Mr. Milk Bottle (Gone)
Pomona, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Who knew a milk bottle could dress this well? Mr. Milk Bottle in Pomona greeted customers with a smile and a jaunty top hat, giving a routine dairy stop a character of its own.
The drive-through opened in 1960 at 1533 Indian Hill Boulevard. Milk, eggs, and other groceries could be picked up without turning the errand into a supermarket expedition. The happy bottle overhead made the place easy to recognize, especially for younger passengers watching from the back seat.
As dairies and citrus groves disappeared around Pomona, the sign became a reminder of the area’s agricultural past. The little business eventually carried Driftwood branding, but the gentleman in the top hat kept his familiar identity.
UPDATE: The dairy building was demolished in September 2025, but the sign was saved for incorporation into the property’s redevelopment. Mr. Milk Bottle lost his old workplace, though fortunately not his place along Indian Hill Boulevard. 10-26
Bossener Dairy
San Bernardino, CA Photo and info courtesy David Carrasco
Follow the arrow to Bossener Dairy in San Bernardino. With a star above and a substantial pointer below, this drive-in dairy sign put plenty of effort into helping customers find the milk.
Reportedly dating to the late 1950s or early 1960s, the business belonged to the years when Inland Empire neighborhoods were spreading into former agricultural land. Drive-in dairies offered a convenient middle ground between the farm and the supermarket, keeping everyday purchases within reach of the car window.
UPDATE: The supplied history identifies Bossener as a lost drive-in dairy, though a demolition date hasn't been established. This view preserves its arrow-and-star welcome from the days when picking up the milk came with a memorable roadside sign. 10-26
PVC Dairy (Gone)
Pomona, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Despite the initials, PVC Dairy in Pomona wasn't advertising plumbing supplies. PVC stood for Pomona Valley Creamery, a much more appetizing explanation for the milk bottle perched above the street.
The creamery’s history reportedly reaches back to the 1920s or 1930s, when local dairies supplied communities surrounded by considerably more agricultural land. Bottled milk connected the farms with neighborhood stores, delivery routes, and family refrigerators.
Check out the open steel framework carrying the bottle. Rather than hiding the support behind a broad sign panel, this arrangement gives the bottle a perch of its own. No smiling face or top hat on this example. The merchandise itself handles the introduction.
UPDATE: The"PVC" in PVC D dairy stands for Pomona Valley Creamery. Many thanks to Fred Schmidt for update. 02-07
UPDATE: Vintage embossed creamery bottles also survive as collectibles, offering a considerably smaller way to remember Pomona’s dairy history. 10-26
Driftwood Dairy
South El Monte, CA Photo courtesy Ahmet Suner
Still making the milk run without leaving the car? Driftwood Dairy Market in South El Monte keeps that familiar Southern California tradition going on Santa Anita Avenue. Pull into the drive-through lane, pick up a few groceries, and continue home. No shopping cart required.
The Driftwood name dates to 1946, when Mike Dolan established the company in neighboring El Monte. For generations of local children, its cheerful cow mascot, Drifty, was also a familiar face on school-lunch milk cartons. Seeing the same character outside a neighborhood market brought a little of the lunchroom along for the ride.
This location has its own modest drive-through arrangement, with a low building and lanes bringing customers alongside the service windows. The famous 1961 parabolic arch belongs to the separate Lower Azusa Road location. Here, the attraction is the everyday convenience of a neighborhood dairy stop still doing its job.
UPDATE: Driftwood Dairy Market remains open in South El Monte. Good to see a place where picking up the milk can still be measured in a quick trip through the driveway. 10-26
Rockview Farms
Downey, CA Photo courtesy Ahmet Suner
Before much of Downey filled with houses and commercial buildings, Rockview Farms was already in the milk business. Irish immigrant Bob Hops founded the dairy in 1927, giving this familiar roadside name roots well beyond the sign shown here.
The McCandless brothers purchased the operation five years later. The business grew to include drive-in stores, home delivery routes, and wholesale service, bringing milk to customers in several different ways.
In 1965, Dutch immigrant Pete DeGroot bought Rockview after supplying milk to the company from his own farm. His family continued the operation, preserving a dairy business in a region where much of the surrounding farmland became city streets.
UPDATE: Rockview remains family operated by the DeGroots, approaching its 100th anniversary in 2027. Good to see this Downey dairy name still in business nearly a century after its first deliveries. 10-26
Driftwood Dairy
El Monte, CA Photo courtesy Marilynn Hendrie
Getting milk looked positively futuristic at Driftwood Dairy in El Monte. Check out the sweeping parabolic arch over the drive-through. A quick grocery stop came with an entrance that looked ready for a world’s fair. 12-07
Originally called the Driftyland Dairy-Port, the facility opened in 1961. Theodore Masterson built the structure and may also have designed it. Beneath the enormous arch, the small retail buildings left room for cars to move through, putting the architecture to work around the shopping routine.
The tall pole sign added another attraction, with hexagonal panels and a needle-like spike reaching above the property. Even the driveway curbs received attention, decorated with ceramic tiles featuring milk bottles and Drifty, the smiling cow mascot.
Driftwood Dairy
El Monte, CA Photo courtesy Marilynn Hendrie
The closure concerns noted in 2007 were real. Owners proposed replacing the drive-through with a retail and office development. Preservationists responded, and in November 2008 the state determined the property eligible for the California Register of Historical Resources.
UPDATE: The dairy survived the demolition threat, but its sign suffered wind damage and alterations in 2012. The largest upper panel wasn't recreated, leaving a shortened version of the original display. These earlier views capture the full roadside arrangement, when buying milk looked like an errand for the space age. 10-26
Mr. Milk Bottle (Gone)
Bossener Dairy
PVC Dairy (Gone)
Driftwood Dairy
Rockview Farms
Driftwood Dairy
Driftwood Dairy
