turn to butter. Whipping forces air between the clusters of fat globules and the more air whipped in, the fluffier and lighter it will be. Suggestions for dishes to add whipped cream to includes pumpkin pie, baked apples, baked broiled rice and stewed apricots, date and nut pudding (includes recipe), gelatin or molded jellies—plain or with fruit, fruit salad, and short cake (includes recipe).
Dates
- Creation: 1907-1997
Creator
- Kalamazoo Creamery Company (Kalamazoo, Mich.) (Organization)
Biographical / Historical
The Kalamazoo Creamery Company started in 1904, taking over the building that formally house the Kalamazoo Sanitary Milk Company on North Church Street by 1905 before moving to 412-418 East South Street in 1906. Kalamazoo Gazette articles from 1917 and 1919 mention the Creamery buying the Kalamazoo Brewery at the corner of Portage and Lake Streets and occupied the building by 1919, according to City Directories. The property and assets were gained from the Michigan Butter Company in 1920. Then by 1965, the Creamery sold their bottled milk and cottage cheese operations and also their ice cream business by 1966. The company changed hands by 1970 from the Wick, Shield, and Steers families to the Independent Cooperative Milk Producers Association out of Grand Rapids, when they began to concentrate solely on production of butter, powered skim milk, and condensed skim milk.
Extent
.05 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
The collection amounts to 0.05 cubic feet and is composed of a single, two-fold leaflet promoting the use of whipped cream for the Kalamazoo Creamery Company, organized in Kalamazoo in 1904 and in operation until 1997.
The leaflet is 5½” x 3” unfolded, 5½” x 6¼” opened to the first fold, and 11½” x 6¼” opened to the second fold. It is in good condition with black and white print and blue borders that are starting to fade around each page. The cover has a black and white image of a platter of six different desserts topped with whipped cream and a bouquet of flowers with the title, “Delicious Whipped Cream has a hundred delightful uses.” The upper right corner of the cover has ‘.50c’ written in pencil. The first page has the title, “The Correct Way to Whip Cream,” followed by a black and white image of a bowl of cream with a crank whipper being held. The middle page is titled, “A few delightful suggestions of dishes made more delicious with Whipped Cream,” and has seven black and white images of various desserts topped with whipped cream. The back page has a black and white image of a table setting including a plate of, what appear to be, cookies, a bowl of ‘New York Ice Cream’ and a vase of flowers.
General
This collection was purchased from funds from the Starring Endowment.
- Title
- Kalamazoo Creamery Company Collection Finding Aid
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Claire Ranly
- Date
- 2014-09-19
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu