Saratoga’s Goat Dairy: Behind the Scenes at Putnam Place

In July of 1940, Harry and Eunice VanAlst Brower and Eunice’s twelve-year-old son Carleton Chadbourne, left their home in Mount Kisco, Westchester County, New York, to reside for the summer season in Saratoga Springs. The family stayed at Putnam Place, Mrs. Brower’s ancestral home, a three-story, 25-room mansion that sat on a parcel of land that is now Saratoga Hospital’s Myrtle Street Park complex.

Eunice was heir to the Putnam line which can be traced back to the earliest days of Saratoga Springs. Having been away from Putnam Place since her father died in the First World War, Mrs. Brower later reminisced about her return during an interview with Saratoga Historian Jean McGregor published in the September 20, 1946, Saratogian newspaper:  “I had never forgotten the beauty and peace of Putnam Place and I had cherished the many memories that on my return became reality again.”

This ancestral home must have had a strong pull on the Brower family as by the end of the year they had left Westchester County, taking up residence at Putnam Place where they soon started a family business raising goats and selling their milk.

So, why did this middle-aged Ivy League educated downstate society couple choose to pursue farming? My search uncovered no clear answer, though when interviewed after a year and a half in business, both were clearly pleased with their decision.

As the couple sat together in the dairy’s outdoor seating area Mr. Brower shared his pleasure with the way those in the area had begun to realize the benefits of goat’s milk.

The article, published in the July 2, 1942, Saratogian told this about Eunice Brower: “Mrs. Brower is quite as much in earnest about the business as her husband, who told me ‘She has turned out to be a regular veterinarian in case any of the goats are taken ill. She knows just what to do.’”

The advertising of both the dairy and the benefits of goat’s milk was a large part of the Browers marketing plan. In 1941 the dairy ran at least a dozen different ads, with catchy phrases and gimmicks that were sure to catch the attention of those reading the Saratogian newspaper.

Another part of their strategy to bring their product into the public eye was what today we would call direct marketing. In the Saratogian during June the dairy ran the following advertisement: “Young girl or boy, must be 16 to 18, about 5 ft. 6 in. tall with sales personality. To sell goats milk during season. Apply in person, 12 to 1 p.m. Putnam Place Goat Dairy, Inc.”

The search for a salesperson was successful and that summer a young man wearing the same uniform worn by employees in the goat milk processing room guided a goat-powered cart selling cups of fresh goat’s milk through the streets of downtown Saratoga Springs. We are fortunate that a photograph of one of these carts, as it sat in front of the Edelstein Jewelry store in downtown Saratoga, has survived and can be included in this story.

In another effort to promote the value of their product that summer, the dairy published a brochure extolling the science supporting goat milk’s safety and benefits. This eight-page pamphlet with its whimsical goat logo on the front weighed heavily on scientific charts and calculations comparing the fat content, curd tension, and vitamins of cow and goat milk. If nothing else, this promotional tool would overwhelm the average reader with information leading them to believe that countless experts recommended the milk of goats.

The last page reinforces this by giving the names of thirty physicians, scientists, and government organizations as sources for the tract. To ensure that the reader would patronize Putnam Place Goat Dairy, these directions were included:

“The dairy is situated about one and a half miles from the center of Saratoga Springs. It may be reached by proceeding along Church Street from the west or east to Myrtle Street which is adjacent to the Saratoga Hospital. On entering Myrtle Street proceed north for about five hundred yards, to the dairy.”

In 1942, their second year of operation, the Browers opened an outdoor milk and ice cream bar at Putnam Place. To accommodate this expansion of their business, additional tables with oversized umbrellas were placed under the large trees surrounding the mansion. This cool and shady spot soon became a destination for young and old alike.

To draw in even more customers, in early summer they added “Beefburger Heaven” and began offering a full menu, waitresses, and hours that extended to as late as 11 pm. As with their goat’s milk, advertising for their menu choices was highlighted with names guaranteed to grab the reader’s attention such as CubanBurger and WineBurger.

Unfortunately, this business expansion was short-lived as only a week after closing the outdoor restaurant for the season, the Browers posted a notice in the Saratogian that they would be closing their dairy operation for the “duration of the war.”

Behind the scenes at Putnam Place, the family had begun to raise chickens and with the closing of the dairy focused on poultry and selling dressed ready-to-cook birds. As with the dairy operation, help wanted advertisements went out for people to work in their processing plant and to assist with the clerical duties. Soon even the business name was changed to Saratoga Poultry.

In 1946 the Brower family put the whole operation up for sale, advertising an “exceptional broiler farm completely equipped to raise and dress for market 50,000 broilers yearly.” At the same time, the family began selling off the contents of the Putnam Place mansion and in 1947 the mansion itself was put up for sale.

In 1953 it was sold to Saratoga Golf Course, ending the nearly two hundred years of the ownership of the property by the Putnam family. Over time it became the Iceland Hotel, and after years of deterioration, with at least one attempt at preserving the property in the 1960s, the building burned to the ground in 1973.

I want to thank Rachel Clothier, Town of Corinth Historian for providing material about the Brower family and their goat dairy used in this article.

Illustrations: Putnam Place Goat Dairy cart, undated, photographer unknown, from the author’s collection; Putnam Place (Knickerbocker News, January 18, 1947); Goat Milk Pamphlet Cover, from the private collection of Rachel Clothier; Beefburger advertisement (Saratogian, September 15, 1942); Closing for the Duration announcement (Saratogian, October 3, 1942).