Vintage Wisconsin: Malted Milk, The Favorite Drink Of Explorers

This week marks the anniversary of malted milk, patented on June 5, 1883. Although most of us likely think of malted milk as a sweet treat, it actually began as a health supplement for infants and invalids. And strangely enough, it soon became popular with explorers, as the above image attests: It shows crates of Horlicks malted milk bound for Antarctica in 1933.

Brothers James and William Horlick moved from England to Racine where they formed a company in 1873 to manufacture a wheat- and malt-based infant food that James, a pharmacist, had experimented with in London. Ten years later, they patented a new formula enhanced with dried milk (they were in Wisconsin) and marketed the product under the unfortunate name, “diastoid.” Fortunately, they soon realized that name sounded more like something for athlete’s foot than something appetizing to eat. They trademarked the name “malted milk” in 1887.

Despite its origins as a health food, malted milk found several unexpected markets. The light-yellow powder has a nutty flavor and natural sweetness. Healthy people began drinking it for the taste, and it soon became a soda fountain staple, especially when mixed with ice cream. Horlicks also began adding chocolate to its malted products as it grew in popularity. Malt shops across the country owe their name to the Horlick brothers.

Beyond soda fountains, malted milk soon found its way to the ends of the earth. Explorers appreciated that it was lightweight, high in calories and nonperishable. Polar explorers Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, and Richard Byrd all included malted milk in their provisions. William even became a patron of exploration and in return, Byrd named a mountain range in Antarctica after the Racine company.

Malted milk is no longer made in Racine, but Horlicks remains popular in the U.K., India, and Southeast Asia.