Milk bottle finds its way back to milkman’s family
- Mary Lou Montgomery
- 15 hours ago
- 2 min read
Lawrence McGuire, son of P.J. McGuire (1873-1952), is posed in front of his father’s milk delivery wagon. The youngster was born around 1913. Photo contributed by Paula Sulser Hulse.
MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
In the days when a milkman and his horse-drawn wagon brought milk to the doorstep, an industry existed upon customer service.
Peter J. McGuire, beginning during the post-World War era, served his customers with pride. He sold local milk produced by Jersey cows, to customers who perhaps didn’t have access to a neighborhood grocery.
Paula Sulser Hulse and her husband recently acquired a milk bottle embossed with the name McGuire Dairy, Hannibal, Mo. Upon research, it was learned Mr. McGuire’s Dairy operated at his home address, 801 Pleasant Street (north of Mark Twain Avenue) for some 15 years.
Jason Busby of Hannibal, McGuire’s great-great-grandson, upon reading about the milk bottle and the McGuire Dairy in the April 5, 2025 edition of the Hannibal Courier-Post, reached out. “That’s my family!” he wrote on Facebook messenger.
Hulse and Busby connected, and Paula Hulse generously gifted the rare collectible to the McGuire family, “where it belongs,” she said.
What followed was a reunion on April 13, 2025, between two branches of McGuire family, hosted by Jason Busby. At that time, Busby officially presented the family heirloom bottle to his mother, Dodie Busby, and his aunt, Lori Welch.
Neither Dodie or Lori previously knew much about the McGuire family.
Dodie Busby, left, and her sister, Lori Welch, hold a milk bottle recently gifted to their family by Paula Sulser Hulse. The bottle is embossed with the lettering of McGuire Dairy, Hannibal, Mo. Busbsy and Hulse learned of the existence of this bottle after readying a history story on the subject by Mary Lou Montgomery, in the Hannibal Courier-Post. They are descendants of Peter J. McGuire, Hannibal dairyman. Contributed photo.
Dodie Busby, left, and her sister, Lori Welch, hold a milk bottle recently gifted to their family by Paula Sulser Hulse. The bottle is embossed with the lettering of McGuire Dairy, Hannibal, Mo. Busbsy and Hulse learned of the existence of this bottle after readying a history story on the subject by Mary Lou Montgomery, in the Hannibal Courier-Post. They are descendants of Peter J. McGuire, Hannibal dairyman. Contributed photo.
