The Design Company.

Entrance to Hershey Park Zoo, ca.1934-1941

 

Until the mid 20th century there were relatively few wild animal collections in the United States. Not surprisingly, zoos were a “big city” attraction. Large urban areas had the resources and the potential audience to support such an exotic and unique attraction.  Some of the United States’ best known zoos, such as the Philadelphia Zoo (1874), Baltimore Zoo (1878), National Zoo (1889) and Bronx Zoo (1899), did not open until the end of the 19th century. 

Milton Hershey believed in providing his town with experiences not typical for a small town.  Hershey Zoo began in 1905 with an exhibit of prairie dogs in Hershey Park.  In 1910 the Zoo formally opened.  Hershey Zoo sought to feature exotic animals in its exhibits.  Lions, leopards, monkeys and exotic birds were popular early attractions.

Milton Hershey visits with the zoo's newest addition, a baby elephant. ca. 1935-1940

 

During Milton Hershey’s lifetime Hershey Zoo was a local attraction.  Animals were added to the zoo because they became available or someone had a special interest in having a particular specimen in the zoo.   In the era before television, zoos played an important role educating the public about animals and environments different than central Pennsylvania.

The zoo was particularly successful in breeding animals in captivity.  Lion quintuplets were born at Hershey Zoo on Easter Sunday in 1936.  The mother’s name was Erie and the father was Leo.  The cubs would have been sold or traded to other zoos when they were old enough.

Hershey Park Zoo closed at the end of the 1971 season as part of Hershey Estates’ plans to modernize Hershey Park.  In 1978 it was redeveloped as ZooAmerica, an accredited zoo that features exhibits of animals native to North America, with naturalized animal habitats.

 To see more images of Hershey Zoo and ZooAmerica, check out the Archives’ Flickr photo sets.

Within the books’ pages, you can trace the route of Hershey’s trolley system and see through whose property the trolley lines passed, see the footprint of the new chocolate factory and how it was placed on the designated land, follow the evolution of Hershey Park, the development of Hershey’s residential streets and lots, and see how the town grew and evolved.

The Archives exhibit case in The Hershey Story lobby highlights materials from its collections.

In the Archives’ changing exhibit case located in the lobby of The Hershey Story, a new exhibit features four of the field survey books and connects the information in the books with other archival records to tell a story of Hershey’s past.  Here’s an example from the exhibit:

Drawing of new Hershey Chocolate Company smokestack, 1924. Field Survey book #33, p. 142

Hershey Chocolate factory expanded frequently to meet the growing demand for Hershey’s milk chocolate.  An article in the Hershey Press noted the chocolate factory’s need for new power. 

Hershey Chocolate Company, plan for new smokestack. 5/19/1924

In 1924 the engineering department drew up plans for the new powerplant including plans for a new smokestack.  Later that year the powerhouse was enlarged with five new boilers and a new yellow-brick smokestack to meet increased demands for power to run the factory.   Like Hershey Chocolate Company’s other smokestacks, plans called for “HERSHEY” to be spelled out in darker bricks.

If you are in the neighborhood, stop by The Hershey Story and check out the Archives exhibit case to see more examples from the Field Survey Book collection.  It will be up through March 2012.

Program; Hershey Area Playhouse inaugural presentation of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." 12/4/2008

 Last weekend Hershey Area Playhouse closed another successful run of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  The play has been a seasonal staple at the Playhouse since 2008, delighting audiences with its holiday themed story and positive message. 

 In 1999, the Hershey Area Playhouse (HAP) was founded by local residents who wished to bring community theater back to the Hershey area after a thirty year absence.  The first production, Barefoot in the Park, was performed in October of 1999. Since then there have been approximately three to five performances per season.  HAP strives to produces a variety of theatrical offerings:  classical and original theatrical plays, musicals, as well as cabaret nights.  In its early years the Playhouse productions were presented in a variety of community venues including Country Meadows, Lower Dauphin High School and even Hersheypark during its off season.

Groundbreaking for the new theater, 10/2006

The early success of the Playhouse led to a campaign to find a permanent home for the Playhouse.  Prior to the construction of a permanent theater at Country Meadows performances were held in numerous locations.  The new theater was completed in 2007.

Hershey Area Playhouse has been placing its records in the Hershey Community Archives since 2004.  The collection records document the performances and events produced by the Playhouse since its beginning.  Currently, the records span the years 1998 to 2009.  Largely comprised of photographs and programs, the collection also includes audio visual recordings of the performances, correspondence, newsletters, posters, and scrapbooks .  The earliest records document initial efforts to establish the theater.  The scrapbooks contain photographs, programs, newspaper clippings, press releases, and other ephemera documenting performances and events.  To learn more about the collection and view a complete finding aid visit the Archives’ website and its online collections database.

One of the great myths in the advertising industry is that Hershey Chocolate did not begin  advertising until 1970.  Although the Corporation generally did not use consumer media advertising such as newspaper and magazine ads, or radio and television commercials, it did employ a variety of techniques to publicize itself. 

Hershey Chocolate Corporation offered store window displays to its customers to help them promote Hershey products. ca. 1936

Hershey Chocolate used its advertising dollars to promote its products to the stores and outlets that would sell Hershey’s products.  Hershey also believed in advertising its products where consumers could purchase them and created elaborate and often whimsical store window sets and in-store product displays that featured product in bountiful arrangements.  

Hershey Chocolate Corporation distributed charts such as this to schools to help them teach students about making chocolate. 1944

In addition to store and window displays, it published a variety of educational pamphlets  and other materials that described the process of making milk chocolate and promoted the company.  The very first pamphlets appeared a few years after the factory began operations.  These pamphlets promoted the town and linked the success of the company with the model industrial town. 

Recipe pamphlets offered cooks new recipes using Hershey products. Hershey's Syrup recipe pamphlet, ca.1936-1945

Hershey Chocolate Company published cooking pamphlets beginning about 1915 as a way to promote the use of its products and introduced its first cookbook about 1922.  One of the most far reaching advertising techniques Hershey employed was creating and inserting specially sized postcards, in standard-sized milk chocolate bars to promote the company and the town.  The postcards showed scenes of factory operations, diary farms that illustrated milk chocolate wholesome ingredients, and attractive view of Milton Hershey’s model town. These postcards were distributed nationally and found their way around the world.  In the Archives collections you can find postcards with postmarks from China, Alaska, Mexico and France. 

Hershey Chocolate Corporation promotional films featured the town of Hershey as well as the chocolate factory and Hershey products. 1932

The desire to promote the company and the town eventually led to Hershey Chocolate Corporation to underwrite the production of a series of movies that promoted the products and the town.  In 1932 the company produced a 48-minute educational film that described chocolate production and the model town made possible by the success of Hershey’s milk chocolate. This film was shown primarily in schools.  The following year two films were produced: “Seeing Wonders,” a movie short promoted Hershey as a travel destination and the “Chocolatetown Review,” another short film that featured Hershey Chocolate products as marionettes in a vaudeville style show.  Both of these films would have been seen as “shorts” shown in movie theaters before the feature film.  World War II and the death of Milton Hershey in 1945 ended the company’s exploration of new advertising techniques.

Every year in mid-November Hersheypark is transformed into a Christmas wonderland. Decorated with millions of lights, the park offers a chance to visit Santa and his reindeer, musical performances and holiday themed amusement rides.

The idea for Hersheypark Candylane grew out of the park’s desire to expand their season.  The concept was first proposed in 1976.  Paul Serff, retired Hersheypark General Manager, recalled in his oral history interview the impetus for the new attraction:

 We had for a number of years been working on trying things to (a) expand the season, if we could find ways of generating revenue.  We had an asset that was laying fallow a good portion of the year–the park–we, park management. So we tried to (a) extend the season and find new and better ways of using those assets. There was a fair amount of interest in doing it from a corporate level also, because a lot of the hotel business, in particular, was very slow. It’s a very slow convention time. So they were looking at ways to build up things in town.

The original vision for Candylane was to create a European style Christmas village. The goals were to extend the park season and produce additional income for the Park. The proposers envisioned creating a unique environment and attraction in Central Pennsylvania. The attraction would offer handmade merchandise, using local artisans and crafts vendors. Entertainment would involve strolling carolers, storytellers and appearances by the Furry Tales. Area choirs would give concerts at the Light Arcade. Food would be limited. Drawing on the European theme, the Park planned for the food to be ethnic, supplied by area ethnic organizations, and be a limited menu of not meals but rather breads, pastries, candies, etc. Of course visits with Santa would be a major attraction.  It launched on November 25, 1983 (the day after Thanksgiving).

Hersheypark’s Christmas Candylane expanded slowly over the years. Hersheypark remained committed to its new attraction even after suffering through years when bad weather greatly reduced attendance.

Costumed characters greet guests in Lower Rhineland area of Hersheypark's Christmas Candylane. ca.1990-2000

Today Hersheypark Candylane is part of a community wide Christmas in Hershey celebration that begins in mid-November and concludes on New Year’s day.

On April 27, 1930 Milton Hershey launched the Hershey Country Club with a dinner party held at his home, High Point, for one hundred of his friends and associates. Mr. Hershey offered High Point for the clubhouse. The new club’s golf course was designed by noted golf architect, Maurice McCarthy. The course received high praise from golfers for its challenging fairways and holes.

Hershey Country Club sponsored the "Hershey Open," an invitational professional golf tournament, for several years between 1933 and 1940.

In 1933 the club established the “Hershey Open,” an invitational professional tournament.  This tournament brought national attention and prestige to Hershey as a golf destination.  while the club had had a local golf pro since its opening, after the start of the “Hershey Open,” Hershey Country Club needed a more prestigious golfer to come serve as pro.

Henry Picard, who would win the 1939 Masters and 1939 PGA Championship, became the club’s head professional on November 1, 1934. Hershey Country Club held a dinner dance to introduce him to the Club on April 27, 1935 (which then was the opening date for the golf season). Picard had played representing the Hershey Country Club through the 1934-1935 winter PGA tour season, but didn’t start teaching and living in Hershey until April 1935.

Because of Picard’s success, Hershey was considered by some to be the “Golf Capital of America.” Picard served as the pro for all of Hershey’s courses: the Hershey Country Club, Hershey Park Golf Club, Hotel Hershey Course, and the Juvenile Country Club (the only course at that time specifically for children). At the four golf courses, which were made up of 54 holes, Picard gave golf lessons to youth and adult amateur golfers in between tours. Nicknamed the Hershey “Hurricane,” Picard, a 26-time PGA Tour winner, served as pro until 1941, winning 22 of his 26 titles while in Hershey.

Henry Picard resigned from his position with the Hershey Country Club and recommended Ben Hogan as his replacement. 3/1941

In the Spring of 1941 Henry Picard was advised by his doctor to live in a better climate for his health and he moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. To fill his position at Hershey he recommended the up and coming golfer, Ben Hogan, as his successor.

Having a office in a windowless location often leaves me disconnected from the weather.  All sorts of weather happens without my knowledge and I’m often surprised by it when I leave work at the end of the day.  Wanting to know the weather is a desire shared by all who work in windowless environments. 

Hershey Chocolate Corporation Windowless Office Building, 1957

In 1934 Hershey Chocolate Corporation announced plans to build a new office building.  While original designs for the building included lots of windows to provide natural light, soon after ground was broken Milton Hershey was inspired by an innovative design and asked his builder/architect D. Paul Witmer to change the plans and build a windowless office building.  Amazingly, Mr. Witmer was able to draft a new set of plans before the foundation was completed and construction proceeded without interruption. 

Hershey's new windowless office building featured large, open offices lit with indirect lighting.

The building incorporated several innovations designed to enhance worker comfort.  Some of those enhancements included central air-conditioning and even, indirect lighting to minimize shadows.  In every office a weather indicator was installed so that workers could know at all times the status of the weather.

A weather indicator was installed underneath each clock in Hershey Chocolate Corporation's windowless office building.

The weather indicator featured three colored glass bullseyes lit by miniature electric bulbs.  Different types of weather were represented by different combinations of the three colored lights being lit.

Weather conditions were communicated by lighting different combinations of the colored lights. (Memo from Accession 87006, B12 F27.2)

 The basic combinations to communicate weather were:

White                       Clear weather

Red                           Rain

White and Red     Cloudy

Green                       Snow

Green and White  Electrical Storm underway

 

Today, employees working in the Windowless Office Building still rely on the weather indicator panels.  The need to know the weather is still an important part of daily life.

In 1956 Hershey Chocolate Corporation began manufacturing its own tins for Hershey's syrup. Here an employee monitors the progress of a can labeler. ca.1960-1970

Milton Hershey believed in being as self-sufficient as possible.  He built his own power plant to provide electricity to run his factory and his town.  He established sugar mills in Cuba to assure that he would have enough sugar for his milk chocolate bars and set up a print shop in the factory to print his own labels.  Hershey Chocolate Company even  manufactured its own metal containers for Hershey’s Cocoa.  However, when Hershey began producing chocolate syrup, the company decided to purchase the cylindrical cans.  It wasn’t until 1956 that Hershey began manufacturing their own syrup cans.  Howard Phillippy, a plant engineer, led the effort to install the needed machinery.  In his oral history interview, he explained how Hershey Chocolate factory began manufacuring its own syrup cans:

 I well remember the way we got into making the syrup can was, at that time . . .I was in the design area.  Whereas we never bought anything without it going through the formal purchasing department, I was pretty free, and if there was anything engineering-wise, production equipment-wise, the sales reps would invariably be referred to me.  So one of these sales representatives working for Baldwin-Lima- Hamilton can-making machinery company had stopped in because they knew that Hershey was making their cocoa cans.  Hershey was making cocoa cans before my time.  We did buy improved machinery during my tenure there, but they were making cocoa cans before my time, for years back. 

 Now then, this can machinery representative, knowing that Hershey made their own cocoa cans, came around.  He just wanted to see was there anything that he could offer from the standpoint of equipment improvement or did we need any help and that sort of thing.  It was while he was there, he learned that we are buying our syrup cans, and he asked, “Gee,” he said, “why wouldn’t you make your own?”

 I said, “I don’t know.  The subject never came up, not in my time, anyhow.  I don’t know really why we aren’t.”

 He said, “Well, how many cans do you make a year?”

 Well, we were making–let me say it was 70 million cans by that time.  He said, “If you make 20 million cans a year, it would pay you to make your own.” 

 And I just said, “Well, we have no idea.  How many people would it take to operate?  What kind of machinery do we need?”

 He said, “I’ll give you a list of the machinery you would need and approximately what kind of attendants you’d need.” 

 He supplied me with that, and on that basis, I went to–Lou Smith was then my superior.  He was VP of engineering.  I went to Lou and we, together, saw the great possibilities in this thing. . .Earl Lehman was the comptroller of Hershey Chocolate at that time.  I remember taking the figures of the cost of the machinery, the cost of the whole project up to him, and he ran it through the cost process, and I know he said, “My goodness, we can’t afford not to make these.”  His figures that he came out with showed that we would realize the cost of the equipment in a year and a half.  He was saying, “Gee, how long is it going to be to get delivery of the machinery?”  It was like nine months or more.  As I recall, going into the business, buying all the machinery, was less than $1 million at that time.  [Laughter]  It was about 1956.  The cost of all of that machinery, for two lines of manufacturing of the entire syrup can, was less than $1 million.  The cost savings would be realized in a year and a half. 

Hershey continued to make its own syrup cans until 1979 when the factory began packaging Hershey’s syrup in 24 ounce plastic bottles.

Hershey's trolleys delivered milk to the factory each day. ca.1915

Hershey trolleys played a critical role in the production of Hershey’s milk chocolate, delivering each day fresh milk from the region’s many dairy farms. Trolleys also played an important role in community life, allowing workers to get to work, children to get to school, as well as allowing friends and family to visit each other. During an era when cars were not widely available, trolleys provided reliable transportation to teenagers and young adults who rode the trolleys to reach shops, movie theaters and popular gathering places.

Much of what we know about the importance of Hershey’s trolleys comes from the Archives’ oral history collection. Here are some excerpts of interviews where the narrators remember the role the Hershey trolleys played in their lives.

Alma Payne Bobb grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

I remember coming to Hershey Park, it must have been the very early days. I was in junior high school in Harrisburg, and it was the custom, every spring, for a class outing. The classes would come down to Hershey Park, and we would ride the old trolley cars from Harrisburg to Hummelstown. Then we would change cars to the center of Hershey. It used to be between the bank and the Cocoa Inn. Then we would walk over to the park.

Workers wait to board the trolley. ca.1925

Trolleys played an important role delivering both milk and workers to the Hershey chocolate factory. Dick Bascastow’s family lived on Java Avenue where trolley tracks passed in front of his house.

 You’d see these people coming early on the trolley. I was reared on Java Avenue, which was [where] the trolley line came by from Campbelltown and Elizabethtown. You’d see a lot of the workers coming in that way.

True enough, they hauled the milk in the cars which were the freight cars, and then they had the picnic cars in the summertime. It was an interesting era, because you could take a trolley car from Hershey and go all the way to Elizabethtown, from Elizabethtown to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You could take a trolley from Hershey and you’d go east to Palmyra, to Lebanon, to Reading, Pennsylvania, and you could go west from Hershey to Hummelstown to Harrisburg. So it did feed into the park and then to the people having picnics and so forth. You’d see these picnic cars come with people with [large] clothes baskets loaded with food. They’d be coming for a big weekend.

 

The trolleys sometimes served the role of a school bus delivering students to school each morning. This was true for both public school students and Milton Hershey School boys.

Flossie Basehore frequently used the trolley to visit her married sister who lived in Hummelstown and ten get to school the next day.

Yes, I loved the trolley. I know the first time I rode on it, I was so scared I wouldn’t know where to get off. But my sisters were married and living in Hummelstown and I would ride the trolley from Hershey to Hummelstown. I got on in at the Square. After school, I would sometimes ride the trolley and go to my sister’s and spend the night with my sister, then get on it the next day and come back to school on it.

A lot of the kids rode the trolley to school and home again. They used to get tickets because they were regular. I think they even got them free, you know, to ride the trolley from the school, but I paid my way because I was not a regular and I went on my own.

Milton Hershey School (then Hershey Industrial School) students relied on the trolley to get to school each morning. The trolleys were on a schedule and if you were late. . .well, Charles Snyder, who graduated from the School in 1940 remembered how important it was to be on time.

We were raised on a schedule, a time schedule. We got up at a time, we had to be in the barn on time, we had the cows milked and the milk ready because at a certain time the dairy truck would come around to pick up our milk, and then we had to go in to eat breakfast and come out and do more work in the barn and then come back to the house and cleaned up to go to school, because the trolley car came at ten of eight to pick you up and take you to school. And there were no excuses. I mean, if you missed the trolley car, you had to walk, and you were reprimanded for being late to school, and the fact that you walked in was of no benefit as far as being an excuse for not being there.

Yes, I remember one morning I had to walk. The barn wasn’t getting done as fast as it should be, and we were late. We were late getting the barn work done, I don’t know what the reason was, but anyway, we were late and some of us missed the trolley car, and I was one of them one morning. It’s a long walk from Farm 31 up to Hershey to Pat’s Hill.

 

And for some people, the trolleys were a source of entertainment. Many remember riding the trolleys for the fun of it. Thomas Guinivan had fond memories of his grandmother and riding the trolleys with her.

My grandmother, Grandmother Guinivan, was a person who loved to ride the trolley cars. So she would take me with her and she’d get on the trolley car. We’d get on the trolley car in Harrisburg and ride down to Hummelstown, because there in the square we’d change from the Harrisburg trolley over to the Hershey trolley line. Then she’d ride all the way to Elizabethtown, because you could go that far, and she would come back again.

1937 was a tumultuous year in Hershey.

Hershey Chocolate strikers are beaten as they exit the factory, ending Hershey's first sit-down strike. 4/7/1937

In January the CIO, a national trade union, organized Hershey Chocolate factory workers, establishing the plant’s first labor union. In April, the Hershey factory workers held Pennsylvania’s first sit-down strike following a breakdown in labor contract negotiations. Though short lived, the strike bitterly divided the town.

Employees and residents honor Milton Hershey at his 80th birthday. 9/13/1937

As a means of healing some of the pain resulting from the strike, workers organized a 80^th birthday celebration for Milton Hershey. Over 8000 people attended the party held at the Hershey Sports Arena on Monday evening, September 13. All the community’s bands performed, including both high schools, the American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps and the Community Theatre Orchestra. The speakers’ platform was surrounded by flowers, most of which were gifts from community churches and organizations.

Milton Hershey wearing his 80th birthday ring. 1941

The employees presented Milton Hershey with a yellow-gold ring with 18 diamonds encircling a design featuring the Chocolate Corporation’s trademark, the baby in a cocoa pod, and a maroon silk lounging robe. The evening festivities included a vaudeville show of top-line entertainment from New York City, refreshments and dancing in the Hershey Park Ballroom.