HERSHEY'S — THE CHICAGO BRAND MUSEUM

THE BIRTH OF HERSHEY’S

Milton Hershey established The Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Milton originally owned the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1886, where he used chocolate to coat the caramels. This allowed him to practice making chocolate up until he bought machinery to mass-produce his own chocolate. Hershey got the idea to make chocolate bars after seeing European chocolate-making machinery at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. In 1896, Hershey built his first milk-processing plant to develop the Hershey milk chocolate recipe, and in 1900, the first Hershey chocolate bar was manufactured, priced at 5 cents, making it a luxury treat at the time. The bars were sold locally around Lancaster and Philadelphia and later sold nationally to go on to become one of the first widely sold chocolate bars available in stores throughout the United States.

HERSHEY THROUGH THE YEARS

The milk chocolate hershey bars were instantly a hit, so much so that Milton Hershey sold his caramel company to focus on the production of chocolate bars. In 1903 Milton built his chocolate factory in Derry Township. Milton made sure that factory workers and their families had affordable housing, and he had public transportation built helping workers commute. The success of the Hershey bar allowed Milton to expand his brand, in 1907 they released Hershey Kisses then the Hershey Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar a year later. Hershey went on to produce Mr. Goodbar, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, York Peppermint Patties, Twizzlers, Cookies ‘n’ Creme, and Take5, among others. Hershey is one of the most recognizable and prominent candy companies that set the standard for large-scale chocolate manufacturing showing other companies that it is possible to produce high quality chocolate for the masses. Hershey is still mass produced and has over $11 billion in annual net sales today.