It is hard to imagine when chocolate was handmade and a luxury only the rich could afford. However, it was not all that long ago. Chocolate was not Hershey’s first foray into candy-making. In 1883, he started the Lancaster Caramel Company. He had learned during his time in Colorado that fresh milk made the best caramel. His company was an overnight success. In 1900, he sold the Lancaster Caramel Company for $1 million.[1]

In 1893 while visiting the World’s Columbia Expedition, Hershey discovered J.M. Lehmann’s Chocolate making equipment, which he promptly purchased for $20,000.[2]  In the meantime, Hershey was busy perfecting his formula for his chocolate, one that could be mass-produced. In 1903, Hershey broke ground on his new factory, and by 1905 it was open and ready to start producing.  Hershey insisted on having only the best and most up to date equipment; if it did not exist, modifications were made to the equipment on hand.

While Hershey may not have discovered milk chocolate, the Swiss are to be thanked for their contribution. He did, however, find a way to make it affordable, only $.05 and more readily available to the public. Additionally, Hershey’s was the first nationally marketed chocolate bar. Introduced in 1900, the Hershey Bar provided Milton Hershey the first of many of his creations. In the company’s first year, Hershey sold $1 million worth of chocolate. Two of Hershey’s other popular products created within the first ten years of switching from caramel to chocolate include the Hershey Kiss in 1907, which helped the company increase its profit to $2 million, and the Almond Joy in 1908.[3]

Milton Hershey had a unique philosophy in that he believed in sharing the wealth. His philosophy could be the result of the Mennonite influence in his life through his mother. Hershey did not want to be like other industrialists and their company towns. Instead, Hershey provided his employees with the opportunity to purchase comfortable homes, with streets lined with real trees. Not only did he build neighborhoods, but he also designed and created beautiful parks. Additionally, schools, public transportation, department stores, and hospitals were built within the first ten years.

Realizing that he and his wife, Catherine, could never have children, Hershey invested profits from his company to build and endow the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned low-income boys. The school’s primary focus was to prepare the boys to live happy and full lives while providing skills to obtain work.  Milton Hershey did whatever was necessary to ensure that those children had a quality education that would ensure their success; this is likely connected to the fact that he only had a fourth-grade education. Hershey had dropped out of school to help the family when his mother kicked his father out. According to oral histories preserved in the Hershey Archives, Hershey focused more on the school while having a more qualified individual run the business.[4] When Hershey died in 1945, the school inherited his fortune in a trust provided for the students. The school still exists today and provides a boarding-school atmosphere for some 2000 students, both boys and girls living in low-income families.[5]

Milton S. Hershey was a fascinating businessman; there is so much more to uncover about him, his business, and his contributions to society. I intend to look further at some of his significant contributions, such as his great building project during the Great Depression and the Field Ration D bars that fed American soldiers during World War II, in the next blog post.

Bibliography

“The Man,” 2020. https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/our-story/milton-hershey/the-man.html.

“Milton Hershey.” Philanthropy Roundtable. The Philanthropy Roundtable, 2020. https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/people/hall-of-fame/detail/milton-hershey.

“Milton S. Hershey – Chocolate Maker and Altruist,” June 25, 2020. https://www.mhskids.org/about/history/milton-s-hershey/.

“Milton S. Hershey,” 2020. https://www.hersheypa.com/about-hershey/milton-hershey.php.

“Milton S. Hershey.” Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media, October 8, 2008. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197530.

“Who Was Milton Hershey: His History & Life: The Hershey Story.” The Hershey Story Museum. The Hershey Story, June 9, 2015. https://hersheystory.org/milton-hershey-history/.

Attarian, John. “Moral Lessons in a Candy Wrapper.” The World & I, 07, 1999. 278, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F235837139%3Faccountid%3D12085.

Bothfeld and Weygandt. Letter to Milton S. Hershey. “J.M. Lehmann Company.” Hershey, PA: Hershey Archives, January 11, 1894.

Ginzl, David J. “Industrialist and idealist: Milton S. Hershey, the chocolate king: business acumen and idealistic values defined the life of Milton Hershey.” Commercial Lending Review Sept.-Oct. 2006: 38+. Business Insights: Global. Web. November 20, 2020.

Yenkowski, Gary. Arthur R. Whiteman Oral History. Other. Accessed November 19, 2020. https://gencat1.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/request/Action?ClientSession=-482f532b:175df1cd829:-7ec3&UniqueID=6000_3355_4&TemplateProcessID=6000_3355&PromptID=&ParamID=&TemplateProcessID=6000_1051_1051&PromptID=&ParamID=&CMD_(DetailRequest)%5B0%5D=&ProcessID=6000_3363(0)&KeyValues=KEY_OH00200127.

[1] “Who Was Milton Hershey: His History & Life: The Hershey Story,” The Hershey Story Museum (The Hershey Story, June 9, 2015), https://hersheystory.org/milton-hershey-history/.

[2] “Milton S. Hershey,” 2020, https://www.hersheypa.com/about-hershey/milton-hershey.php.

[3] “Milton Hershey,” Philanthropy Roundtable (The Philanthropy Roundtable, 2020), https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/people/hall-of-fame/detail/milton-hershey.

[4] The Hershey Archives can be found at https://hersheyarchives.org/ it is full of oral histories from men and women who either worked in Hershey’s factories in the early days or who grew up in the school and neighborhood. For more information see: “Who Was Milton Hershey: His History & Life: The Hershey Story,” The Hershey Story Museum (The Hershey Story, June 9, 2015), https://hersheystory.org/milton-hershey-history/.

[5]“Milton S. Hershey – Chocolate Maker and Altruist,” June 25, 2020, https://www.mhskids.org/about/history/milton-s-hershey/.