History Spotlight, 2/18

I swear I am not making any of this up.

One of the greatest events in bovine aviation took place today in 1930 as Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to not only fly in an airplane but to be milked while in flight. When people look back fondly at the early years of the 20th Century and wonder what we have left behind, bovine aviation must surely be one of those things. This must have been what Joni Mitchell meant when she sang, "You don't know what you've lost 'till it's gone."
In the 1930's, airplanes were coming into their own. Far from being an interesting mechanical curiosity, as the Wright Brothers' early models were, the possibilities for modern aircraft in the 1930's seemed limitless. It appeared as if everyone had some kind of plan for using planes in ways that nobody else had thought of and also to make a steamer trunk full of money at the same time. One of those people, whose name has been lost to history, came up with the idea of transporting cows to market via airplane rather than the train. The problem was that, different from their public perception, cows are notoriously edgy creatures. If a cow isn't happy, it won't milk very well and ti will take a long time to calm down. The planes of the day were not the place for edgy creatures.
The cow picked for the test was Elm Farm Ollie, who not only was a very mellow cow but who also gave a prodigious amount of milk, sometimes requiring a milking three times a day. Ollie's, owner Wisconsin native, Elsworth Bunce allowed the entrepreneurs to use her as a demonstration for the ease of transporting cows by air. On February 18, 1930 at the International Air Show in St. Louis, MO, Ollie took to the air, along with Mr. Bunce for moral support on a 72 mile trip from Bismack, MO to St. Louis, MO. Midway through the trip, she was milked by Mr. Bunce and the milk was put into cartons and parachuted to ground. There is an apocryphal tale of Charles Lindbergh being give a glass of this milk.
In the end, it didn't work out for the investors. Transporting beeves via air turned out to be too cumbersome, too expensive and too irritating for the cows. For her part, Ollie lived in fame and luxury for many years. Every year to this day, Madison, Wisconsin celebrates her achievements with the opera Madame Butterfat which has the lyrics:

When they squeezed her udder, ol' Ollie gave a shudder

She'd put up a fight in midair flight -- SHE WAS NOT AFRAID!

In retirement, Ollie ponders her greatest successes.