Friday, January 21, 2011 Largest collection of milk bottles: Paul Luke sets world record Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, UK -- Former milkmanPaul Luke, 33, has been collecting them since he was nine, and and has more than 10,000 stored away in his mini-museum (not to mention milkmen's uniforms, caps, badges and other go-withs, as collectors say) , setting the world record for theLargest collection of milk bottles. Photo: TheWorld's Largest Collection of Milk Bottles. Mr Luke has painstakingly filled each bottle with polystyrene balls to give the impression of milk. (enlarge photo)
Guinness World Records recognized few other similar world records, like: - Largest collection of beer bottles; - Largest collection of whisky bottles; - Largest collection of cachaa bottles; - Largest collection of olive oil bottles.
Father-of-one Mr Luke, who editsMilk Bottle News websitefor fellow fans, admitted that his hobby has 'got a bit out of hand'.
Mr Luke, who lives in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, with his wife and daughter, collected his first milk bottle in 1987 when he was earning pocket money working as a milkman's mate.
'I thought it would be interesting to start collecting the different ones but it started to get a bit out of hand.
'Some of my bottles are the only ones left in existence, to put a price on the collection is difficult but I don't do it for the monetary value, they're a record of history.'
Over the years his obsession grew and he was forced to buy a 'miniature museum' in his back garden in order to display them.
Every single one of his prized milk bottles are embossed or pyroglazed by a dairy company and feature an advert. Mr Luke, who now works as a sales rep for a Hertfordshire dairy firm, also owns three old-fashioned milk floats, milk churns and milk measures which preceded bottles.
He now owns a collection of over 10,000 different milk bottles and is still actively collecting more.
'I'm always looking for bottles from local farms which have the dairies name on them and would be glad to hear from anyone who has information or photo's of local dairies.'
As well as the bottles, he has also amassed a variety of other memorabilia which he keeps in a museum at his home.
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