Guide to the Otto’s Suburban Dairy Records, 1926-1978 (bulk 1935-1965)
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Otto's Suburban Dairy Records,
- Creator
- Otto's Suburban Dairy (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS#473
- Extent
- 1.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
- Date
- 1926-1978
- Abstract
- Otto's Suburban Dairy was founded in 1926 in Emsworth, Pa., by Richard Otto and served the northern boroughs and the greater Pittsburgh area for fifty years. The Otto's Suburban Dairy Records includes publications pertaining to the dairy industry as well as a small selection of advertisements, promotional material, order forms, and pricelists from Otto's Suburban Dairy.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
Otto's Suburban Dairy was founded in 1926 by Richard (Dick) A. Otto and his four sons: Frank, Walter, Richard, and Luther. When Richard was eleven years old, he and his father, Benjamin, created the Harmony Creamery Company in Pittsburgh which continued to function as an independent company for many years. When he was 17, Richard opened the Economy Creamery in McKees Rocks, Pa. On February 22, 1924, Benjamin F. Otto died, leaving R.O. at the head of the family business.
In 1926, R.O. and his sons started Otto's Suburban Dairy as a small milk distribution business on Camp Horne Road in Emsworth, PA, to serve the northern boroughs of Pittsburgh. On the first day of operation, 35 gallons of milk were handled. By the fall of 1932, the plant was processing 2,200 gallons daily and serving 7,000 homes. An ice cream department was opened in May 1931, which made use of the cream split from the whole milk used to make butter cream. On opening day, all 125 gallons of ice cream sold out.
Frank Otto graduated from the Dairy Husbandry Department at Penn State College and took over as the president of Otto Suburban Dairy in 1932. During his tenure, a retail and lunch department operated and approximately 600 gallons of buttermilk were sold per year. Otto's Suburban Dairy allowed their customers to open monthly charge accounts and their driver salesmen received ten percent commissions and a one dollar bonus for bringing in new customers.
Even during the Great Depression, the company experienced growth. The Dairy Produce wrote in 1932, "High quality supported by excellent service and buttermilk effectively merchandized as a trade builder have established the Otto Suburban Dairy securely in the environs of Pittsburgh and in some sections of the city itself." A country plant was later opened in Adamsville to gather the milk and transport it to the main plant for processing. Another plant was also opened in Zelienople.
Many Pittsburghers recognize the Otto name, not only from having had Otto's delivered to their homes until the 1970s, but also from the Otto Milk building in Pittsburgh's Strip District neighborhood (Otto Milk was another dairy company run by the members of the Otto family). Otto's Suburban Dairy was eventually purchased by the SealTest Label in the mid-1970s.
Scope and Content Notes
The Otto's Suburban Dairy Records are housed in three boxes and arranged in three series: Publications, Related Companies, and Topical. The collection includes publications pertaining to the dairy industry as well as a small selection of advertisements, promotional material, order forms, and pricelists from Otto's Suburban Dairy.
Series I: Publications, 1929-1978
This series contains a range of local and national publications concerning various aspects of the dairy industry. Issues of Dairyman's Price Reporter reveal efforts to align dairy prices in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio during the 1960s. Another locally published trade magazine, Milk Inc. Reporter, chronicles regional and national dairy industry news. Other topics covered in this series include the advantages of using paper containers (Milk Trends) and marketing strategies (Milk Marketer).
Some of the publications offer more technical information, such as Food Engineering's "Processing Milk and Milk Products" and the Pennsylvania State University College of Agriculture's "Specifications and Costs for Processing Operations in Small Market Milk Plants." Regulations established by the state of Pennsylvania regarding dairy production can be found in the Advisory Health Board of Pennsylvania folder.
Several items are aimed at children, including a comic book about milk production published by the SealRight Company and the Animals that Give People Milk and About Moo and Me booklets. This series also contains some material not directly related to the dairy industry. The National Sales Development Institute contains three small booklets about general sales techniques.
Series II: Related Companies, 1939-1943
This series contains a small amount of material from two other dairy companies with ties to the Otto family: Harmony Dairy and Otto Milk. These folders house a pricelist from Harmony Dairy, advertisements from Otto Milk, and a letter from Otto Milk addressed to the Retail Food Market Operators of Metropolitan Pittsburgh.
Series III: Topical, 1926-1968
Some of the material in this series, including advertisements and promotional brochures, reveal the public face of Otto's Suburban Dairy. Other items, such as the stationary, route selling manual, cream separator instructions, customer order forms, and pricelists, offer a glimpse into the day-to-day business activities of the dairy.
The "Local Dairy News" and "News Articles" folders include articles relating to Otto's Suburban Dairy and the dairy industry. The articles come from newsletters like Kiski Minutes, the Pittsburgh Press, and trade publications like Dairy Produce.
The "Promotional Products" folders consist of various items featuring the Otto's Suburban Dairy logo, including stickers, paper bags, fact booklets, a calendar, coupons, and a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball schedule.
The "Wartime Rationing" folder features several advertisements that warn and instruct the public what will be expected of them and what to expect during rationing, specifically dealing with milk rationing.
Conditions Governing Access
No Restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Reed Otto, former owner of Otto's Suburban Dairy, in 2003 and 2009.
Acc. 2003.0277 and Acc. 2009.0178
Preferred Citation
Otto's Suburban Dairy Records, 1928-1968, MSS#473, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Sarah Zimmerman in February 13, 2008. Finding aid revised by Matt Strauss in March, 2010.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Separated Materials
Otto's Suburban Dairy Records, MSP#473
Otto's Suburban Dairy Oversize Records, MSO#473.
Otto's Suburban Dairy Oversize Photographs, MSR#473.
An assortment of milk bottles 51 milk bottles and an assortment of items related to Otto's Suburban Dairy have been transferred to the museum collection.
Subjects
- Otto's Suburban Dairy (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Otto Milk (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Harmony Dairy (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Dairy industry and trade--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.
- Dairy industry and trade--public relations.