Pasteurization & The End Of An Era
Life on the farm was serene. It was almost virgin forest and field then. The cows went out to pasture and came into the barn for milking. Neighbors were our extended family. We counted on help from each other. We were close-knit, helpmates. We sold milk, eggs, butter, and cream. For healing cuts and bruises, we gave away a lot of manure. It was an old fashioned remedy that a lot of our customers practiced.
We lived on the farm until 1918 or 1919. When pasteurization became law my father could not accept it. He felt children were deprived if they didn’t get pure unadulterated milk. He thought the boiling process damaged the quality. I knew perfectly well that his philosophy would make him leave the farm. He never could or would disobey the law. He sold the farm. We moved to a private house and he retired.
ruthweissremembered 
I remember being deeply grossed out when I learned that my Uncle Maurice preferred drinking milk directly from the cow. Aunt Helene & Uncle Maurice let me try it one day when we visited her farm in Northern California when I was a child. Drinking the warm milk straight from the cow was, well, not my thing. And yet in these two short paragraphs, my heart goes out to my great grandfather. He loved that farm, He loved those animals. And he was clear about what he thought was right. And pasteurization just wasn’t right as far as he was concerned. And so it was time to retire.
All of this is absolutely consistent with the earlier images of Papa- he was a man of strong convictions.