Milk Law in Limbo: A Tangled Web of Politics and Petitions

On a sweltering summer morning in July 1925, Augusta, Maine’s residents were buzzing about the latest development in the state’s dairy industry. A petition bearing over 10,000 signatures had been filed at the Maine State House, calling for a referendum on a new law aimed at defining the quality of milk sold in the state. The law, which had passed during the last legislative session, would have replaced the current Grade A requirements with a scorecard system based on the United States Bureau of Milk Industry’s grading standards.