I do not remember where I got this milk cooling tank back in 1968. My first photo of it was taken on Wednesday April 24, 1968 halfway to Joshua Tree, south of Riverside, where the box trailer blew a tire. That was 2 1/2 weeks after I had bought my house trailer in Joshua Tree and towed it down to my backyard in Costa Mesa for renovation - and almost 5 weeks after I had made a $5 deposit on the 10 acres of majestic land, the $195 balance paid shortly thereafter with an HFC loan.
I do not even remember painting my name on it, though oddly enough I do recall seeing a clear zip-lock bag laying around containing used yellow cardboard letter templates with red paint on them.
In fact until I could Google it, I had no idea what this tank's original purpose was. It was just a big heavy steel tank that I thought might somehow be able to hold water.
That was before I found a real 250 gallon steel water tank and iron stand at an old laundromat being refurbished in Costa Mesa. I/we actually did use that one for filling a 5 gallon water bottle in the 60's and 70's and 1 gallon milk jugs in the 00's. And for crouching underneath to take showers. Water was delivered as needed by a local water guy.
So, this half ton milk cooling tank would just prove to be something of a placeholder, standing front and center like a good Marine guard, indicating I guess that this land was mine - until I had to back through about 10 months later, February 21, 1969, with my newly refurbished home after it too had blown a tire on the way up. The obsolete tank was heartlessly moved aside and dumped out of the way.
In fact, the tank was eventually stolen sometime between 1981 and 2001 by a new neighbor's tenant. Since "BLAKEMAN'S BOULDER SEA" was clearly stenciled on it, I have to assume that my neighbor had a pretty good idea where it came from. At some point after we returned in 2001 he did mention that I could have it back.
By then I had forgotten that my name was on it and let it drop into the back of my mind as I went on to performing some serious renovation and addition over the years to follow, creating a second home that would be nice to live in six months out of every year.
Then he moved the tank front and center on his property, perhaps as 'yard art', with my name clearly visible from the street. That is when I stopped, took a look, saw my name and realized that I would have to bring it back home. I spoke to him about it and he agreed that it would be a good idea.
A week later, I did so. These pictures show how that was done.
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