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J. Walter Thompson Vice President - John U. Reber and Kraft Music Hall Singer - Milena M. Miller |
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Some items that came into my collection as trash from near an abandoned house. The following are some of the items and the results of searching online for who these people were. 02-14-2010... This is still a raw notes page! Links are all other people's sites. |
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Several years back when I first tried to figure out who these people were, I could only find the company. Now with Google News archive and Google Books scan results there is an overwhelming wealth of information out there! There are 5 people in the photos. Based on the results of an extensive online search, they appear to be: 1. John U. Reber, former V.P. of J. Walter Thompson advertising company. 2. John's second wife Milena Mae Miller Reber, Miss NYC '43 and famed Kraft Music Hall Singer 3. Milena's sister Mildred Miller Sonnanstine 4. John's daughter by his first wife Annie Chadwick Reber, married four times including to grandson of co-founder of J&L steel and to a direct descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 5. John's first son by Milena Richard John Reber, Democratic Committeeman from the late 1970's - early/mid 1980's |  |
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John Uhrich Reber was born Oct. 6, 1893. He graduated Reading High School in 1910, Phillips-Exeter Academy in 1912, and Amherst College in 1916. John went to to work for J. Walter Thompson in 1916 (as an accounts manager?) John Uhrich Reber and Helen Chadwick Hutchins (b.~1895) married December 30, 1916. John served as a Coxswain United States Naval Reserve Force in WWI sometime after that. For three years after WWI he was in charge of the London office for the New York Firm. He was associated with the firm at least through 1936. Also after returning from WWI John went back to work for J. Walter Thompson. In 1929 John moved up to head of Radio marketing. John went against the convention thought that advertising has no place on the radio. At the time when John was in charge of advertising, the broadcasters did not do their own advertising. By 1936, John was JWT's Vice President and JWT sponsered major broadcasting periods on the air and developed programs which starred Major Bowes, Eddie Cantor, Burns and Allen, etc. JWT did advertising for NBC, ABC and CBS. Kraft Music Hall, sponsered by Kraft Foods, was one of the many advertising outlets that John worked on. The list of future stars who made their start on Kraft is a long one. John's career spanned from radio into TV. |
A 1942 JWT / Kodak V-Mail LIFE advertisement?  (image from E-bay listing) |
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Milena Mae Miller was born Feb 20 1922 in Mansfield Ohio. Milena's sister Mildred was born a year later, Mar 17 1923. In 1943 Milena was crowned Miss NYC and was third runner up in the Miss USA pageant that year. During the remainder of WWII she traveled on War Bond tours. As early as 8/1945 she shows up as a regular on the Kraft Music Hall program. Sometime after January in 1926 John and his first wife had a daughter Annie C Reber. Ann attended Madeira Scholl in VA. In 1945 Ann graduated from Madeira and her mother also passed away November 15 1945. Ann attended Columbia University and went to be a fashion model for Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, and other magazines. Ann was also an artist and became a social acquaintance of Andy Warhol when Bobby Short introduced her to Andy to help him find ink. Ann was married to 4 different husbands. 1. Thomas Shackelford Hemenway Jr Jun 21, 1947. Divorced prior to May 1950. 2. Philip Acosta Carroll Jr.(10/14/1925-05/16/2006), direct descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton in Virginia, before May 12, 1950. Divorced prior to 1952. 3. Frederick Holdship Jones the grandson of J&L steel's co-founder (< 1952? - < 1956?). Ann had a son with Jones in 1952. 4. James Stuart Brown III on April 22, 1956. Her son took Brown's surname. He is online as Michael Westcott Brown and is currently married to Minta Brown. Both are involved with Pittsburg area history. Ann died January 31, 2006. John remarried to Milena Miller March 19, 1948 at Edgar Bergen's Hollywood home. Milena put her career on hold to become a mother. On Mar 27 1949 she gave birth to Richard J. Reber. On Apr 15 1954 she had a second son Chris. John came home to Sinking Spring and passed away on July 2 1955. He left a void at work and at home. In 1958 Milena was presented with John's posthumous induction into the (Broadcasting? / Broadcast?) Pioneers Hall of fame seated between Cecil B. Demille and Bob Hope. Milena moved to 728 Wyomissing Blvd in town in September 1958. She was active in local talent shows including the PTA show. By February 7, 1964 life had taken it's toll on Milena's spirit and she committed suicide in her garage. Chris was home with Milena and perished from the gases in the house. Richard was away at McDonogh School military academy in MD. Milena left all of John and her estate to Chris and Richard. It took several years to settle the estate. Richard graduated from McDonogh and went on to Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. Richard received $50k in 1970 for the portion of the farm that was taken for Tulpehocken Creek Valley Park. By 1980 the farm's acreage was down to 240. From 1972-1974 Richard worked for Benton and Bowles advertising agency in New York. By 1979 Richard was already involved in politics. He was a Democratic Committeeman and campaigning for Edward Kennedy. This political activeness continued at least through 1984. Richard married Irina V Diatlikova in Aug 1994. She is currently a local artist in Berks County. Somewhere after that he lived at 588 Springhill Rd Saint Paul, MN. The area code for the address was implemented in 1998. Richard owned and operated Papermill Road Productions up until the time of his death. Richard died at home in Sinking Spring March 26, 1998. Reber homestead deed changed Nov 24, 1999. Mildred Miller was a pilot for the women’s U. S. Air Force in WWII. Mildred Miller married Thomas “Bud” Sonnanstine Jr. in Nov 1947 and stayed married until his death in 1982. She had three childred in the 1950's. One of her children, Stephanie Schertzer contributed info and pics to Marion County By Stuart J. Koblentz, Marion County Historical Society which is listed in the References below. Stephanie's son Thomas W. Schertzer and his wife Karen R Schertzer drowned in lake Erie in 1997. Mildred died September 23, 2009. Determining a date for when the pictures from the trash I have were taken.... 1. John is still alive, making the pics taken before July 2 1955. 2. Richard John is a small child, making the pics taken after March 27 1949 + 2-4 years (1951-1953) 3. There is no sign of Chris. Milena doesn't appear pregnant. So it is either 1953 before Chris or 1955 right before John died. 4. Mildred appears pregnant / in maternity clothes. She had two children within a year of Richard's birth and one 2-4 years later. This would put the pics somewhere around late 1952 - early 1953. 5. In the color slide, Richard appears to be the same age as in the other pics. He is playing with a train. Christmas 1952? |
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