The history of Hershey's chocolate
Did you know that 80 million Hershey's Kisses are produced a day? For many Americans, the word Hershey's has become a family name. But just how and when did this chocolate legacy start? Read this article to find out the history of Hershey's chocolate.
Milton Hershey was born in Pennsylvania in 1857 to two Mennonite parents. He
was raised on a farm, but the family moved frequently. He attended no school
past the fourth grade, but instead was placed as the apprentice to a chocolate
maker at the age of eighteen. He proceeded to open factories in New York, Chicago
and Philadelphia, before hitting a resounding success with the Lacashire Caramel
Corporation. His heart was not in caramel however. Hershey became fascinated
with the fine instruments used to make chocolates in Germany and Belgium. He
sold his caramel business for one million dollars, an incredible amount at the
time, and reinvested the capital into a chocolate factory and the research of
chocolate.
Hershey built a chocolate factory in Hershey, Pa, at the conclusion of his experiments.
It was an immediate success. He also included homes for his workers in the surrounding
town, a transport system, aid for schools and specialized doctors. Working for
him was a dream job in early America. Eventually, his vision expanded to build
a park for the town, a place which soon became the famous Hershey Park.
Hershey's philanthropy became the center of his life after the creation of the
park. He opened a school for orphan boys that received great acclaim. Finally,
he left his entire legacy to the Hershey schooling system, before passing away
at age 1945.
Today, Hershey, PA, continues to expand as a tourist attraction. It contains
a hotel, several thousand swimming pools and a booming population. Tourists
can play in the park, or tour the chocolate factory at designated hours during
the day. Hershey's Kisses are world-famous, and can be seen in Beijing, Russia
and the Virgin Islands, among other places.
Hershey's success in chocolate lies in his recipe. First, chocolate beans are
roasted and cleaned. Then, they are shelled and ground until they become pure
chocolate syrup. Cocoa butter is taken from some of the chocolate, leaving a
pure cake to be ground as drinking cocoa. In another part of the process, to
make chocolate bars, milk and sugar are mixed, then the chocolate syrup is added.
Cocoa butter is added and then the mixture is spun to make it smooth. Then the
mixtures are poured into bar molds, and sent through a cooling tunnel to cool
down. What comes next? The label! At the end of this process, Hershey's has
an award-winning chocolate bar.
It is clear that Hershey's will be popular into the future. The company, dedicated to the ideals of its founder, will also continue to use its profits for philantropic purposes. In a trust set up in Hershey's name, the Hershey corporation also allows trusts and bond to be taken out in its name. Hershey, Pa, will be a family haven for a long time to come.