Sweetening The Deal: Hershey Tries Chocolate

Back at home in Lancaster, Hershey had no capital to start another business, but he still had the vision and the determination. He managed to convince a former employee, Harry Lebkicher, to back his venture financially. Soon thereafter, his mother’s family also came on board. This support allowed Hershey to begin experimenting once again. In a short time, Hershey had perfected a recipe he called ‘Hershey’s Crystal A’, a caramel candy made with the secret weapon he had learned of in Denver: fresh milk.

From hereon out, Hershey’s fortune would begin to improve. He soon received a large order from a British candy importer and was able to secure a loan from a local bank in order to expand his operations. This was the beginning of the Lancaster Caramel Company, which in just four years would become one of the leading manufacturers of caramel in the U.S.

In 1893, Hershey made a visit to Chicago that would forever change his life. He attended the World’s Columbian Exposition, the last of the 19th century World’s Fairs in which one exhibition particularly caught his attention. A German company had on display its entire array of chocolate-making equipment. Hershey found himself inspired; he bought the entire assembly and had it shipped back to Lancaster.

“Caramels are just a fad,” Hershey said at the time. “Chocolate is a permanent thing.” With that, Hershey decided to sell the Lancaster Caramel Company for which he received $1 million. He gave up his factory and the ‘Crystal A’ trademark, but kept his right to make chocolate and rented a wing of the factory to continue his chocolate production. When he had perfected the recipe for milk chocolate, Hershey used his $1 million to purchase the farmland he originally grew up on in Pennsylvania, which would open as the official factory of The Hershey Chocolate Company in 1905.

As his operations continued to grow, Hershey decided to build a ‘company town’ for his workers. With everything including houses, schools, churches, a hotel, a hospital, a bank, a laundry, a store, parks, a sports arena, electricity, running water, telephone service and provisions made for their safety and health, Hershey devoted his energy to ensuring his employees were taken care of. He also set out to construct a trolley system to nearby communities, which would remain in place until 1946. Today, the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania continues to thrive as a modern, industrial city.

Towards the end of the decade, Hershey’s wealth was surprising even to him. It was accumulating at a rate faster than he knew what to do with. His wife, Kitty, suggested that they build a home for orphaned boys. Hershey was easily drawn to this idea, for he wanted to provide for other boys what he never had as a child: security and education. And so, in 1909, Hershey and his wife created The Hershey Trust Company, to fund the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned boys. Ten years later, Hershey gave $60 million of Hershey Chocolate Company stock to this trust. He also established two other trusts, which went on to benefit the surrounding public school system and the M.S. Hershey Foundation, which supports the arts and the local community.

Hershey died in 1945 at the age of 88 but his contributions have not ceased making a difference. The Hershey Chocolate Company continues to be a major player in the American food industry; the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania still thrives and serves as a major tourist destination; and The Milton Hershey School, along with his other philanthropic efforts, still remain prosperous.

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