Reiss Dairy: Famous for Milk Bottles with Poems

By Stephen W. Reiss

Reiss Dairy is the third book in this series. It is a history of the Reiss Dairy in Sikeston, Missouri which was founded in 1935 by third generation John Reiss and his son-in-law, Lonnie Standley. The dairy is famous for milk bottles featuring poems created by Sikeston citizens to promote Reiss Dairy products. The best of these bottles now sell on eBay for over $200.

It Takes A Matriarch was the second of four books about the extended Reiss and Basler families who settled on a small farm in St. Clair County, Illinois in 1834 and 1839, respectively. It includes 780 letters saved by first generation Margaret Basler Reiss Ebert from 1852 to 1888. Some letters were phonetic English but most had to be translated from old German. Authors were Margarets siblings, their spouses, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and two friends. They mention serving in the Civil War, personal challenges, life in St. Louis and Sacramento and Davenport, and the lost family fortune. One author was friends with John Wilkes Booth who shot President Lincoln.

Quilter, Granger, Grandma, Matriarch was the first of these four books. It is the daily diary of third generation Katie Reiss covering 1949 through 1953. It was published first to give the reader a feel for life on the Reiss Family Farm in the German heritage of southern Illinois. Katie and husband George Reiss doubled the original Reiss/Basler farm to its current 360 acres. Relatives gather for a reunion in June 2009 to celebrate 175 years of the ongoing existence of the Reiss Family Farm.

Family, Farming, and Freedom will be the fourth book. It is 55 years of professional and personal writings by fourth generation Irv Reiss from 1949 to 2004. His favorite subjects were family fun and travel, restoring strip mined coal lands to productive farming, and promoting individual freedoms and responsibilities. He was my dad.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 10, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467869218

Stephen W. Reiss

About the Authors Stephen Reiss and Diana Peterson were married in Peoria, IL on July 10, 1971. Their first son Adam Stephen was born in Peoria on August 8, 1976 and their second son Grant Andrew was born in Peoria on May 19, 1979. Steve has a BS in Electrical Engineering plus an MBA and worked for Caterpillar for 40 years including 5 years in Asia. Diane has a BA in Elementary Education plus a Masters in Guidance and Counseling. She taught 4th grade, ESL, GED, and was Handicap Coordinator for Illinois Central College. The family of four enjoyed living in Seoul for 3.5 years and in Hong Kong for 1.5 years 1987-1991. Here’s our 50th wedding anniversary. Adam married Heather Pottgen on April 26, 2008 in Phoenix, AZ. They have a son William Stephen and daughter Ava Brooke and live in Springfield, IL. They are on the right. Grant married Hany Sober on August 29, 2009 in Peoria, IL. They have a daughter Kayla Marie and a son Blake Saber and live in Chicago, IL. They are on the left. All four grands are co-authors on this second edition.

Book preview

© 2009 Stephen W. Reiss. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 6/4/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4389-8620-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-6921-8 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009905281

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgement

Newspaper Articles – February 1936 to February 1949

Company History

Obituaries of John Reiss and Lonnie Standley

Serendipity

Reiss Dairy Photos

Reiss Dairy Milk Bottle

Poems by Author

Introduction

Standard Democrat October 27, 2003

Reiss Dairy History as Told by Lonnie Standley

John Jacob Reiss founded the Reiss Dairy in Sikeston, Missouri. He started selling milk from his own cows to neighbors and then to local retailers. That led to starting his own dairy and becoming a retailer himself. About the year 1940, when Reiss Dairy was located in a frame building at 523 East Malone Avenue in Sikeston, processed milk products were packaged in glass – that is all products except butter which was packaged in folded cardboard one pound cartons.

Reiss Diary packaged processed milk in three sizes of cartons – ½ pint, pint, and quart sizes. The bottles were purchased in shipments when needed by the truckloads from glass bottle manufacturers. I can remember only two manufacturers – Owens-Illinois Glass and Liberty Glass Co. All manufacturers would apply sizes and the Dairy trade name on the bottle. We selected red as the color of this application. The name was more or less permanent, depending on the caustic washing material used and the wear and tear of constant use. One of the manufacturers told us we could place an advertising message on the opposite side of the bottle so here is where the applied verses began.

We decided we would ask our customers to help us advertise Reiss Dairy products. We placed a paid advertisement in the twice a week Sikeston Standard. We placed this advertisement only once at a probable cost of less than $10. The size of the advertisement was two columns by eight included for the single insertion. The advertisement read something like this: Do you like to doodle or write ditties? Write your choice and bring it to the Reiss Dairy Office. When you see your work placed on a Reiss Dairy Milk Bottle, bring the bottle to our Reiss Dairy Office and collect $1.00 cash. Reiss Dairy 523 East Malone Avenue, Sikeston, Missouri.

This advertisement brought very slow results, but gradually interest increased and poems came in – in large numbers. As we placed orders for new bottles, the poems were changed and new poems were selected. We kept this program in effect until we changed milk packaging from glass to paper which was in 1949 when we were in our new building at 526 S. Main Street in Sikeston.

"I have no idea how many verses we received, but the ladies working in our office really enjoyed making the selections of verses when new orders for milk bottles were placed. They placed all verses as received in a big box and stored in a safe place. When we began packaging milk in paper, we had milk bottles to destroy. We hauled milk bottles to the trash heap – truckloads of them. One lady told us that Reiss Dairy milk bottles are now valued at $150 on the Internet.

Acknowledgement

My second cousin Katy Standley supplied much of history and inspiration for this book about her father Lonnie Standley, grandfather John Papa Reiss, and the unique business they created in Sikeston, Missouri as the Reiss Dairy. Katy also supplied most of the photographs. Without her significant help, this book would not have been possible. Thanks, Katy.

Stephen W. Reiss

Newspaper Articles – February 1936 to February 1949

The Sikeston Herald February 6, 1936

Processing Plant of Reiss Dairy is New Industry of 1935

The Reiss Dairy was started nine years ago on the Reiss Farm 1.5 miles west of Sikeston. The growth of the business has been so rapid that during this time the owner and operator, J. J. Reiss has erected four new buildings.

The herd has increased from 10 cows to 50 at present, composed of Jersey and Holstein with Holstein predominating. This herd is tested