Do you like Kisses or Hershey candy bars?

Written by Ed Allen | 05 February 2010

Sr. writer, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

There is a place in Pennsylvania that a lot of people go to visit so they can get samples of various kinds of candy and many folks shop around their hometown to see if they can get it at local stores.
That’s Hershey’s candy. The Hershey Company in Hershey, PA employs nearly 13,700 people worldwide – some in Tennessee and stores right here in Manchester.
I got some just the other day. Kisses are for February 14, Valentines Day.
There are Hershey’s Candy Kisses, Hershey’s milk chocolates, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and a wide range of things like York peppermint and peanut butter wafer bars, pretzel bars, KitKat candy, Ice Breakers candy, Hershey’s syrup, and other products coming from Hershey.
It all started with a decision, the company originated with candy-manufacturer Milton Hershey decided in 1894 to produce sweet chocolate as a coating for his caramels. Located in Lancaster, PA, he called his new enterprise the Hershey Chocolate Co. In 1900, the company began producing milk chocolate bars, wafers and other shapes.   
Looking to expand its product line, the company in 1907 began producing a flat-bottomed, conical milk chocolate candy with Hershey decision to name it “Hershey’s Kisses Chocolate.” At first, they were individually wrapped in little squares of silver foil. In 1921 machine wrapping was introduced.
The next two decades they introduced other products.
In 1925, they introduced “Mr. Goodbar.”  Then it was Hershey’s Syrup in 1926, chocolate chips (1928) and the Krackel bar in 1938.
Hershey’s chocolate went to war. With the outbreak of World War II, the company was geared up because it provided milk chocolate bars to American doughboys in the first war. By the end of the war, Hershey’s had made more than a billion of the survival Ration D bars.
A family friend, H.B. (Harry) Reese, had a company in 1928 in Hershey, PA, where they made chocolate-covered peanut butter cups. Hershey supplied the coating for Reese’s “penny cups.” Seven years after Reese’s death in 1956, his company was sold to the Hersey Chocolate Corp.
The company was growing up and branching out. Around the world they purchased various confectionery companies.
Net sales are in excess of $4 billion.
For the farm boy who never had much of a chance at education himself, Hershey provided that opportunity for others. As early as 1909, Herschel and his wife, Catherine, established the Hershey Industrial School for orphan boys. Today it has opened doors to girls. He has made for sure that his town has the finest elementary and secondary schools possible. There are even plans for a junior college.
With the death of Milton Hershey in 1945, the company, town and institutions that bear his name were well positioned to continue and grow. The Hershey Chocolate Corp. has evolved into The Hershey Co., a profitable company encompassing a range of products found in many homes throughout the world.         
Would you like a Hershey’s bar? How about a kiss – one of Hershey’s Kisses?