Thomas’ Milk Bar

By Marilyn Short

What was the one place in our hometown which was frequented more than anything else by Largo’s teens? Why, the Milk Bar, of course! There wasn’t a Friday night that went by but what you and your friends didn’t pile into that old Chevy after a football game and head to Thomas’ Milk Bar for a juicy hamburger and thick chocolate shake!

During the 1940’s and 1950’s, the Milk Bar resembled a scene right out of “Happy Days” – no Richie Cunningham or the Fonz though, and no waitresses on roller skates, but plenty of boys with D.A. haircuts driving cut-down cars and pick-up trucks.

Rows and rows of cars would fill the parking lot although never crossing that imaginary line separating carloads of kids from Clearwater High and Largo. Flashing your headlights when ready to leave alerted Liz Permenter, the other carhops as well, to come retrieve the tray – often laden with baskets of leftover French fries and an empty Coke bottle or two – which hung precariously from the driver’s door!

Have you ever wondered if there really was a Mr. Thomas? How did milk figure into it? Yes, there really was a Mr. Thomas – Burt Byron Thomas as a matter of fact – and yes, milk was a contributing factor in what would become Thomas’ Milk Bar. In the winter of 1921, Burt’s health began to fail and he was advised by his doctor to leave the cold winters of Iowa behind and move to a warmer climate. So, he and his wife Effa, with their two daughters, Dillie and Laura in tow, left Iowa and headed to sunny Florida. Burt’s sons, Dilman K. Thomas (Sr.), Ben and Walter, followed shortly thereafter and settled in the Clearwater-Largo area as well.

Upon arriving, Dilman first worked at a car dealership; then he tried his hand in the poultry business hauling chickens from Florida to Georgia. Sometime in the late 1930’s, Dilman went into business with Robert E. Moore and operated Moore’s Dairy which was located at Clearwater-Largo Road and Belleair Road. The thirty-acre dairy itself wasn’t at the location of what was to become the Milk Bar, but instead was situated across the street on the west side of Clearwater-Largo Road. The milk processing building, however, was located on the Milk Bar site.

When Mr. Moore’s health failed, Dilman took over the business which then became Thomas Dairy. Despite help from his farm hand, Karo, and despite Dilman, Jr. now working alongside his father, the Great Depression and the long hours of dairy farming began to take a toll on the Thomas family. Dilman, Sr. passed away in 1941. The owner of the dairy property decided not to continue to lease the land and since there wasn’t enough land around the dairy barn for the cattle to graze on, Dilman Jr. chose to sell the diary and turn his interest to the Milk Bar venture.

Sometime in the mid to late ‘30’s, Dilman Jr. went to Phoenix to work in his Aunt Laura’s diner, the “Coffee Pot”. The experience he gained there, as well as many of the menu items he brought back, made the Milk Bar endeavor successful. Dilman Jr.’s brother, Richard D. “Dick” Thomas graduated from Clearwater High in 1944 and worked at the family dairy for several years prior to enlisting in the Marine Corps. After being discharged in 1948, he returned home and worked at the Milk Bar. Dilman Jr. continued to operate the drive-in until about 1954 when the Thomas family sold the business to John Bibikes. That year Dick began a 30-year career at the U.S. Post Office and Dilman Jr. became manager of Foremost Dairies, Inc.

The Milk Bar remained open under Mr. Bibikes’ ownership for about another eight or nine years. Many of the “younger generation” who graduated from LHS in the late “60’s does not recall the Milk Bar; it appears the Milk Bar closed its doors for a final time around 1963-1964 after two decades of providing Largo’s youth with not only some great milk shakes, but some wonderful memories as well.

Gone now are the cattle grazing in the pasture of Moore’s Dairy (which has been replaced over the years with a drive-in movie theatre and now two mobile home parks). The Milk Bar parking lot is quiet, and though part of the building itself is still there – housed within the walls of Kimberly Home Thrift Store – Thomas’ Milk Bar is now nothing more than a fond memory.

Author’s Note: I would like to thank Burt’s great-granddaughter, Gaye Thomas Cellon, her cousins Dilman III and Lynn (Malarkey), and her Aunt Peggy (Reinhold) for sharing their family history with me. Thanks also to Gaye’s cousin, William Thomas, for providing the family photographs and memorabilia. The family narratives and photographs enabled us to fill in the missing links regarding our “Milk Bar”. In addition, “thank you” to members of the Clearwater Historical Society for providing input into the story! Be sure to stop by the Feed Store and look over the Thomas family memorabilia and photos which will become part of our museum collection.