The Purple Cow: A Dairy Daughter’s Heritage. Laura Lee Tognazzini Dias. Paperback, (2015), Illus., Bibliography, Index, 272 pp.

This book is a history of the dairy pioneers in the Central Coast of California. The people who lived on these dairies speak of the problems they had to overcome before their dairies could be considered successful. They tell of life on the dairy, the good times as well as the tough times.

Many young men came from European countries where they had few opportunities to find a job and prosper. You will read about people who immigrated from Denmark, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Switzerland to America.

Many of the stories center around the Santa Barbara County communities of Guadalupe, Lompoc, Los Alamos, Santa Maria and Sisquoc, as well as the south San Luis Obispo County communities of Oso Flaco and Nipomo. Names you will read about include Adam, Barca, DeBernardi, Diani, Guggia, Hancock, Johnson, Maretti, Marciel, Mortensen, Pereira, Pezzoni, Tognazzini and Turri. There are many other prominent names recalled in 75 stories about the individual diaries and the creameries in and around the Santa Maria Valley. Virtually every story contains pictures about the dairy or the dairyman featured in the story.

In addition, there are stories about the state and local dairy association, Dairy Princesses, promoting milk in the communities, branding, dairy barn structures, cow and milk testers, and more. It concludes with a scrapbook of family and dairy photographs, some recipes, a dairy song, and more. A comprehensive index will help you to locate your family among the many stories easily.

The amount of research and the amount of effort that went into compiling this book is apparent from beginning to end. It is, without a doubt, a worthwhile, informative and entertaining read from cover to cover.

Book #: J-D1350
ISBN: 9781596413504