Here's to Milton Hershey!

Have you ever heard the story of Milton Hershey?  Prior to visiting there last week, I never knew anything about him and didn't even know his name.  What an amazing visionary and inspiring entrepreneur!   He was born in 1857, an only child with divorced parents which was pretty rare for those times.  He grew up moving around with his mother quite often, wishing for more stability in his life.

He tried out many different businesses in his younger years including caramels, even selling soap at one point.  When he started in chocolate, he wanted to make a version that everyone could afford to eat it, not just the rich.  Here, here!  He used cheaper beans but cooked them at a much higher temperature.  He decided to locate his factory in rural Pennsylvania where he grew up because of the proximity to cows (and their milk) which would keep costs down.

He also wanted to locate the factory in rural location so the workers could lead better quality lives. If they were working in a large city, there could be notoriously horrible living conditions, typical during those times.  So why not Chocolate Town, USA?

And so the idyllic town of Hershey was born!  He wanted a thriving community for the workers with affordable homes to buy, great schools, and lots of entertainment -- concerts, theaters, etc.  

He even started Hershey Park himself as a private park just for employees to enjoy on their time off!

When the Great Depression started, he was worried about its potentially devastating effect on his picturesque model town.  As a result he decided to hire MORE people and build the highly luxurious Hershey Hotel.

(Three Photos above by Loretta Sherwood)

Then during World War II he suspended all Hershey "Kiss" operations to make ration bars for our troops.

His most amazing act of all was founding the Milton Hershey School for Boys with rooms for 1,800 children.  (He and his wife could not have children.)  He didn't want these orphaned boys to have the same nomadic upbringing that he had.

  The school is still functioning today thanks to the fact that Mr. Hershey left ALL of his money to the school.  

 How sweet is that?

LibbY