original american depression era portable galvanized steel sealtest dairy bottle crate designed and fabricated exclusively for the national dairy products corporation, delaware. the heavily reinforced stackable crate with a compartmentalized interior contains a riveted joint strap along the base for added stability and/or durability. the steel case contains several embossed manufacturer markings with the "sealtest" name fashioned in large, cursive lettering. the crate is free from significant wear or damage. sealtest dairy was a division of national dairy products corporation and the foremost manufacturer and distributor of ice cream throughout the midwest. the first known volume ice cream maker west of the allegheny mountains was a man named collins, who in late 1878 began business in his home at 90 etna avenue, with ice cut from the wabash river in wintertime. the collins company flourished and in 1887 established a branch in chicago. due to this expansion, collins became the sole supplier of ice cream to the world's columbian exposition in chicago in 1893, and some of the ice cream sold there was manufactured in huntington and shipped via the erie railroad. collins subsequently opened branches in fort wayne and jamestown, new york, and to keep pace with expanding business, in 1905 a new plant was established at 75 west state street, the present location of northern indiana public service company. also, around the turn of the century, e.l. martin started a small creamery in markle. the business prospered and martin decided to move to huntington where he opened a plant. in 1916 he formed a partnership with bert mills of purdue university. the martin-mills venture expanded into the opening of a plant in 1919 on west state street at the present location of the kraft company plant, and adjacent to the collins ice manufacturing plant. in the meantime, spurred by placing first in a competition for butter quality, martin established the cloverleaf creamery in decatur in 1914 and soon took on another partner, this time w.a. klepper, originally from fort wayne and who had been associated with chamberlin ice cream company in lafayette. they changed the name to martin-klepper dairy. mr. mills died in 1920 and the martin-klepper dairy and the martin-mills creameries merged, and with it the name of cloverleaf creameries was reinstated. they processed milk and manufactured butter and cheese, becoming the primary market for these dairy products for farmers within an 80-mile radius. soon after the merger in 1917, tasty ice cream was introduced to the area from what is considered the first mass-production ice cream plant west of pittsburgh. soon horse-drawn tasty ice cream delivery wagons were common in northern indiana cities. in 1928 cloverleaf bought out the collins ice cream plant and public service of indiana acquired the ice house. the kraft-phoenix company bought cloverleaf in 1930, and cheese was added to the product line. in 1930 kraft became a subsidiary of national dairy products corporation. in 1934 national dairies changed the name of its ice cream from tasty to sealtest. the sealtest brand name was derived from the lab set-up by national dairies to test product quality. in 1932, the first year of sealtest as a brand-name, some 267,000 gallons of ice cream were manufactured.