What Are the Milkcan Papers?

Soon after registering the domain milkcanpapers.com, I received a phone call from a sales representative of a Web hosting company. I can't remember the superb benefits she was promoting, because I had at least a year's worth of typing and twiddling to do before I had actual Web pages ready to be hosted. But I'll never forget her assumption that, with the domain name I had chosen, I must be in the bizarre business of somehow selling paper liners for milkcans. What a marketing niche that would be!

So, why in the world is this site named "The Milkcan Papers"? There has to be a story behind it, and this series of pages is going to tell it. First comes some background on the discovery and restoration of a lost treasure. Following that, taking up most of the long but very enthralling series of pages, is the treasure itself: Our Family, by One of Us, the words of our grandfather, written almost as he would have spoken them, coming right out of the last years of the Great Depression.

As you read, be sure to click on the footnotes, which provide context, sometimes necessary clarification, and editorial comment and opinion by a later reviewer. The footnote numbers are only a minor distraction in the midst of the original text, but the gloss is worth reviewing. Don't worry: Just click the footnote number again, and the interruption gloss will disappear; you will be right back in the text.

You can click any of the pictures to see an enlargement; to return to the narrative, click the enlarged picture.

I hope you enjoy the Milkcan Papers.

Allan C. "Ace" Edmands
May 2002

Back to the top
Close this window