Elmhurst Cream Co. Inc. was a Queens-based dairy that bottled and distributed milk across the New York metropolitan area through the postwar decades — one of the network of neighborhood dairies that served the outer boroughs before consolidation eliminated most local operations by the 1960s. The EC 53 base code is a clean provenance marker: EC for Elmhurst Cream, 53 for the year, placing this bottle precisely in 1953 and giving it a specificity that most dairy bottles lack. The dual-face embossing — ELMHURST CREAM CO INC on both front and back — reflects the investment Queens dairies made in branded glass at the height of the local dairy era.
Embossing: ELMHURST CREAM CO INC on the front face; ELMHURST CREAM CO INC repeated on the reverse; EC 53 date and dairy code on the base.
Condition is good with minor scratches and minor interior hazing consistent with age and ground recovery. No chips or cracks. The embossing is crisp and fully readable throughout.
Dimensions: 4.75" H × 2.5" diameter | Clear glass | Good vintage condition with minor scratches and interior hazing noted
Named dairy bottles like this represent one of the most hyperlocal categories in vintage glass collecting — the Elmhurst Cream name ties this piece directly to Queens in 1953, when neighborhood dairies still operated independently across New York’s outer boroughs. Works on a farmhouse kitchen windowsill as a bud vase for a single dried wildflower or sprig, in a local NYC history collection alongside other Queens and Brooklyn dairy glass, or as a Cottagecore display piece where the neighborhood provenance adds genuine local character.
Recovered from New York City’s historic shorelines and landfill sites by Brooklyn Sea Glass. Ships carefully packed.
