Encyclopedia 2012
1914 – A Christmas Greeting
In 1914 Europe was embroiled in the Great War. At the same time United States was enjoying great peace and prosperity while watching with concern the European conflict. Most Americans did not want to be drawn into the war. It would be more than two years before the United States entered the war many thought would be the war to […]
Waste Not, Want Not: Hershey’s Cocoa Butter Soap
Milton Hershey did not like to have anything go to waste. He decided to make cocoa butter soap in 1936 as a way of dealing with the surplus million pounds of cocoa butter created by the plant each year. This surplus came from floor scrapings, unrecyclable product and cocoa shells. Hershey Estates President Charles Ziegler* remembered: We had a backlog […]
Serving Our Country: Hotel Hershey During World War II
While many are familiar with Hershey Chocolate Corporation’s contributions to the war effort manufacturing millions of Ration ‘D’ survival ration bars, Hershey also played an important, though little known, service to our country during the war. During the war years, Hotel Hershey served as an internment camp for the Vichy French diplomatic corps stationed in the United States. […]
It’s the Cocoa Bean, Baby
When it comes to their logos, most companies seek to create something that will serve as a visual symbol of the business–an image that will be recognizable without words. When changes are made, they are made to better communicate the core mission of the company. Brand visibility is critical when it comes to communicating to […]
Building an Audience: ZooAmerica’s “Creatures of the Night”
After ZooAmerica opened in 1978, funding was limited for the development of new exhibits. To promote interest in the zoo, ZooAmerica undertook a variety of novel marketing ventures to build a zoo audience. On Friday, October 31, 1980 the zoo launched Creatures of the Night, an educational alternative for Halloween. Visitors were invited to bring a flashlight and […]
Traveling in Style: The Reading Crusader
In 1937 the Reading Railroad Company launched the “Reading Crusader,” a half million dollar streamlined train built by the Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company. The Reading Company promoted it as the “World’s most modern train.” The train was noted for its streamlined appearance and stainless steel construction. It featured insulated cars with heating and air conditioning, […]
Bringing Educational Innovation to Hershey
The school year started that year on Monday, August 24, 1914. Hershey public schools had been growing rapidly since Milton Hershey opened his chocolate factory in 1905. Milton Hershey’s vision for changing the shape of public education in rural central Pennsylvania was first hinted at when he urged the Derry Township School District to establish a public high […]
M.S. Hershey Consolidated School
This week, thousands of Derry Township students returned to school, something that children have been doing in this township since the 1800s. “Tis education forms the common mind Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined” – Alexander Pope, British poet, 1732 This quote comes from the Hershey Press. It was part of an editorial […]
A Picture Sometimes Needs a Few Words
Often, when we are processing a collection, we come across a photo that raises more questions than answers. Take this photo as an example: A close study of the photo does provide some clues. The background shows the pergolas and reflecting pools of the Hotel Hershey formal gardens. So we know that the dinner took […]
In Milton Hershey’s Memory: Cocoa Avenue Plaza
Just prior to his death, Milton Hershey set aside 18.25 acres to create Memorial Field, a community park with a playground and sports fields in the heart of residential Hershey. Plans for Memorial Field were extensive and not all could be developed at first. Several years later, Sam Hinkle, president of the Hershey Chocolate Corporation, […]
What a Way to Make a Living! Working at the Hershey Chocolate Factory
The original Hershey Chocolate factory closed this spring after 107 years of service. Chocolate making is still in Hershey as operations were moved down the street to the newly expanded West Hershey plant. The original factory and its iconic smokestacks will remain part of the Hershey landscape. Over the next several years the building will be repurposed. During […]
All the Comforts of Home: Hershey Motor Lodge
During the 1950s and 1960s Hershey was a sought after place for recreation, entertainment and business. The influx of tourists created parking and traffic problems. Hershey Estates, the owner of all of Hershey’s attractions and lodging venues, struggled to met the growing demands of visitors to the town. While Milton Hershey had been alive, he […]
Highmeadow Campground: Responding to Trends in Leisure Travel
Car camping became popular during the years following World War II. Campgrounds across the United States began to offer sites with a place to park your car, along with easy access to water and rest facilities. Following this trend, Hershey made plans in 1962 to open a community camping and picnic facility in the north-west […]
A Palace for Hershey: Hotel Hershey Opens
A Palace that outpalaces the palaces of the Maharajas of India – Lowell Thomas, 1933 Building a hotel on Pat’s Hill had been a dream of Milton Hershey since 1909. At first, he and his wife, Kitty, thought they would build a grand structure modeled on The Heliopolis, a Cairo, Egypt resort. That dream was never realized and […]
There’s More Than One Way to a Consumer’s Heart
The Hershey Company did not incorporate media advertising for its products until the company was over 75 years old. Even though Hershey Chocolate Company did not advertise in newspapers, magazines or on the radio, it made use of a variety of advertising techniques. Milton Hershey made use of store windows, counters and posters in trains […]
Getting Started: Hershey Trust Company
How do we know what we know about the past? Historians, researchers and students study the materials cared for in an archives to learn more about the past. Photographs, newspapers, business reports, and other documents provide clues. When pieced together, the history of a time or organization emerges. The more clues, the fuller our understanding […]
Touring the Hershey Chocolate Factory
Almost as soon as the Hershey Chocolate Factory began operating in 1905, visitors wanted to tour the facility to see how Hershey’s milk chocolate was made. The Company began offering formal tours as early as 1910. In 1915 the Hershey Visitors Bureau opened in the Cocoa House as an information center for Hershey’s rapidly growing […]
Beauty Even in the Simple Things: Hershey Creamery Tile Work
The Hershey Creamery began operations in May 1930. The facility served two purposes. It was a “model dairy” processing milk and producing a variety of milk products including butter, cottage cheese, milk, cream and ice cream. The building also operated a soda fountain counter where patrons could purchase drinks and ice cream based treats. This […]
He Shoots, He Scores!
50 years ago today the Philadelphia Warriors played the New York Knickerbockers in a game held in the Hershey Sports Arena. At that game Warrior Wilt Chamberlain scored a record smashing 100 points, an achievement that no basketball player has ever duplicated or even come close. Little remains of the game, no ticket stubs, no video. […]
One Last Gift
In 1944 Milton Hershey signed a new will and testament to replace the one he had created in 1909, before he had transferred his fortune to the Milton Hershey School trust fund. The new will and testament was a brief, two page document. It provided that most of his “estate, real, personal and mixed,” should […]
A Window to the World: Hershey Park Zoo
Until the mid 20th century there were relatively few wild animal collections in the United States. Not surprisingly, zoos were a “big city” attraction. Large urban areas had the resources and the potential audience to support such an exotic and unique attraction. Some of the United States’ best known zoos, such as the Philadelphia Zoo (1874), […]
Surveying Hershey
Last January (2011) the Archives received a collection of 226 field survey books created over the course of 70 years as Hershey engineering crews surveyed newly acquired land and recorded plans for bridges, roads, trolley lines, buildings and residential lots. Beginning with the first entry, dated June 22, 1902, the books document the development of the […]