One of the most popular chocolate companies in the world, Hershey’s, has been producing a variety of sweets and treats for over a century. Founded in 1894, this iconic brand began in Pennsylvania and created some of the most recognizable chocolates on the market today. So it’s clear that a company as old as it is inevitably has some skeletons in the closet.
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Hershey’s secrets
The brand of delicious chocolates, like any other, has its secrets. These secrets shouldn’t be shared, but some were! No wonder we strive to bring you four fun facts about the company that you’ll love to learn about.
Milton Hershey almost died on the Titanic
According to the Hershey archives (the brand community), Milton Hershey, the founder, was supposed to be a passenger on the Titanic but canceled his ticket at the last minute and decided to return to the US on another boat. Hershey had just returned from his vacation in Europe a few days earlier.
Exclusive school for white male orphans
When his wife died, Hershey had no children. In 1909 he founded the Hershey Industrial School, now known as the Milton Hershey School. This was a boarding school designed to help white male orphans. Beginning in the 1960s, women and people of color were also admitted to the school.
The secret chocolate laboratory
A few miles from the famous Hersheypark is Hershey’s Classified Product Development Laboratory. Housed in an undefined building closed to outside visitors, this special place is where the company thinks and tests its ideas before sharing them with the rest of the world.
War specific flavorless candy bar
For decades, Hershey has made different types of chocolate for different occasions, including for soldiers in World War II. In 1937, Army Capt. Paul Logan asked if the company could make small, flavorless, highcalorie, and nutrientdense candy bars that could stand up to the heat.
Captain Logan wanted something that could feed his soldiers when they were in danger without food. The result was the “Dration bar,” which soldiers ate in wartime emergencies.