Bowman Dairy

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Bowman Dairy Soundex Code B550

Bowman Dairy Dairy

1811 Columbia Avenue, Rogers Park facility

In 1874, J.R. Bowman of Clinton County, Illinois, headed west to St. Louis, where he established a dairy marketing business called J.R. Bowman & Co. In 1885, Bowman entered the Chicago market by purchasing the milk business of M.A. Devine. In 1891, Bowman and his brothers, Robert Alexander Bowman and Ernest MacDonald Bowman decided to sell their St. Louis operation and move to Chicago, where they formed the Bowman Dairy Company. This company soon became one of the leading suppliers of dairy products and eggs in the Chicago area. During the 1920s, it opened large bottling plants on the South Side. By the middle of the 1930s, Bowman employed over 3,000 Chicago-area residents. The company continued to carry on a large business until 1966, when it was purchased by a local rival, the Dean Foods Company.

The Bowman Dairy Company bottling plant in Rogers Park was located at 1834 W. Columbia Avenue. The land where it stood is now part of the S&C Electric Company complex.

The company used a cartoon character called "Bud Bowman" in its advertising.

Partial Source: Rogers Park Directory, 1919, page 11.

Employees

John Atten worked for the Bowman Dairy.

Photos

Horse Carts

RPWRHS photo C001-0019 shows a Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart number 647. No date given. No location given.

RPWRHS photo C001-0206 shows a blurry photo of a Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart in the snow. Photo February 1937. Greenleaf alley - east of Ridge.

RPWRHS photo C001-0301 shows Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart number 179. No date given. No location given.

RPWRHS photo C001-0302 shows an advertisement for a model of Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart number 7. 1913. No manufacturer's name given.

RPWRHS photo C001-0303 shows Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart number 1989 in the snow. No date given. No location given.

RPWRHS photo C001-0304 shows Bowman Dairy 2-horse-drawn cart number 789. No date given. No location given.

RPWRHS photo C001-0305 shows Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart number 218. 1910. No location given.

RPWRHS photo C001-4706 shows Bowman Dairy horse-drawn cart. June 1947. Location: somewhere on Sherwin Avenue.

RPWRHS photo R044-0182 shows horse-drawn Bowman Dairy milk cart number 14 at 1000 N. Clark in 1894. Check address.

Trucks

RPWRHS photo C001-0041 shows Bowman Dairy Company - delivery truck (dairy at 1834 W. Columbia Avenue-now part of S&C property). 1940

RPWRHS photo C001-0306 shows Bowman Dairy truck. No date given. No location given.

Building

RPWRHS photo S013-0721 shows Bowman Dairy Company, 1834 W. Columbia Avenue. June 1984.