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It turns out that even Buddy Ebsen didn't know why Barnaby Jones loved milk so much
Milk, shaken, not stirred.
Milk haters, this article is not for you. Milk lovers, please feel free to continue reading. As we all know, milk is a superior beverage to most other drinks. Why else would you use it to make other things like coffee and cereal taste better? For all the unnecessary fluff milk has gotten in the last couple of years with the popularization of variants like oat milk and almond milk, we raise our literal glasses to the irreplaceable victor: Plain old milk.
If you're a milk lover, you're also in good company. If you recall, it was the favorite beverage of one private investigator, Barnaby Jones. The role was portrayed by television great Buddy Ebsen. While most hard-boiled investigators were chugging whiskey in the privacy of their offices, Barnaby Jones always kept a gallon of two percent milk in his fridge. Ebsen later revealed in his autobiography, The Other Side of Oz, that even he wasn't sure where the character's love of milk had come from.
Ebsen wrote, "I'm not sure who came up with it, but Barnaby was given a penchant for drinking milk. It wasn't that he disapproved of people who drink alcohol, it was just that he liked milk. It became his trademark.
It's a fairly simple explanation for a fictional character, but it led to worldwide recognition for Ebsen in his real life. He recalled an incident where a waitress made a nod to his character one day when Ebsen sat down for a spot of lunch.
Ebsen wrote, "During a hiatus, I was sailing my boat off the West Coast of Florida. I went into a little restaurant in Pensacola, sat a moment, and then a young waitress with a big grin on her face walked over and put a glass of milk on my table. It was a win-win situation. She enjoyed the gag. I enjoyed the milk, plus the recognition. It happens quite often now."
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