Canning and Preserving History at The Borden’s Condensed Milk Factory Site in Torrington, CT

Summary

Gail Borden was a man of persistence and a creative inventor. Were it not for his inquisitiveness and drive in the wake of numerous failures, canned milk and Elsie the cow would never have become irrevocably connected in the minds of millions. Failing to make functional his terraqueous prairie- schooner or to make his desiccated meat-bread palatable, he pursued methods of condensing and preserving milk in sealed containers at several locations in Connecticut. Before his success, bacterial infested milk caused a dreaded, and sometimes lethal, illness. His meticulous attention to cleanliness and adoption of a vacuum pan for condensing milk that the Shakers used for condensing juice was a recipe for success. His preserving and canning process allowed protein-rich sanitary milk to reach those who could not reach for the cow. His successes proved vital to the military and long-distance travelers alike. The Borden’s Condensed Milk Factory Site in Torrington Connecticut was one of his earliest condensing factories, relying on the waters cascading down from Burr Mountain Pond to power the process - the same waters that eventually carried much of his factory building away. The factory site and its remains are now, befittingly, a Connecticut State Archaeological Preserve.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 19993