Today is International Chocolate Day (not to be confused with World Chocolate Day, 7 July). It is also the birthday of chocolatier and philanthropist, Milton Snavely Hershey—born on this day in 1857.
Hershey was born into a Mennonite family in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, and grew-up speaking Pennsylvania Dutch. He left school after the fourth grade and began working (including apprenticeships under several confectioners). His first two (short-lived) businesses were in Philadelphia and New York. But, having learned how to make caramels, Hershey returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1883 where he founded the Lancaster Caramel Company. The company was a grand success. By the Turn-of-the-Century, Hershey was employing 1300 workers. In 1900, he sold the company for $1 million, allowing him to purchase the land and build the kitchens for his signature endeavor, the Hershey Company.
Hershey was able to modernize the production of chocolate which, heretofore, had been available only as an expensive luxury product. He sold his first Hershey bars in 1900. The Hershey's Kiss appeared in 1907. And 1908 saw the introduction of the Hershey with Almonds bar.
Hershey, Pennsylvania, grew into a successful, company town. By all accounts Hershey was a fair and caring employer. In 1909, Hershey built a boarding school to educate orphan boys. Over the years, the school expanded to accept orphaned girls, racial minorities and the children of impoverished families. Today, the school has about 2,000 low-income students—aged 4 through 15—all of whom are housed in the school's boarding facilities. Tuition, room and board is free. With a $15 billion endowment, The Hershey School is the wealthiest private grade school in America.
The copper-clad steel chocolate mould, shown above, has six lions. A mould like this would have been used in a commercial confectioners kitchen (though not at Hershey). Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.