Anyone who was around in the 1970s must surely remember the famous novelty record, Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West.
The comedy song grabbed the sought-after number one spot in the UK singles chart over Christmas 1971, keeping the trendier T Rex single, Jeepster, at number two. Benny Hill, aged 47 at the time, was also an unlikely pioneer of the pop music video.
While music videos were in their infancy, the humorous video of Ernie driving a horse-drawn milk float around a housing estate added to the song's attraction. Ernie managed to live up to his reputation as the fastest milkman, thanks to simple 1970s technology speeding up the film!
As he whizzed around the streets, his cart horse pulling the milk float at a speed that could rival an F1 racing car, Ernie was trying to woo amorous widow, Sue. The video also starred Hill's sidekick, Henry McGee, as Ernie's love rival, Two Ton Ted.
Released on EMI's Columbia label, the song topped the UK charts for four weeks and was the surprise hit of 1971. It also topped the singles chart in Australia at the same time.
"Seaside postcard" humour
Famous for his "saucy" seaside postcard humour, the kind of "nudge, nudge, wink wink" comedy filled with slapstick and double entendres, the Southampton-born comic came from an era when being "politically correct" wasn't something TV producers considered.
Born in January 1924, Hill had a colourful background, as Father Alfred and Grandfather Henry Hill had both been circus clowns, although Alfred later managed a surgical goods store. Henry introduced the family to burlesque shows and they enjoyed nights out at the local music halls, where Benny loved watching the stand-up comedians. Surprisingly, however, he didn't immediately enter the entertainment industry himself.
His first job, aged 14, after leaving Taunton's School in Southampton, was as a stockroom boy at Woolworth's retail store. He had several menial jobs, before becoming a milkman for Hann's Dairy in Eastleigh, Hampshire. He later said this had been his inspiration for the "Ernie" song, as he had driven a horse-drawn milk cart himself.
Due to the early starts, he left home while working as a milkman, renting lodgings in the Nook, Eastleigh, as he needed to be near his workplace. Joining a local theatrical group, he became a stand-up comedian in his spare time and performed a few live routines, quickly gaining a following.
In 1941, 17-year-old Hill moved to London where he joined the theatre troupe, Bobbie's Concert Party. It was here that he had his first acting role, playing a vicar in a comedy play.
Military service
At 18, World War II interrupted his fledgeling career. He joined the British Army, initially training as a mechanic and then as a searchlight operator in Normandy. Towards the end of the war, he joined the Combined Services Entertainment Division to entertain the troops all over Europe.
After the war, Hill started his comedy career on the radio in 1947, in a variety show called Variety Bandbox. He made his move to TV in 1950, writing Ernie the Fastest Milkman in the West in 1955, as part of a proposed screenplay based on his experiences as a milkman.
However, it wasn't picked up by television chiefs and the song was shelved for almost two decades. In the interim, The Benny Hill Show was launched by the BBC in 1955, featuring comedy sketches and music by Hill and other stars.
The tale of milkman Ernie
Hill introduced Ernie the Fastest Milkman in the West in 1970, as a one-off sketch on his TV show. It was such a huge hit with viewers that in 1971, he released the song on a seven-inch single, recording it at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. The comic tale of milkman Ernie Price and his feud with love rival "Two-Ton Ted" from Teddington, the bread delivery man, shot to the top of the charts.
It was rumoured that Hill had based the character of Ernie on a former colleague, Ernie Carrington, at Hann's Dairy, as the route mentioned in the song was part of the old Eastleigh milk round. However, Hill always maintained the Ernie character in his song wasn't based on a real person.
In the video, Ted is worried that Ernie is having more success with Sue than he is, after spotting his milk float parked outside her house. Ted kicks the milk float horse, Trigger, leading Ernie to challenge him to a duel of throwing food at each other. Sadly, Ernie receives a fatal blow to the heart with a rock cake and eventually, Ted and Sue marry, but they are haunted by Ernie the milkman's ghost on their wedding night!
Hill continued to enjoy success until The Benny Hill Show was scrapped in 1989 by Thames Television's light entertainment head, John Davies, despite still attracting 9.58 million viewers – it was felt that the humour was dated. Sadly, aged 68, Hill died in April 1992 of a heart attack.
© Ian Walsh / Shutterstock.com
When did milkmen first appear in Britain?
Real-life milkmen, in horse-drawn carts, were first seen on Britain's streets in around 1860, when new rail services allowed milk to be brought into towns from rural areas. At first, the milk was usually ladled into a tin can from a churn on the milk cart - a practice that continued until around World War I, when glass bottles came into wider use.
Launched by Midland Vehicles Ltd in Leamington Spa, the first electric milk cart hit Britain's streets in January 1937. Doorstep milk deliveries peaked in 1970, when 99% of Britain's milk was put into glass bottles for doorstep delivery.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, most of Britain's milk was still delivered to our doorstep in the familiar foil-topped glass bottles - a target for wild birds, who tried to get to them before the householder did!
However, by the 1990s, doorstep milk deliveries had begun to decline, due to the increase in milk purchases from supermarkets and convenience stores, in cheaper solid plastic containers. In the 1980s, 94% of milk was still put in glass bottles. By 2012, this was down to 4%.
Dairy Crest announced its last glass milk bottle plant was to close in 2014. The company still employed 1,400 milkmen and women UK-wide, from a total of around 5,000 left in the country but delivered in plastic bottles in an effort to compete with the supermarkets' low prices.
However, doorstep deliveries remained in decline and by 2019, only 3% of the UK's milk market was provided by milkmen.
Is the milkman making a comeback?
The milkman began making a comeback in 2020, according to the Dairy News magazine. Research suggested a huge surge in requests for doorstep deliveries during the year. This was partly as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown demanding people stay indoors and partly because consumers were trying to reduce their plastics use, in response to environmental campaigns.
In Cornwall, where the Surfers Against Sewage group is campaigning against plastic waste polluting our oceans with its Plastic Free Cornwall initiative, milk rounds are making a big comeback. Around Falmouth, Truro and Newquay, doorstep deliveries have grown by a massive 600%, with more customers enquiring if glass bottles are used. The empties are collected by the milkman the following day, to be cleaned and reused, thus reducing waste.
Milkmen today have also diversified into delivering other food items such as vegetables, bread, cheese, yoghurts and eggs. Some dairy farmers have gone from having no enquiries about doorstep deliveries, to having literally hundreds of requests.
Currently, Britain's dairy farmers are celebrating #Februdairy - their annual celebration, trending across multiple social media platforms to encourage consumers to support the industry. The campaign is encouraging people to buy more milk and support their local dairy farms. As part of #Februdairy, nutritionists are endorsing the health benefits of milk, such as the presence of vitamin D, calcium and potassium.
This year's campaign follows a challenging 12 months for UK dairy producers, who battled the unprecedented market pressures of Brexit and the pandemic, so it's even more important that the public gets behind them.