Sunny Side Farm Dairy


Company Names, addresses, dates:
  Sunny Side Farm Dairy, Vienna, VA (ca.1930-ca-1945) 1,2

Notes:
Wilbur Ira Bowman (1900-1943)3 was the proprietor of the Sunny Side Farm Dairy4. The embossing on the bottle below calls it "Sunny Side Farm Dairy", i.e. "Sunny Side" is 2 words, whereas some other references I've seen use "Sunnyside" as one word.

The 1920 US census had 19 year old Wilbur living with his father, Joseph M. Bowman, who was listed as a Dairy Farmer on Vienna Pike. I suspect that "Vienna Pike" was modern day Route 123, but I haven't found any evidence for or against that.

The 1930 US census lists Wilbur as a Dairyman, living at a Dairy Farm on Chain Bridge Road in Oakton - which is modern day Route 123. The 1940 US Census also lists him as a Dairy Farmer, this time on "route 9", which got renamed to Route 123. So I suspect that this dairy farm was on Route 123 since on-or-before 1920, with Wilbur taking over for his father sometime between 1920 & 1930.

An advertisement for the Sunnyside Dairy in the 1943 Fairfax High School yearbook4 said "W.I. Bowman & Sons, prop.", indicating his sons worked at the dairy. The 1940 US Census listed 3 sons: Paul Joseph Bowman (age 17), Leonard Bowman (age 14), and Oscar Bowman (age 12). So in 1943, they would have been age 20, 17 & 15.

The dairy started some time on or before 1930, as that was the earliest newspaper mention I could find for the it1. Wilbur passed away in 1943, but I see that some newspaper ads after his death continue to mention the dairy, although it refers to the proprietor as the "W.I. Bowman Estate". I suspect that some of his family members continued to run the dairy for a few years after his death.2


Bottles

sunnyside_01 This is a 9.6" (1 quart) clear bottle embossed:
above slug plate: ONE QUART / LIQUID
round slug plate: Sunny Side Farm Dairy / STORE / 3¢ / BOTTLE / Vienna, Va.
below slug plate: REGISTERED
rear heel: SEALED B1
base: 32 B 42

1 Fairfax Independent, 3-Jul-1930, p.6 (earliest ad ad I could find for the Sunnyside dairy)
2 Fairfax Herald, 16-Nov-1945, p.4 (latest ad ad I could find for the Sunnyside dairy)
3 Find-a-grave for Wilbur Ira Bowman
4 Ad for "Sunnyside Farm Dairy", "W. I. Bowman & Sons" in the 1943 Fairfax High School yearbook, page 115


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This page last updated on February 3, 2022.