There are some things that are iconic for many who grew up in Atlanta and one of those is having milk delivered to your door by Mathis Dairy and taking a field trip to milk Rosebud the cow. At my house, we had a metal box for milk with the name Mathis Dairy on the outside. That box continued to sit on my mom’s front steps long after Mathis Dairy stopped delivering to her home.
R. L. Mathis started the dairy back in 1917. According to his obituary in the April 13, 1992 Atlanta Constitution, he started with five cows and a horse and buggy. In a March 13,1980 Atlanta Constitution article, “Country Fresh-Raw Milk and Rosebud,” Mathis told of visiting his uncles’ dairy when he was about 13 or 14 and not loving the work. However, when his father died a few years later Mathis went into the dairy business out of necessity.
Many have fond memories of the school field trip to Mathis Dairy on Rainbow Drive in Decatur and milking Rosebud. Rosebud was a great marketing tool, helping make Mathis Dairy a household name in the 1950s. Up to 250 children a day visited Rosebud and toured the dairy. Visitors included three former governors and President Jimmy Carter. There was a pin given out to students that announced, “I milked Rosebud.” Rosebud was retired in 1984.
R. L Mathis was an active part of the community, serving on the DeKalb County School Board in the 1940s. He was a deacon, elder, and trusteee of Mount Carmel Christian Church. The church was built on land he donated.
Back in 2007, I found out that Preston Born was still delivering milk in DeKalb County, including the Dunwoody area. He told me the two milk delivery companies back when he started were Mathis Dairy and Puritan Dairy. Eventually, Puritan Dairy was bought out by Mathis. Later Mathis went through a few more transformations and became Kinnett, Atlanta Dairies, and Parmalat.
In 1988, R. L. Mathis’ son Jack Mathis partnered with Masstock Ltd, an Irish company. Mathis Dairy had 130 employees that year, producing 12,000 gallons of milk a day. They had 300 commercial accounts-grocery stores and restaurants and 17,000 home delivery customers. Mathis Dairy operated a 160 cow farm in Conyers where the field trips continued with Rosebud. (Atlanta Constitution, April 9, 1988)
Five years before the 1988 partnership, Mathis Dairy franchised out its routes. Preston Born was among those who became a franchise owner. Preston Born kept his route and delivered milk to homes for 35 years. Born and business partner Rick Lee helped continued delivery through the first week of 2018, helping the Mathis Dairy legacy reach 100 years.
In January 2018, customers received letters from Born saying, “For the past 35 years, it has been my privilege to offer home delivery of dairy products to metro Atlanta residents. However, the time has come when I am afraid that I can no longer offer the home delivery service…. For several years, all the home delivery has been done by Rick Lee, but he recently celebrated his 70th birthday and feels it is time for him to cut back. We have talked about this for several years but wanted to try to continue at least through 2017. This is a tribute to Mr. R.L. Mathis, who started Mathis Dairy in 1917. Since both Rick and I got our start at Mathis Dairy, we wanted to see it last 100 years…” The content of Born’s letter can be seen in this article by Maria Saporta, as well as additional history about Mathis Dairy.
Doris Lockerman, columnist for the Atlanta Constitution in 1963, wrote about Rosebud in an article titled “Rosebud the cow is child’s delight.” Lockerman pays tribute, saying “… Rosebud is a prima donna. The curtain is going up on her act, and she is playing to the most enchanted audience this side of Disneyland.”
When R. L. Mathis died in 1992, he was survived by his wife Cookie, daughter Betty Mathis Sullins, and sons Pat and Jack. His son, R. L. Mathis Jr. died in 1974.
If you have memories of visiting the Mathis Dairy, milking Rosebud, or having milk delivered to your home send them to Valerie by visiting our Contact Us page. I will share these memories in a future post.