Editing Milk bar (section)

==History==
[[File:Black and White Milk Bar Sydney SLNSW FL10329351.jpg|thumb|Black & White Milk Bar, Martin Place, Sydney, 1934]]
[[File:Central Station milk bar, 1946 (4009463159).jpg|thumb|[[Central railway station, Sydney]] milk bar, 1946]]

The first "milk bar" was established in 1896 by a milk farmer Stanisław Dłużewski who established ''Nadświdrzańska'' at [[Nowy Świat]] in [[Warsaw]].<ref name="first">{{cite web |vauthors=Walczak T|title=A phenomenon that continues to this day. The first milk bar was established in 1896 (translated from Polish)| date=9 November 2022 |url=https://jedynka.polskieradio.pl/artykul/3067935,Fenomen-kt%C3%B3ry-trwa-do-dzi%C5%9B-Pierwszy-bar-mleczny-powsta%C5%82-ju%C5%BC-w-1896-roku|publisher=Polish Radio |access-date=23 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="cheap">{{cite web|date=20 October 2024 |last1=Jagodziński |first1=Jakub |title=Milk bars: over a hundred years of history of cheap restaurants (translated from Polish)|url=https://histmag.org/Bary-mleczne-ponad-stuletnia-historia-tanich-restauracji-27450|publisher=Historymag.org |access-date=23 May 2025}}</ref> Food items of Nadświdrzańska's menu included: premium quality milk and butter, twarożek (sour cottage cheese spread), [[kefir]], zsiadłe mleko (soured milk served called with cooked potatoes and sprinkled with dill), white coffee, offered along with baked goods, such as bakery freshly baked rye sourdough bread (''chleby pytlowy''), crispy Warsaw [[Kaiser roll]]s, ''rogaliki'', ''maglowniczki'', ''solanki'', and scrambled egg.{{cn|date=May 2025}}  

Nadświdrzańska was a response to a contemporary emerging health culture, offering simple, natural products; kefir was commonly consumed among the middle class. The clientele was diverse and included working class, working people with university educations, artists, and socialites.{{cn|date=May 2025}} 

By 1918, the concept of milk bars, known as ''mleczarnia'' or ''[[bar mleczny]]'', had become widespread throughout [[Poland]].{{cn|date=May 2025}} They were subsidized by the government as a [[poverty reduction]] measure, providing affordable and nutritious meals. Visits to the milk bars increased during the interwar period, particularly during the [[Great Depression]]. Later on, milk bars would also offer ice cream as an item on their menu.<ref name=first/><ref name=cheap/><ref name="sabak">{{cite web |last1=Sabak |first1=Joanna |title=Special care milk bars (translated from Polish)|date=10 September 2009 |url=http://gazetapraca.pl:80/gazetapraca/1,90439,7019098,Bary_mleczne_specjalnej_troski.html |publisher=Gazeta.pl |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20130319013323/http://gazetapraca.pl:80/gazetapraca/1,90439,7019098,Bary_mleczne_specjalnej_troski.html |access-date=23 May 2025|archive-date=19 March 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ziemichód |first1=Przemysław |title=The first milk bars in Warsaw: highlander girls serving, undercooked philosophers and courtesans (translated from Polish) |date=21 October 2022 |url=https://warszawa.naszemiasto.pl/pierwsze-bary-mleczne-w-warszawie-goraleczki-w-obsludze/ar/c1-9039103 |publisher=Nasze Miasto |access-date=23 May 2025}}</ref><ref name="jerzy">{{cite web |last1=Majewski |first1=Jerzy S. |title=In this dairy we drank kefir and talked about books (translated from Polish) |date=19 October 2013 |url=https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,14799552,w-tej-mleczarni-pilo-sie-kefir-i-rozmawialo-o-ksiazkach.html |access-date=23 May 2025}}</ref>

By the 1930s, the idea reached Britain from the US.  In 1933, a milk farmer [[Robert William Griffiths]] established one of Britain's first milk bar in [[Colwyn Bay]] which later grew into a chain known as National Milk Bar company.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherlock |first1=Gemma |title=The cafe that is now the very last of its kind |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8pe5q5q5zo |website=BBC |date=12 February 2025 |access-date=23 May 2025}}</ref> The concept soon spread in Great Britain further, encouraged by the [[Temperance Society]] as a morally acceptable alternative to the pub, and over 1,000 milk bars had opened nationally by the end of 1936.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Milk bars were known in the United States at least as early as 1940 as evidenced by contemporary radio recordings.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}  By the late 1940s, milk bars had evolved to not only sell [[groceries]], but were also places where young people could buy ready-made food and [[non-alcoholic drink]]s, and could socialise. Milk bars often had [[jukebox]]es and [[pinball machine]]s (later upgraded to [[video game]]s), with tables and chairs to encourage patrons to linger and spend more money.

The milk bar as a social venue was gradually replaced by [[fast food]] franchises, such as [[McDonald's]], and [[shopping mall]]s.{{cn|date=May 2025}} Much of the elaborate decor has disappeared from the remaining milk bars. They are still found in many areas, often serving as [[convenience stores]].{{cn|date=May 2025}}