Chocolate and Children: The Story of Milton S. Hershey

Chocolate and Children: The Story of Milton S. Hershey

Chocolate and Children: The Story of Milton S. Hershey

Chocolate and Children: The Story of Milton S. Hershey

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Overview

Milton S. Hershey never went beyond the fourth grade but learned how to make candy and opened his own business at a young age. After several failures, he finally succeeded and made taffy and caramels. When he was introduced to chocolate, he worked hard and discovered how to make milk chocolate. His first Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar was followed by Hershey's Kisses and other chocolate goodies. He married but had no children. Before she died, his wife, Kitty, encouraged him to build a home and school for orphaned children. He became a millionaire and traveled to many countries and built a large factory in Hershey, Pennsylvania, as well as a complete town, amusement park, zoo, and pavilion. He died at age eighty-eight, leaving a legacy of chocolate and a full life of accomplishments.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781546279358
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Publication date: 03/01/2019
Pages: 66
Product dimensions: 8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.18(d)

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

YOUNG MILTON

What would it be like to grow up without chocolate? When Milton S. Hershey was born on September 13, in 1857, chocolate candy was new in Europe, but not in the United States. But Milton Snavely Hershey changed that.

After he was born, Milton lived in a stone farmhouse in Dauphin Country, Pennsylvania that was built by his great grandfather. As a young boy he helped on the farm – took the cows to pasture, fed chickens, and on Saturday mornings, helped his father Henry load the family wagon with eggs, butter and vegetables to take to the market in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

His father, Henry, was a tall handsome man with a long black beard, who loved to read and learn. He had a sharp mind and believed in education. He chatted with anyone who passed by. However, he was flighty and jumped from one project to another without thought of the future.

His mother, Fanny, a Mennonite woman, wore a loose-fitting black dress and a crisp white bonnet atop her smooth hair. She had strong work ethics – sold the foods at her stand and counted the money.

Five-year old Milton cared for his small sister Serena and took the few pennies his mother gave him for his help, which he spent on sourballs at a nearby booth. He held the sourballs in his cheeks, looking like a chipmunk with a mouthful of nuts. When Serena was five-years-old, she died from scarlet fever. Now Milton, who was ten, was the only child.

When Milton was almost six, he heard the far-off booms of cannon fire. It came from Gettysburg – forty miles away. The Civil War was being fought there. Hershey heard rumors that General Robert E. Lee and his army would soon be coming from the South. They planned to march through Harrisburg and across the farmlands on their way to Philadelphia.

Farmers near Hershey were Mennonites, peace-loving people, wanted nothing to do with soldiers, so they prepared to leave. They loaded their Conestoga wagons ready to go quickly. What they couldn't carry they buried in the ground. They planned to dig up their valuables when they returned home.

Milton also had valuables that he wanted to save. He got his can filled with pennies that he had earned from running errands and buried it behind a bush in his back yard for safekeeping.

Three days later the war was over. Milton ran to the back yard to dig up his money. He dug behind a bush – but his can wasn't there. He dug behind another bush – still no can. Milton had forgotten where he had buried his can. He dug behind many bushes before he finally found his savings.

On weekdays Milton liked to sit on his front porch and watch loaded horse-drawn wagons pass by. They were traveling along the Horseshoe Pike, "Where are the wagons going?" he asked his father.

"To Philadelphia," his father said.

"I'd like to go to Philadelphia," Milton said. "Will you take me?"

"No Milton. Philadelphia is over 100 miles away – too far for a little boy to travel in a Conestoga wagon," his father said. "Besides, what would you do when you got there?"

But one evening, while Milton was lying in bed, he heard his father and grandfather talking as they loaded up the wagon with sacks of wheat. They would take the wheat to Philadelphia the next day. When all of the wheat was in the wagon, the men said goodnight.

"Get a good night's sleep," his grandfather said. "We'll leave at sunrise."

Still eager to go to Philadelphia, Milton made a plan. When he was sure that everyone was asleep, he pulled on his overalls and crept quietly down the stairs out the front door He tiptoed to the wagon and climbed under the canvas that covered the wheat. He curled up beside a sack of wheat and fell asleep At sunrise, his father and grandfather headed down the Pike. They had gone three or four miles when they hit a bump in the road, waking Milton up. He lifted the canvas that covered the wheat and asked, "Are we almost in Philadelphia?"

Surprised and angry to see Milton, his grandfather yelled, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed. Now I'll have to turn around and take you home."

"Let's bring the boy along," Milton's father said. "It won't hurt."

But his grandfather was firm. "No. The boy is not going with us. We will take him home."

And that's exactly what they did. They took a sad and disappointed Milton Hershey back home.

Milton didn't know it at the time, but when he was eighteen years old, he would go to Philadelphia – but that's another story.

When Milton was seven, he went to the first of seven schools over an eight year period. He didn't enjoy reading, writing and arithmetic and never went past the fourth grade. His final school was the Valley Academy at Green Tree, where his father wanted him to get "an advanced education." But Milton had changed schools so often he was unable to do the hard work at the Academy. He was unhappy and told his mother he wanted to quit school.

When he was thirteen, his mother arranged for Milton to apprentice with a newspaper publisher named Sam Ernst to learn a trade in printing. But Milton was clumsy and often made mistakes. Mr. Ernst published a German-English newspaper once a week, and always blew up at Milton whenever he made a mistake.

One time Milton dropped a galley - a long metal tray filled with metal type. The type spilled all over the floor, and Sam Ernst exploded.

"You clumsy, careless boy," he yelled. And a few more choice words followed. "Get out! Go take care of my cows – that's where you belong."

Soon Mr. Ernst calmed down and Milton returned to work. But a few days later, Milton had another accident, and again Sam Ernst scolded him. This time Milton, who also had a hot temper, pulled off his straw hat and threw it down "accidentally on purpose" between the form rollers of the printing press, jamming the machine.

"That does it," Sam Ernst screamed. "Get out and stay out. I don't ever want to see your face again." And that's how Milton was officially fired from his first job.

Fanny thought learning how to make candy would be better for Milton, who was now fourteen, and found him a job at Joseph H. Royer's Ice Cream Parlor and Garden in Lancaster, PA. It was lovely, with a pretty cool enclosed garden behind the shop. And they served their own delicious ice cream on big, high plates for ten cents. Milton was busy learning to do everything – scrubbing the ice-cream cans, keeping the parlor clean, waiting on customers and delivering products. Sometimes his boss would yell to him,

"Milton, go out front and hold the customer's horse." He loved horses so didn't mind holding one and stroking its nose.

Another part of his job was not so pleasant – turning the heavy handle of the ice-cream freezer. Although Milton was strong, that was really a man's job, and he often went home pale and exhausted. One night his mother asked, "What's wrong with you, Milton? Why are you so tired?"

He told her about the work he had done, and Fanny was not happy to hear it. The next day, she marched up to Joseph Royer and wagged her finger in his face.

"Mr. Royer, I paid you to teach my boy how to make candy – not to clean out your ice-cream machine. Not to hold horses. Not to turn the ice-cream freezer." She drew in a breath and glared at him." I want you to teach my son how to make candy. Do you understand?"

After that, Milton worked in the kitchen where his candy-making career began. He learned how to mix together the sugar and milk or water, and experimented by doing different things - adding various flavorings and tasted his mixtures to see which ones were good. He seemed to have a natural talent for candy making. He was making taffy, and it was good! He thought that someday he'd like to have his own candy business.

He loved his job and worked there for four years. One night Milton hurried out of Royer's to see a show at the nearby Fulton Opera House. He and his friends were sitting in the balcony, enjoying the performance, when Milton sniffed the air. He smelled something burning. Peanuts!

"Oh no," he exclaimed. "I roasted peanuts for fudge today and forgot to turn off the blower." He rushed down the stairs, out the door and into a shower of peanut shells. The smell of burnt peanuts was terrible. When he reached the shop, the peanut shells were blowing around the garden like dry leaves.

Milton was afraid that Mr. Royer would be upset and fire him, but Mr. Royer understood and said, "Mistakes happen. This sort of thing doesn't happen often." He forgave Milton, knowing that Milton was a hard, dependable worker, and later taught him how to make taffy.

Milton added different ingredients like peppermints or caramels to the taffy he made. His candy became popular and he realized he had a talent for making candy. After four years with Mr. Royer, Milton was ready to start his own candy business.

CHAPTER 2

MILTON'S FIRST BUSINESS

Milton saved his earnings so he could have his own candy business. In May 1876, when he was eighteen years old, Milton was ready to be his own boss. He talked with his mother and her sister, his Aunt Mattie and told them of his desire to have his own candy business.

They agreed. Milton didn't have to ask his father, who was no longer around. He had his head in the clouds and tended to come and go, trying many get rich schemes. He was seldom around.

His Aunt Mattie gave him $150 to help start his business. "And with the money you've saved, you should have enough to buy the candy making equipment you'll need."

"I'm sure we can find a good location for you here in Lancaster," his mother said.

But Milton had bigger ideas. "No, Mother, "I want to have my business in Philadelphia. That's the place to be since there will be a world's fair to celebrate the United State's hundredth birthday and people from all over the world will be there."

He grinned at his mother and aunt. "Yes, Philadelphia is definitely the place for me."

They agreed and Aunt Mattie went with him to help him find a place. They found a three-story brick house at 935 Spring Garden Street, which had a small empty store with a shop window on the ground floor. It was perfect.

Soon afterward, Milton's uncle, Abraham Snavely, loaded up his farm wagon with Milton's candy-making equipment, clothing and a few pieces of furniture and joined them. By June, Milton was in business with an official sign on his shop that read "Milton S. Hershey, Confectioner."

Each night Milton used his landlady's kitchen to boil up a batch of taffy, take it to the basement where he put it on a hook and pulled it until it was just right. Then he'd cut the taffy into small pieces, wrap them and sell them for a penny each.

Every night, often working until midnight, Milton made a lot of taffy. The children in the neighborhood loved it, and he always sold everything he made. But he wasn't making a profit. He didn't want to raise the price afraid that no one would buy it. And he couldn't possibly make enough penny candy to make a living.

By now the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition was taking place, with hundreds of visitors from all over the world coming to Philadelphia. Milton had beautiful business cards printed with "M.S. Hershey, Wholesale and Retail Confectioner" on them.

When Milton showed his cards to his mother and Aunt Mattie, they agreed that the cards were a good investment and would certainly increase his business. And they were right. He hired boys to sell his candy throughout the city, while he sold it from a pushcart along the street.

Even though he sold all of his candy, and always brought new customers to his shop, his expenses rose and he couldn't make candy fast enough to pay the bills.

Every night all of his candy was sold and now new customers who owned stores were depending on him for wholesale candy. He tried many ways to get new business – he hired a band to play in front of his store and sold ice cream at five cents a plate to the crowd that gathered. He kept his shop open late at night.

His mother and Aunt Mattie came to help, wrapping his newest candy "French Secrets", which was something like salt water taffy, with a little rhyme such as "Roses are red, violets blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you" inside the wrapper.

Aunt Mattie wrote to her brother, Milton's Uncle Abraham, telling him that Milton needed money to pay his bills, and he sent a few checks.

Milton was his own boss and busy making different kinds of candy and ice cream, plus selling nuts. It was hard work and he needed more help. In 1880, Milton hired William Henry Lebkicher (Lebbie), a friend from Lancaster who kept the books, made candy and delivered it to stores. A year later, his father, Henry, showed up to help. He had left the family but now returned to help Milton become successful. He often said, "To make money, you have to do things in a big way." Henry convinced Milton to sell his line of H.H. Cough Drops and to get cabinets in which to display the candies and cough drops.

Milton followed his father's advice but still couldn't make enough money to cover the cost of the sugar he needed, the salaries for his father and Lebbie, or his bills. Retail stores owed him money and sugar merchants refused to give him credit. Things were very bad.

Milton's mother and aunt blamed Henry for the problems, so a few months later Henry decided to go to Colorado to find his fortune in the silver mines. But before he left, he asked Milton to pay him the $350 for the cabinets he had purchased and would be leaving with Milton. Somehow, Milton managed to scrape up the money, which made things worse. He worked hard and late, was always tired and worried, and finally became sick. His mother, aunt and Lebbie ran the business until Milton was better.

One day, Lebbie returned to the shop after making deliveries. His clothes were torn and his arm was bleeding. He told Milton that something had scared the horse and it bolted. The wagon overturned, and all the candy spilled onto the street. Kids came from nowhere, grabbed the candy and ran away. That was the last straw for Milton, and after six years of trying to make his business a success, Milton closed his shop and returned to Lancaster. Now he was twenty-five, out of business and broke. With his limited education, he didn't know what to do.

He borrowed his Uncle Abraham's farm wagon, loaded it with his candy kettles and furniture, and headed back to Lancaster. Along the way, he thought about his limited education and remembered his first school.

He'd been seven and had gone to a one-room schoolhouse in Derry Church where his uncle Elias Hershey had been the teacher. The room didn't have much – an old dictionary sat on the windowsill, with a globe near it, and a battered map of the Western hemisphere hung on the wall. A wide board painted black hung on two nails and served as a blackboard. Students hung their hats and coats on pegs in the wall.

A big iron stove sat in the middle of the room which students kept filled with chunks of wood. And next to the stove was a bucket with a dipper for drinking water. Milton's favorite job in school was to walk to the spring to fill the bucket.

Cardboard signs with mottos like "Knowledge is Power," and "Do Right," and "Never Tell a Lie" also hung on the wall.

Milton smiled to himself as he recalled the other boys in the class playing a game called "scrounging." Twenty students were in the room, which had five 2benches. Four students sat on each bench, and when the teacher's back was turned, the boys in the middle of the bench pushed the ones at the ends until they fell to the floor with a thud.

Elias Hershey would turn around and ask, "What's going on?" Of course the boys innocently said, "Nothing, Mr. Hershey."

The next year, Milton went to another one-room schoolhouse – The Rockridge School. This was similar to his first school, but the teacher, Henry Moyer, kept better order, and the playground was nicer.

The following year, when Milton was nine, his father bought a small farm from Fanny's uncle, at Nine Points, in Lancaster County. Fanny wanted to be closer to her family, so they moved. Henry had a trout and fish farm there, which failed.

While there, Henry talked an Orthodox Quaker, Mr. Moore, into running a school on the second floor of his chicken house. When the school opened, Milton went to it, along with Mr. Moore's children and a few local children. But after a few months, Mr. Moore decided to give up the school, so Milton was sent to Old Harmony, a more traditional school not too far away.

Milton wasn't much of a student and didn't care about learning arithmetic, geography or penmanship. However, he did enjoy singing – especially the hymns. One day a neighbor of the Hershey's asked Mrs. Hershey if Milton would be willing to walk her little girl, Mary McElwain, to and from school every day.

"Mary's too young to walk alone," Mrs. McElwain said, "and I'll be happy to pay Milton."

(Continues…)


Excerpted from "Chocolate and Children"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Judy Wolfman.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 YOUNG MILTON, vi,
Chapter 2 MILTON'S FIRST BUSINESS, 9,
Chapter 3 THE WILD WEST, 15,
Chapter 4 STARTING OVER, 18,
Chapter 5 SUCCESS AT LAST, 22,
Chapter 6 HIS BUSINESS GROWS, 25,
Chapter 7 HELLO CHOCOLATE, 27,
Chapter 8 HELLO LOVE, 31,
Chapter 9 CHOCOLATE, ONLY CHOCOLATE, 38,
Chapter 10 A DREAM COMES TRUE, 43,
Chapter 11 LIFE GOES ON, 47,
Chapter 12 AN OLDER MILTON, 51,

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