Sweet Success of Hershey

February 9th celebrates the world of Milton S. Hershey and the introduction of the Hershey bar. From the humble beginnings of a caramel manufacturer, Hershey paved the way to mass produce milk chocolate bars. It all started with a visit to the J. M. Lehmann exhibition of milk chocolate  during the 1893 Chicago Fair. Hershey recognized an opportunity and purchased all the assembly equipment. After the close of the fair, the equipment  was then shipped to Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he built his plant and town. Hershey stopped production of his caramels to focus solely milk chocolate production. After a lot of trial and error, by 1900 the first Hershey bar was introduced. Ahhh, sweet success. 

You can find several books on Hershey in the Libraries collection at NMAH. 

The Emporors of chocolate : inside the world of Hershey and Mars by Joel Glenn Brenner 1999. 

Hershey : Milton S. Hershey's extrordinary life of wealth, empire, and utopian dreams by Michael D'Antonio 2006 

Hershey chocolate cookbook, Hershey Chocolate Co. 1979. 

Hershey farsighted confectioner, famous chocolate, fine community. Sammuel Forry Hinkle 1964. 

Chocolate : history, culture,  and heritage. (Ed.)  Louis evan Grivetti and Howard-Yana Shapiro 2009.—Ninette Dean

Comments

[Dan Puroclean]

Comming from South Africa - our chocolate was Cadbury.

Founded in the 1800's, Cadbury has long been a part of England's history with ties to the British monarchy. The first Cadbury shop was established by John Cadbury in Birmingham, England and grew through the hard work and vision of his sons, the Cadbury brothers - Richard and George. Still today, CADBURY DAIRY MILK is the UK's best selling chocolate, achieving its flavor and creaminess using the traditional recipe.

The Hershey Company holds a license to manufacture CADBURY chocolate products in the United States.