Milk and teenagers? You’d better believe it
SHOOK UP: Alison Bartram at the Milk Bar, The Old Arcade, Halifax. Below, Halifax milk bar staff Heidi Marney, left, and Kloe Whelan.
THERE’S a whole lot of shaking going on in Calderdale and it’s all down to Alison Bartram, writes Diane Crabtree .
Forget babies and the sporting fraternity, and think teenagers instead.
It’s happy days in the district as youngsters turn their back on cola and other fizzy drinks, and hark back to the 50s to enjoy a spot of milk instead.
It’s no ordinary milk, however, because mixed with it is their favourite chocolate bar or packet of sweets. Milk bars, a firm 1950s favourite, are now hotspots in both Hebden Bridge and Halifax town centre, thanks to mother of two Alison Bartram.
Alison, who lives in Booth with her husband, Paul, and their 13-year-old daughter, Becky, opened The Milk Bar on Bridge Gate, Hebden Bridge, two years ago, and has recently opened her second in The Old Arcade, Halifax. Business is booming so much that she and Paul are now looking at opening a chain further afield.
Milk bars are thought to have originated in Australia in the 1930s and the craze that gripped Australia soon spread to the UK (where there were over 1,000 by the end of 1936) and the United States. They were popular in the 1940s and 1950s as places for young people to “hang out” safely. They often included jukeboxes and pinball machines and along with milk-shakes, sold ice-cream, coffee, and hot dogs. The most well known one is probably Fonz’s hang-out in the hit TV series Happy Days. They were gradually replaced by American style fast food outlets.
Alison and Paul opened their first Milk Bar after their son, Adam, who does not drink tea or coffee, complained there was nowhere for him and his friends to chill out. Alison, who owns Hebden Bridge’s popular Heart Gallery, did some research and discovered there used to be a milk bar in Hebden Bridge in the 1950s. “Paul and I realised there was a gap in the market and teenagers were short of a place to meet. We’ve recreated our Milk Bars ’50s style but with a 21st century twist,” says Alison.
The new Halifax Milk Bar, which was once home to a florists, offers a staggering 150 modern day milkshakes, everything from Cadbury’s caramel bars and creme eggs to Aero, Yorkie, Rolo, Quality Street, Smarties, Ferrero Rocher, Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles, Love hearts and Nutella.
There is also an ice-cream bar offering 18 fresh dairy ice-creams made in Lancashire, a juke box playing ’50s favourites, numerous fresh fruit smoothies, Italian coffee and hot milkshakes on offer. In the next few weeks Alison and Paul plan to offer handmade cupcakes, American hot dogs, a retro section of cold milkshakes and a take-away menu. A Facebook and Twitter page is now up and running.
“The hot milk shakes are amazing especially the Werther’s Original one,” says Alison whose favourite cold milk-shake is made using a packet of Parma Violet sweets. Most popular with customers is the Skittles variety although Alison says most customers are working their way through the menu, starting at A and ending at X.
All the milkshakes are made using a specially blended ice cream which has no flavour, and milk from a dairy farm near their Booth home. The blenders come from America. Alison and Paul have learnt a lot of lessons in the past two years and say there is a big difference between customers in Halifax and Hebden Bridge. “Because Hebden Bridge attracts lots of tourists, our busy days are Saturday and Sunday. In Halifax we are busy every lunchtime and then again when the schools break up,” says Alison.
Milkshakes cost £2.50 for a regular, and £3 for a large, and customers can pick up a loyalty card and get a free milkshake for every 10 bought.
They can also bring in anything they would like to try in a milkshake and have it made up.
Alison would love to hear from anyone who knows about a 1950s Milk Bar in Bull Green, Halifax. “We know there was one there but we are not sure what building it was in or who owned it.”
She can be contacted on 07929 412178.
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