Hershey’s Bon Bons

Hershey’s Bon Bons were one of the Hershey Chocolate Company’s earliest products. They appear on a ca. 1900 Saleman’s wholesale price list. They were listed under Hershey Chocolate “Fancy Shapes” as Vanilla Chocolate Bon Bons.

Bon Bons were small solid pieces of chocolate molded in flower shapes. In each package pieces were packed in a plastic tray, covered by a paper pad, and placed in a box. They were packed in ¼ pound, ½ pound, and 1 pound boxes.

Bon Bons were one of a very few fancy goods to be continued after Milton Hershey moved his chocolate company to the new factory in Derry Township. Hershey’s Bon Bons were produced with milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate.

Unlike most of the Hershey Chocolate Company’s other products, Hershey’s Bon Bons were only sold locally. You could purchase them at the factory’s visitor center, at Hershey Park’s concession stand, in the Hershey Department Store, at the Hershey Inn and later at the Hotel Hershey. As a uniquely Hershey product, Hershey Chocolate Corporation also sold specially packaged Bon Bons at its exhibit at the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair.

Hershey’s Bon Bons were discontinued in June 1985.