"Mike Rocket J. Squirrel Elliott"
m wrote in

It seems the only place that I can find REAL milk-crates --
the truly
sturdy heavy-duty kinda waxy plastic ones that humans can't
break -- are
in stacks behind food stores and are stamped "PROPERTY OF
SAFEWAY
STORES. THE GUY WHO OWNS THIS BIKE STOLE IT."

The ones available for sale, in places like Target, are made
of the same
stuff that Revelle models are made of and will shatter if
you give them
a sharp look.

For the most part, that's right. I did get a number of them a
few ago that were just as strong as "real" milk crates.
Unfortunately, I got them at Woolworth's, which is no longer
an option.

Rummage sales are a good place to find this sort of thing.
Just buy one from a defunct dairy, so it would no longer
matter if it was originally stolen.