Marin Dell 01

Marin Dell 02

These two documents incorporate copies of the contents of the two Marin Dell binders that are in the archives of the Novato Historical Guild. Volume 1 contains photographs and narratives regarding Dairies Nos. 1-32 that were located in Marin County. Volume 2 contains photographs and narratives regarding Dairies Nos. 33-63 that were located primarily in Sonoma County.

Marin Dairymen’s Milk Company, known as “Marin-Dell,” was a cooperative formed in 1929 by a group of Marin County dairymen to process and distribute their milk. It was led by Antonio Faustine (“A.F.”) Silveira. “The milk your children deserve,” was the company’s slogan and the milk was sold to independent grocers. The building at 13th and Howard in San Francisco where Marin-Dell’s plant was located still stands.

In 1942, Marin-Dell expanded by acquiring Dairymaid, which included plants in Hughson and Tracy, CA. Marin-Dell merged with Foremost Dairies Inc. in May 1953. In the 1960’s, Foremost merged with McKesson & Robbins to form Foremost McKesson Inc. Then in the 1980s, Foremost McKesson divested Foremost Dairies which was eventually acquired by Knudsen.

One set of the binders was in the possession of Joseph Foster Silveira, the third son of A.F. and Mary E. Silveira. Joseph passed away in 2003. His descendants generously donated his set of the binders to the Novato History Museum. Those binders are now in the archives at the Museum.

In order to share the contents of the binders online, we have digitized their pages and have collected those pages in these two volumes.  

Around 1950, a representative of Marin-Dell created two binders containing photos of the company’s operations and of the dairies of the individual Marin-Dell suppliers. Those photos were accompanied by extensive narratives about the dairies and the family histories of their owners. It was a remarkable effort. The result is a wonderful collection that brings to life the history of this important segment of the Marin/Sonoma economy, as well as the histories of the families whose efforts made it possible.

The order of the pages in these digital volumes has been modified from the original to more logically present the material, including to group the dairies in Marin County in the first volume and the dairies in Sonoma County in the second volume. You will note that the individual dairy narratives include “producer numbers” which were used by Marin-Dell for administrative purposes. The order in which the dairies appear in the binders does not correspond to those numbers.

In addition to the Silveira family, the Novato Historical Guild wishes to thank Ron and Dee Vela, members of the Guild, and Mike Moyle, head of the History Committee of the IDESST Sausalito Portuguese Cultural Center, for their assistance in scanning the original documents and organizing these digital copies.

The Novato History Museum reserves ownership of the materials in these binders and they cannot be reproduced or published in whole or in part without the consent of the Novato History Museum.

For additional information contact the Novato Historical Guild. The original binders can be viewed, by appointment, at the Novato History Museum.