Gallivanting Geismom: The Amazing Life of Milton S. Hershey

I can't begin to count how many times we've been to Chocolate World where we hopped into a traveling car and went through the animated version of just how Hershey's chocolate is made. Each step of the process is detailed as one passes through the ride, and there is the complimentary treat at the end. Such fun!

Well, let me just say, that although that ride was informative, there is SO MUCH MORE behind the process, and the man himself. That became quite clear once we walked through the doors of the Hershey Story Museum located on the main street of the town named after this brilliant man. We were gifted "free" tickets which expired on President's Day. Since it was a glorious day for a drive, we headed out early in the day to see just what the Museum had to offer.

The museum is cleverly arranged to keep the visitor entertained while learning the history of Milton S. Hershey along the way. One touch of a personalized token would trigger some entertaining animation.

The museum tells the story of how this man was born on a farm near Derry Church. With only a 4th grade education, he was apprenticed to the local newspaper editor, but a mishap with his hat resulted in Hershey being fired.

His mother was determined that Milton would make a success of himself, and within short time, he was once again apprenticed, this time to a Lancaster confectioner where his mother paid for Milton to learn the art of making candy. With a loan from his mother, he set out to Philadelphia and opened his own caramel shop. He closed the doors a few years later, moving to Detroit and then to Chicago, before returning home. This is what the above board is referencing when it states, " I suppose I never would have done anything if I hadn't come back."

Once back home, he founded the Lancaster Caramel company in 1886. He had learned how to make caramel from fresh milk, and within short time, his business was booming. Eight years later, he was the owner of the largest caramel factory in the world.

As one walks through the museum, placards not only explain his success, but there are original items on display as well. Here you see an original caramel mold that the company would have used.

Despite his obvious success, Hershey felt that caramels were a fad, and he was intent on making chocolate in the future. He sold his company for a million dollars in 1900, to his biggest competitor.

He then set about perfecting his personal recipe for making milk chocolate so that the confection would no longer be a luxury, but affordable to the average working family.

Until now, confectionary companies sold unwrapped candies by the pound. Hershey realized that individualized wrapped candies could be sold anywhere. The odd shaped Hershey kisses were a challenge for women to wrap by hand, so Hershey developed an assembly line production for the kisses, as well as the candy bars, to increase production.

It took several steps to achieve the perfect chocolate for Hershey's candies.

First, Milton developed a high temperature process for roasting cocoa beans. It allowed the company to use less expensive beans while producing a unique flavor.

He also developed his own process for condensing fresh milk, mixing it with sugar, and then boiling it until it became thick. The beans were milled to release cocoa butter and chocolate liquor, which was then mixed with the condensed milk developed by Hershey. Once several more mechanical steps were completed, Hershey had achieved his goal.

There was a room that described the entire process in detail, and even a demonstration of one of the original pieces of equipment used to make chocolate.

With his success skyrocketing, Hershey and his wife purchased the homestead where he had been born, and in 1909, they set up an Industrial School for orphaned boys. When his wife passed at a young age, Milton transferred much of his wealth to the Hershey Trust, which continues to fund the school to this day.

Until the first World War, the sugar for the recipes was imported from Europe. When it became difficult to import, Hershey traveled to Cuba, where he not only bought a sugar plantation, he built housing for the workers, extended railroads for transportation, and constructed refineries to mill the sugar and package it for export. His efforts resulted in whole new way of life for the once poor families that lived there.

He even set up the Hershey Agricultural School in Cuba, similar to the one he founded in Pennsylvania, to prepare the Cuban boys for careers in agriculture or industry. The people of Cuba were so appreciative of Milton S. Hershey's ventures in their country that they bestowed many awards in his honor.

Walking through the museum, I was amazed at just how much I had not known about this man. His brilliance, persistence, compassion, and generosity are certainly a rarity. When he passed, all of his fortune was bequeathed to the school that he had begun.

One last thing to note about Milton Hershey is that he and his wife were world travelers. There were several post cards from their travels, including Egypt and Africa, that were on display, as well as Milton's passport.

Now that you've read the history of the man, let's move onto some fun stuff!

Here's what happens when you touch the specialty token to the board: A personal greeting!

There were several such displays scattered about the museum for our entertainment.

A very long time-line featured important world events as well as the development of certain candies during those times.

Interesting fact: During World War II, the production of Hershey kisses ceased while the company focused on making K-ration chocolate bars for the soldiers.

The bar was designed to sustain soldiers near starvation. Unfortunately, it had no more flavor than a boiled potato. What a shame!

Just a few more items of interest:

Various displays of packaging over the years.

Hershey's for every season: Halloween candy, Christmas treats, Valentines Day delights, and authentic bunny molds were on display.

Old fashioned Hershey kisses and cocoa

and here you see a cocoa bean in comparison to a candy bar. I had NO idea they were so large!

We had some fun taking a selfie

and Marty wanted a photo taken next to the sugar cane.

Just for the record, he's 5 ft 9. The angle of the camera might make one think otherwise.

As you can see, we certainly managed to get the most out of our adventure!

But now it was time to get outside and enjoy the rest of the day. We hopped in the car and headed over to the Hershey Gardens because we had passes to tour those as well! (yes....we were lucky to have such a beneficiary).

Walking to the entrance, I noticed the barn with the Hershey Kisses on the roof. How entertaining is that?

We were fitted with pink wristbands before heading out on the "Winter Trail". As would be expected, the trail was mostly evergreen. After all, it is still February. But there were some interesting sites along the way.