Research Paper

Emelyn Lopez

Mr. Skipper

Encounters 7

February 10, 2022

Smile in Every Hershey’s Bar

Introduction

Today we have so many different types of chocolate companies with so many equal flavors because they just try to have successful flavors just as their competition. Some may use it for smores, cakes, and even for ice cream. Yet there is one specific brand that tastes so good that it is one of the best-selling brands in the world. This brand is called Hershey’s founded by Milton S. Hershey. When he started his company he wasn’t successful at the start, because he had a lot of ups and downs. He was helped and supported by his mom and  Joseph Royer who helped him practice his confectionery skills (Biography Milton Hershey). Hershey started working at the age of 14 and never gave up on the dream of having his own company. After all his hard work Hershey’s company was so successful that now there are more than ten different chocolate flavors to choose from. Hershey had a lot of failures, but thanks to his hard work we have a great bar of chocolate that is celebrated every once in a while. If someone doesn’t like one kind of chocolate, Hershey’s has the other, and that is what makes the company such a great thing because it has a flavor for anybody no matter what it is. 

Early Life

Milton Snavely Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He was a descendant of people from Switzerland and Germany in the 1700s (Milton S. Hershey - Chocolate Maker and Altruist). Milton, like his family, both did lots of work to take care of their farm because that was what gave them their shelter and food. Milton had one sibling named Serina who sadly died at the age of four due to Scarlet fever when Hershey was nine years old (Biography Milton Hershey). Hershey was the son of Henry and Fanny Hershey. Fanny, Hershey’s mother, was a devoted Mennonite. His father, Henry, was a dreamer constantly starting new jobs and working on his next “get rich scheme” (Biography Milton Hershey). Hershey and his family had to constantly be moving, so he also had to be constantly changing schools, and by the age of thirteen, he had already been to six schools. The movement of schools was tough for Hershey even though he was smart, it was hard for him because he had to adapt to a new thing every time he moved. His schooling was also limited because of all the farming and helping he had to do around the house. His father helped him with his idea of building his own company (Milton Snavely Hershey). 

Beginning of Career

When Hershey started his career, company, and dream of being in the candy industry he didn’t just create the big Hershey’s brand that we know today. He started with the help of many people and with people that didn’t believe in him. One person that impacted his whole career was his mom Fanny Snavely; she helped him find what he wanted to do in life and was also the one who found him the path to the candy industry. She had first found him a job as an apprentice to a printer, but because he didn’t like it she then found him an apprentice with a candy maker (Biography Milton Hershey). Joseph Royer was who he started working for and taught him the art of candy making. His aunt and uncle helped to start his business and lead him. For him to be able to open his own company at the age of nineteen, he had to borrow money from them. He opened his company in a big city in Philadelphia. He opened his first candy business in 1876 in Philadelphia and another one in New York City. He believed that many people would visit Philadelphia during the Anniversary of the American Revolution (Milton S. Hershey - Chocolate Maker and Altruist). Hershey failed badly and had to close the company, but he had learned a lesson once he had gone back to central Pennsylvania, fresh milk makes good candy (Milton S. Hershey - Chocolate Maker and Altruist). This good lesson helped him become a successful candy maker at the age of 40 years old. He then finally made a successful caramel candy company called Lancaster Caramel Company. This company made him his first million, but the chocolate gave him a fortune. Hershey decided to sell his company and start with chocolate (Milton S. Hershey - Chocolate Maker and Altruist). That was how his chocolate company began.

Significant Accomplishments

Milton Hershey got famous over time and at the same time he became an influence to other people too. He accomplished many things at a young age. He accomplished having two candy companies at a young age even though during his schoolhood he moved a lot because of his dad's job and had to be in new schools every once in a while, but he didn’t let that ruin his adulthood and important decisions (Biography Milton Hershey). He made his first company Lancaster that was based on caramel candy and he saw not that much profit coming out of it, so he decided to sell it, but not only because he saw no profit but also because he saw that fresh milk makes better candy (Biography Milton Hershey). During that time he got the idea of making chocolates and starting Hershey’s Chocolate Company. When Hershey got famous with his company and got money over time he didn’t use it for dumb things or just to keep to himself and enjoy it. He instead decided to invest by making schools, buildings, parks, and even a town for some of his employees (Milton Snavely Hershey). One of the things that made him better was during some difficult times like the Great Depression, he stayed in business during all those economic difficulties. These times were so hard that so many people lost their jobs and homes because of how poor the economy was at the time, but Hershey managed to help his employees stay in business by keeping his company in function. Some of his employees even lost their homes, so Hershey had the opportunity to build the Hershey, Pennsylvania town and helped his employees have a home to be in (Milton S. Hershey - Chocolate Maker and Altruist). For Hershey, it was also hard for him during this time because the nation’s citizens were also suffering because of the lack of money there was, and some couldn’t afford the prices that he had for some of his chocolates. In order to make the chocolates more affordable for them he lowered the price and his company skyrocketed. During the time of building the town he faced lots of barriers when doing it because people thought he was crazy, but either way, he didn’t care, and now his town is big and a great place for people to live as it has various attractions (Biography Milton Hershey). These obstacles that Hershey’s faced are now an example to kids and adults all over the world.

Impact on the World

Hershey had an amazing and positive impact on America. He created schools, parks, homes, public transportations, and infrastructure, this helped those people around him with their necessities (Who Was Milton Hershey: His History & Life: The Hershey Story). Milton and his wife, Catherine created a school for orphanage boys who couldn’t afford school at the time, he named it Hershey Industrial School which today is known as Milton S. Hershey School. They didn’t have kids, so like this, they felt that they had kids of their own (Milton Snavely Hershey). When his wife died several years later he still kept working on what they started together. His work grew, even more, when he kept working on his business during the Great Depression because that was the worst economic crisis in America. During this time he worked on community building and a sports arena known as the Hersheypark Arena. He kept working on the school to make it bigger and more successful. Thanks to his hard work the school now is more than 10 thousand acres and provides education for economically needy boys and girls (Milton Snavely Hershey). Today all of these amazing accomplishments led him to be known in the whole world and is taught in all the schools in the United States.

Conclusion

Milton was a great person in life and was able to leave his memory because of his great personality traits, his work, and his way of helping others in what they needed. When Hershey did the things he did he was doing them with his heart and thinking about the other people at the same time. When the hard times came he always tried to help in what he could for people (Milton Snavely Hershey). He inspired many people during his lifetime and still does, but his lessons were inspiring for everyone. Hershey made people see that no matter how hard times get, no matter what people thought about you it was possible for you to make it perfect even if barriers get in your way (Biography Milton Hershey). He is a great person to look up to and to follow his teachings. Milton showed people it is possible to do anything if you put your heart and soul. The only key to being successful is to believe in yourself, nobody else but you.

Works Cited

“Biography Milton Hershey.” Ducksters, Technological Solutions, Inc., 2021, https://www.ducksters.com/biography/entrepreneurs/milton_hershey.php 

“Milton S. Hershey - Chocolate Maker and Altruist.” Milton Hershey School, 10 May 2021, www.mhskids.org/about/history/milton-s-hershey/. 

“Milton Snavely Hershey.” Milton Snavely Hershey - People of Pennsylvania, 22 Aug. 2017, www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/pa_msh.htm 

“Who Was Milton Hershey: His History & Life: The Hershey Story.” The Hershey Story, 2015-2021, hersheystory.org/milton-Hershey-history/.