In
honor of my girlfriend Kaylee getting her new job at the Hershey
Factory, I decided I would learn about Milton Hershey and what he's
done for this town. Milton Hershey was born on September 13, 1857 in
Derry Township. His parents, Henry and Veronica were Mennonite and
descendants of Swiss and German immigrant. Hershey grew up speaking
Pennsylvania Dutch.
Hershey's
father had no work ethic but big dreams he couldn't achieve and after
repeated failures of his ideas, Veronica had enough and they
separated but never divorced. Because his father was gone and he was
taking care of a farm with his mother, Hershey didn't get much
schooling. He eventually dropped out all togther in 1871.
At
that time, he got an apprenticeship with a printer of a
German-English newspaper. Hershey was terribly bored by this work and
was fired after accidentally dropping his hat into one of the
machines. His father spoke to the printer and Hershey was offered a
second chance. Maddie Snavely, his aunt, suggested something better.
She and Hershey's mother thought that he should go learn candy
making.
His
mother found him an apprenticeship with a very experienced and
renowned candy maker named Joseph Royer, and his factory was in
Lancaster. Hershey learned quite a lot in his four years there and in
1876, he moved off to Philadelphia to start his own candy making
business. Wanting to epanc, he tried going to Denver, where he
learned even more about candy making.
Here
he learned he could put fresh milk in caramels to make them taste
better. With the new knowledge, Hershey set forth in other big cities
looking to start work but failing. His only successful venture was in
New York City where he trained at Huyler's. He started a second
business but it only lasted three years and was closed in 1886.
At
this time, Hershey returned to Lancaster and with his knowledge of
adding milk to caramels and also selling them in bulk, he opened the
Lancaster Caramel Company. This was his first extraordinary success.
A man came from England who loved the caramels so much that he made a
huge order to Britain which paid of the loans Hershey had taken out
for this business and paid for more supplies and equipment.
The
company was very big, with over 1,300 workers and two factories. But
after a trip to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he
became intensely interested in producing chocolate. He took a huge
risk by selling the caramel company for a million dollars which he
used to open what would become a world famous Hershey Chocolate
Company.
Hershey
found a nice piece of farmland near his birthplace in Derry Township.
This way he would always have fresh milk for his chocolate. At the
time, milk chocolate was a luxury item because mostly only the Swiss
could make it and it excited Hershey that he might be able to supply
it here and mass produce it. And through trial and error, he
developed the perfect milk chocolate bar. Simply named the Hershey
bar which was produced in 1900. Shortly after was the kiss in 1907
and the Hershey Bar with Almonds in 1908. The trademark foil on
kisses was added in 1924.
Construction
of the factory began on March 2, 1903 and finished in 1905. It was
built to utilize the newest and best mass production techniques at
that time. And because it was so efficiently made, they were able to
market worldwide! The factory was centered in the dairy farmland and
Hershey started to build a beautiful town for his workers. “He
was part of a forward-looking group of entrepreneurs in this country
and abroad who believed that providing better living conditions for
their workers resulted in better workers…Milton Hershey conceived
of building a community that would support and nurture his workers.
Developing the community became a lifelong passion for him.”
He
planned a perfect model town for his workers with schools, churches,
parks, recreational facilities and housing. He added a trolley system
for the town as well, which you can still see at Hersheypark today.
Hershey
met his wife Catherine “Kitty” Sweeney when he made a delivery of
his caramels to New York. “She
brought gaiety, wit and warmth into his life. By all reports, their
life together was very happy.” They couldn. 't have children but
they made up for it by making lives better for boys in the Hershey
Industrial School
and
later putting almost all of his assets, even control of the company
to his new Milton Hershey School Trust. This was used to fund and the
Industrial School.
Later
the school would accept girls and was renamed to the Milton Hershey
School and I personally know people who benefited from that place.
The Milton Hershey School Trust has complete control of Hotel
Hershey, Hersheypark, and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company.
His
philanthropy would continue as long as he lived. In 1935, he made the
M.S. Hershey Foundation which is a private charity which is still
providing education and culture to the people of Hershey. They funded
the Hershey Museum, Gardens and Theatre. After Hershey had passed
away, the Milton Hershey School Trust created the Penn State Milton
S. Hershey Medical Center, which was a gift from them to
Pennsylvania. The Medical Center is a teaching hospital, which
continues to greatly exceed the initial building cost with profit.
Apparently,
in 1912, Milton and his wife Kitty had purchased tickets on the RMS
Titanic but because of a work concern that drew Milton away, they
didn't go and lived to tell about it. The check Hershey signed is not
win the Hershey Museum. Though Kitty was ill by this time, she would
live two years longer and suffer an unexpected death.
The
death of his wife was very hard on Hershey, he never remarried and he
carried her picture everywhere, but he wouldn't stop working or
donating his time and money, because he was just a giving and
generous man. When World War II rolled around, Hershey made special
chocolate to send to the troops. First came the Ration D Bar which
had specific army requirements to be made. “The
Ration D Bar had very specific requirements from the army: It had to
weigh 1 or 2 ounces (28 or 57 g); it had to resist melting at
temperatures higher than 90 degrees, and it had to have an
unpleasant-enough flavor to prevent the troops from developing
cravings for them. “
The
army was highly impressed with the success and durability of the
candy that they commissioned Hershey to make something called the
Tropical Chocolate Bar. This bar had the same requirements, but it
was permitted to taste better.” For
its service throughout World War II, the Hershey Chocolate Company
was issued five Army-Navy 'E' Production Awards for exceeding
expectations for quality and quantity in the production of the Ration
D and Tropical Chocolate Bars. The Hershey factory machine shop even
made some parts for tanks and machines during the war.
“
During
the war, approximately three billion of the two military chocolate
bars were made and distributed throughout the world! The plant was
able to produce 100,000 ration bars every day in the year of 1939.
The plant was making ration bars at the rate of 24 million per week!
Milton
Hershey passed away from pneumonia on October 13, 1945. He was
eighty-eight at the time. And now there is a statue of him at the
Miton Hershey School of him holding an orphan boy. Below the statue
it says, “His deeds are his monument. His life our inspiration.”
As
a person living in Hershey, I have seen what a lovely place it is all
these years later and I am impressed to think it all started with one
man, with a big dream and a love of community and his workers. He
truly is an inspiration.
Sources:
Biography.com
Wikipedia.com
