What a cool sign!!! Fresh barn find from the garden woods of New Hampshire, it doesn’t get more rare than this.
Please note there is some wear to this including a small crack near the “S” and in other spots as shown in photos.
Ships fast and will be packaged with extreme care as this is a fragile piece of dairy and magazine history.
Check out our store for more amazing items!
**Now for the information, even is this isn’t for you. This read is a GREAT one!
Offered is an unusual and highly collectible vintage H.P. Hood dairy sign featuring raised/embossed lettering reading:
“HOOD
THIS IS A
MAGAZINE DELIVERY
DAIRY”
This is an especially interesting piece of New England advertising and business history because the wording refers to an unusual magazine-delivery experiment in which dairy delivery routes were used to distribute magazines to customers' homes.
THE STORY BEHIND THE SIGN
In the early 1970s, a company called the Magazine Dairy Network developed a concept that utilized existing milk-delivery routes to deliver magazines.
A contemporary April 1973 report documented the program and identified H.P. Hood and Time-Life as participants. The Hood pilot was operating in Rhode Island, including the Providence and Barrington areas.
The idea was remarkably simple: milkmen were already traveling established residential delivery routes, so magazines could be delivered along those same routes.
The contemporary account describes magazines being delivered to customers' front porches by milkmen, including households that did not necessarily purchase milk from Hood.
This sign therefore appears to have served as an identification/promotional sign for a dairy participating in this unusual “Magazine Delivery Dairy” program.
WHY THIS SIGN IS SO UNUSUAL
This is not simply a generic Hood milk advertising sign.
The phrase “MAGAZINE DELIVERY DAIRY” refers to a very specific and relatively obscure delivery concept from the early 1970s.
I have been unable to locate another readily available example of this exact embossed Hood sign, making it an especially interesting piece for collectors of:
H.P. Hood advertising
New England dairy history
Vintage advertising signs
1970s Americana
Milkman/dairy memorabilia
Magazine publishing history
Time-Life memorabilia
Rhode Island history
Unusual commercial ephemera
Transportation & delivery history
APPROXIMATE DATE
The sign is believed to date to approximately 1973–1975, based on the documented Magazine Dairy Network program and the H.P. Hood branding.
The exact manufacturing date of this individual sign is not known, so the date is presented as an approximate period identification, rather than an exact date.
MATERIAL / CONSTRUCTION
Vintage molded/embossed plastic
Raised three-dimensional lettering
H.P. Hood logo
Red, white and blue color scheme
Four original mounting holes
Rectangular advertising/identification sign
Clearly designed for exterior/display use
CONDITION
Overall good vintage condition with age-appropriate wear.
There are surface marks, discoloration/weathering and signs of age from storage/use. Please examine all photographs carefully for the exact cosmetic condition.
The raised lettering remains clearly legible and the unusual wording is the major appeal of this piece.
Please consider the photographs part of the description.
HISTORICAL NOTE
The historical information regarding the Magazine Dairy Network is supported by a contemporary April 1973 account describing the program and its association with H.P. Hood and Time-Life.
The sign itself is not being represented as definitively proven to have been used at a specific Providence or Barrington dairy, since that particular provenance has not been established.
Rather, the documented history provides strong context for understanding what “MAGAZINE DELIVERY DAIRY” referred to.
A GREAT PIECE OF OBSCURE NEW ENGLAND ADVERTISING HISTORY
Most vintage dairy signs simply advertise milk, butter or a particular brand.
This one documents something much stranger:
A time when your milkman could also be your magazine delivery man.
That makes this a fantastic conversation piece and an excellent addition to a collection of vintage advertising, dairy memorabilia, New England Americana or unusual 1970s commercial history.
Rare wording + major New England dairy brand + documented 1970s delivery experiment = a very unusual piece of advertising history.
Search Keywords
H.P. Hood, Hood Dairy, Hood Milk, Magazine Dairy Network, Magazine Delivery Dairy, vintage dairy sign, milkman sign, milk delivery, magazine delivery, Time Life, Time-Life, Rhode Island, Providence, Barrington, New England advertising, vintage plastic sign, embossed sign, 1970s advertising, Americana, dairy memorabilia, milkman memorabilia, vintage Hood advertising
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