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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

HIstorical Day in lives of Dairy Farmers of America


Today is a special day in the Dairy Farmers of America Today February 18 is

82nd Annieversary of a Cow Milked While Flying In an Airplane
      
Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to fly in an airplane on this day in 1931. During the flight she was milked and the milk was sealed in paper containers and parachuted over St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1930 the International Aircraft Exposition was hosted in St. Louis, Missouri. The organizers of the trade show thought it's a good idea to fly in cow to the location. A cow named Nellie Jay was selected because of her sweet disposition and she was led to the airplane with much fanfare. The funny thing is that while the name of the cow can be recalled the type of plane has went with history. The plane ride was 72 mile long and during the ride Nellie Jay continued on her daily routine and produced 24 quarts of milk The milk was put in paper containers, sealed tightly and parachuted down over St. Louis



After the plane ride Nellie Jay became quite  famous and was nicknamed Sky Queen. To many taking a cow in a plane and being milked was similar to science fiction. Nellie Jay will always be remembered and has been portrayed in art and songs such as The Bovine Cantata in B-Flat Major has been wrote about her

“Sing we praises of that moo cow, 
Airborne once and ever more, 
Kindness, courage, butter, cream cheese, 
These fine things we can’t ignore.” 

4 comments:

  1. What a neat story! I have never heard of Nelly before. I love neat little bit of history. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. interesting! never knew of this before..

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  3. This was a very interesting and fascinating post. I never knew that a cow had been milked in a airplane before... just a wealth of informative information.

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  4. That's some fun history! I love cows and collected them in high school. We got to pet some at a local agriculture festival last week.

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