Got milk?

Before the sun rises, Brian Gay of Mendon is at work loading his truck and quietly placing milk in metal drop boxes or coolers left in people's driveways or doorsteps, back porches or garages.

I'm kind of a dinosaur, Mr. Gay, 48, said.

Mr. Gay, owner of Maple Farm Dairy, is a milkman, one of a few left around who deliver milk in glass or plastic bottles to homes and businesses in vintage-style trucks.

You see my truck in the neighborhood, it's there for only one reason. When you see that truck, you know what it is doing, Mr. Gay said, adding that he still delivers glass-bottle milk from Monroe Dairy in Providence, and plastic-bottle milk from Oakhurst Dairy in Connecticut.

Mr. Gay took over the delivery business from his uncle when he was 18 years old, delivering milk out of the back of his Chevy van to 120 customers. Mr. Gay's Mendon company does not run a dairy.

Today, Maple Farm Dairy delivers to about 1,000 customers in more than 20 communities, as far out as Norfolk and Wrentham. However, Mr. Gay, like other milkmen, has had to deliver more than milk to stay in business.

I've got a whole grocery store in that truck. You just can't make it on milk and eggs alone anymore, Mr. Gay said, adding that the Maple Farm Dairy trucks carry juices, baked goods, breads, frozen vegetables, butter, cheese, coffee and yogurt .

Gibson's Village Dairy Farm on Sunderland Road in Worcester has been delivering milk to area homes since 1923 and continues to do so now as Gibson's enters the family's fourth generation of ownership.

When my grandfather started this dairy there were 52 dairies doing home delivery in Worcester, Francis Gibson said. Mr. Gibson works with his brother Glenn, and the fourth generation his daughter Sarah Gibson and nephew Glenn Gibson Jr.

Mr. Gibson said his daughter and partner Allison Smith rescued the home-delivery service by incorporating local organic products, adding that Gibson's largest customer base today is young families who are dedicated to the buy local movement.

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Got milk?