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El_Johns

(1,805 posts)
Wed Feb 19, 2014, 10:05 PM Feb 2014

Interesting facts I learned today: 2) Nestle's American founders

Nestlé, which we think of as a Swiss corporation, was founded as the merger of the Swiss Henri Nestlé's milk/baby food company and a putatively Swiss milk company founded by two brothers from Illinois, Charles and George Page. Charles was the US consul to Switzerland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9

Of the partners, the Page brothers were by far the most important, as Nestle sold out to them in 1875 and the Page family continued to run the company until at least the 1920-30s (the latest I can trace them).

Interestingly, relatives of the Pages also ran milk companies in the US. For example, the Page Milk Company (KS, OK), which sponsored the singer Patti Page (nee Clara Fowler) early in her career and gave her her stage name:

http://www.leecoilgen.org/latest_news/what-does-patti-page-and-page-park-have-in-common/

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/page-milk-coffeyville-kansas-ks-booklet-set-of

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