The Walker-Gordon Rotolactor

Prior to becoming a dairy company, Walker-Gordon was a laboratory. First opening in 1891, Dr. Thomas M. Rotch met with Mr. Gustavus A. Gordon to develop a way to modify cow’s milk to make it more closely resemble that of a human mother’s milk in order to prevent infant fatalities, thus drawing the interest of businessman George Walker. By 1893, Walker-Gordon’s modified milk became a reality. In order to ensure that the original milk being modified was the best quality, Walker-Gordon purchased 40 acres of farmland in Plainsboro, NJ in 1897 which quickly expanded to 2,300 acres by 1929. Due to increasing demand, Henry Jeffers, Walker-Gordon President, had the idea for a new machine: the Rotolactor. 

After securing $200,000 in funding, the Rotolactor was completed in 1930, the inauguration of which drew dignitaries near and far. While the Secretary of Agriculture and New Jersey Governor were in attendance, Thomas Edison had fallen ill and was unable to attend. A message from him was read at the ceremony and he was able to remotely push a button while at his home to start the Rotolactor. 

A mini-rotolactor was built to showcase at the 1939 Worlds’ Fair in New York City. Also showcased was Elsie, The Borden Cow. The Borden Company had bought into Walker-Gordon in 1929 and was in need of a friendly logo for their product. Thus, Elsie was born. The Rotolactor was a hit with attendees and had changed the way dairy farming was done. In Plainsboro today, just outside of Princeton, you can visit the gravesite of “You’ll Do Lobelia”, the original Elsie the Cow. 

Resources for Further Research:

1. Historical Marker Database
2. Articles from the Papers of Princeton database:
   • Page 2 Advertisements Column 2 (Daily Princetonian, 1915)
   • Elsie, Glamour Cow, Steals Spotlight at Walk-Gordon Anniversary Program (Princeton Herald, 1941)
   • Famed ‘Rotolactor’ at Walker-Gordon Laboratories Milks 1,500 Docile Cows, News 25,000 Quarts of Milk Per Day (Princeton Herald, 1949
   • From Milk to Beef (Town Topics, 1971)
   • “222-Acre Walker-Gordon Farm Looks for Buyer (Town Topics, 1980)
   • Welcome, Elsie! (Town Topics, 1983)Almanac: The automatic cow milker (CBS Sunday Morning)
3. Remembering Walker-Gordon (the Raw Milk Institute)
4. Meet Elsie (Borden Dairy)
5. Walker-Gordon: One of a Kind by Edward E. Tandall and C. Stanton Clark and Elsie the Cow and Borden’s Collectibles by Albert Coito from Princeton Public Library’s collection