Almanac: Candymaker Milton Hershey
And now a page from our "Sunday Morning" Almanac: September 13th, 1857, 158 years ago today -- for chocolate lovers one of the sweetest of dates on the calendar.
For that was the day Milton Hershey was born in Derry Township, Pennsylvania.
Apprenticed to a candy maker at a young age, Hershey eventually went into business for himself ... and after a few setbacks created a successful caramel company.
Following a visit to a chocolate exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Hershey shifted gears ... and went into chocolate big time.
He created the Hershey bar, and the Hershey Kiss ... chocolates that have soothed many a sweet tooth over the years.
For the home of his namesake company, Milton Hershey built a namesake town: Hershey, Pennsylvania, featuring everything from low-cost housing for his workers, to street lamps in the shape of Hershey kisses.
And that's not all.
Childless themselves, Hershey and his wife, Catherine, created a school for orphan boys in 1909, with an initial class of ten.
Following Catherine's death in 1915, Hershey donated his entire fortune to the school.
Milton Hershey died in 1945 at the age of 88, but his chocolates and his town live on today, as does the Milton Hershey School, currently enrolling about 2,000 boys AND girls.
And thanks to Milton Hershey's generosity, not one of those students has to pay a penny for their schooling.
For more info:
- hersheys.com
- thehersheycompany.com
- hersheypa.com
- Hershey Park, Hershey, Pa.
- Milton Hershey School, Hershey, Pa.