George is on line 19. Birth date August 8, 1899.
Birth Record.
Per the 1910 Census the Reese family, 3 boys and 4 girls, are living in Diamondtown, just on the other sid of the railroad tracks on the North side of Mount Carmel. Helen is next to the youngest at 9 years old.
George performs in a minstral show in April 26, 1917.
It is the first of many entertainment productions in which he performs. all the newspaper accounts of his performances are not included here.
George sings, acts and also serves as a kind of emcee.
This too is the beginning of a long love affair the Mount Carmel Item newspaper has with George... probably deservingly so.
A "Wild West" incident shortly before George graduates at 17
What was George doing in that part of town, far from home, at that time of night?
George excels in high school. A harbinger of the rest of his life.
World War I ended in November of the year George joined the Marines, 1918. It's not known if he saw any action.
Per the 1920 Census the Reese family, 1 boy and 2 girls, are living in Mount Carmel at 260 West 4th Street.
Helen is 18.
Two years later her father will have died.
Five years later she will have married Geeorge.
George, the entainer in action once again in March of 1920.
George continues his passion for theatrics in 1921 and is worrking for the Mount Carmel Item newspaper.
Sometime in 1921-1922 George leaves the Item and goes to work for the Philadelphia North American newspaper.
In June 1922 George leaves the Philadelphia North American newspaper amd goes to work for a Butler PA newspaper.
In May 1923 George is on the move again. This time he lands a prestigious spot with the International News Service.
George quits his job in Havana Cuba. This article appeared on September 19, 1925. Having spent 19 months there he likely quit the INS job and sailed off to Havana around the middle of 1924.
George marries Helen Reese on September 28th 1925 and sorta steals a bit of the limelight from his bride, about 10 days after returning from Cuba. That indicates a remarkably short courtship or......
After marrying, George and Helen now reside in the Philadelphia Area. They return to Mount Carmel on March 3d 1926 for a visit. It's not clear who may have emoloyed George.
On August 23rd 1926 George and Helen's only child, Natalie, is born. A one child family was a rarity in the midst of the super large family era in the United States.
The 1930 census shows George, Helen and Natalie living in Philadelphia at 33A North 63rd Street. George is employed as a magazine editor with ????. Helen's parents came to America from Germany. But George's parents are wrongly identified as coming from Russia.
On On April 21st, 1931 George tells President Herbert Hoover a thing or two at the White House.
This indicates that George had attained a significant level of prominence within the publishing community.
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George applies for World War I veterans compensation of 10 bucks a month for 16 months.
Kinda insignificant but we get to see what his signature looks like.
According to the 1940 census the family is renting a home on Montgomery Avenue in Gulph Mills a Philadelphia suberb. In 1935 they were living in Upper Merion.
Strangely 13 year old daughter Natalie is shown as being a propriator.... undoubtedly a mistake, but it makes you wonder about the validity of thimgs on census reports.
George's achievements continue to pile up. Being responsible for all aspects of getting a periodic publication out the door has got to be a daunting. George had proven repeatedly that his capabilities exceeded the requirements of the job.
As a side note, according to census information George completed one year of college. He attended the University of Pennsylvania after high school and joined the Marines after one year there. It is not clear on what basis he attended Syracuse University for he never got a degree. Consequently, he never did graduate studies. That being said, he obviously did quite well without a college degree.
In 1950 the family has moved to 90 Charcoal Hill Road in Westport Connecticut It's easy to assume that George rode the train to and from work in New Yor City each day.
Yearbook photo of daughter Natalie - Upper left corner. Graduated when 16 as class valdictoriom. Went on to attend Julliard in New Yor City. Became a clssical concert pianist perfoming throughout Europe and the U.s. Played under the professional name of Natalie Ryshna.
George is listed in this 1966 Westport directory with an asterisk to the left of his name that has an unknown meaming.
Rhe house number shown is 14 which conflicts with house numbers shown on other documents for Charcoal Hill Road.
George's employer is in New York City as are others listed. A considerabble commute to work.
His address is appended with "and NY". Does that signify that he also rented or owned a place in NYC to stay in during the work week?
There's no doubt that this Hook family lived in a well-to-do neighborhood.
George dies in 1974.
One wonders if George experienced career overload and found true happiness a bit elusive.
Helen died on March 23rd 1974. An obituary cannot be found.
