Hershey Park's first swimming pool; ca.1912-1915

Hershey Park’s first concrete swimming pool was added in 1911. Completed in the fall, the pool served as an ice skating rink that winter and opened for its first swimming season in 1912. The pool was a popular destination and attracted 1000s of visitors both as users and spectators. A few years later the pool was enlarged and a water toboggan feature was added. To ride the toboggan swimmers carried wooden “sleds” to the top of a long wooden slide and rode the sled down to splash in the pool below. The ride was so fast that riders hydro-planed for several yards before sinking into the water.

Aerial, Hershey Park Swimming Pool; ca.1938-1950

A new expansive pool complex was added in 1929. The new Hershey Park Pool was actually 4 pools: a circular baby pool, a diving pool, a swimming pool and a wading pool. A concrete island separated the swimming pool from the wading pool. Altogether the pools covered 35,000 square feet and contained 1,240,000 gallons of filtered spring water. Admission fee for adults was 25 cents (10 cents for children). If you didn’t have one you could rent a bathing suit at the pool bathhouse.

By the 1940s over 100,000 people visited the pool each summer. Many long time residents have very fond memories of the Park Pool. Young men remember the pool as a wonderful place to bring a date if you didn’t have much money. The pool was located right next to the Ballroom. From the pool, you could hear all the great bands that played at the Ballroom, such as Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Harry James. The Pool was closed following the 1971 summer season. Today all that remains of the famous Park Pool is the lighthouse along Park Boulevard.

Hershey Park Swimming Pool; sand beach, kiddie pool and iconic lighthouse; 1930

John Zoll was well known by all those seeking employment in Hershey.  Mary Bonawitz, who was employed by the Hershey Chocolate Factory in 1934, remembered how she first got work in Hershey:

I was eighteen years of age and wanted to get out in the world, earn some money for myself, so I chose Hershey Chocolate Factory, and I never was sorry. Those times you didn’t go into the office. You stood outside the employment office and Mr. [John] Zoll would come out and he would pick you and would say, “You come in here.” And look over the crowd and, “You come in here.” That’s the way you got the job. Sometimes people stood outside for a week or more until they were picked. So I happened to be picked August 13th, and I worked there for thirty-two years.

Hershey Chocolate Factory, packing kisses by hand. 3/1937

Sometimes people didn’t really know or care where they worked, they simply wanted a job.  George Booth attended Hershey Industrial School 1925-1937.  After graduation he initially got a job in Lititz, PA, a town about 25 miles east of Hershey but the business soon went bankrupt.  Unable to find work, he returned  to Hershey in 1938 with hopes of finding something.

So I came down to Hershey and thought, “Well, the park’s open. Maybe I can get a summer job.” I came down, went down to the–as a matter of fact, I still have my application on the wall in the den, June 13, 1938. I applied for a job, not knowing where I was going to go. John Zoll was the employment manager at that time. He sent me up to Hershey Lumber Products to a B.S. Cornell. He hired me, as a clerk in the office–time cards, posting machine. They were doing a lot of construction at that time, Hershey was. Anyway, we finished. The summer came to an end, construction slowed down. October, November. Then I was sent down to the bank building.

 

Question: Who sent you there?

 

I think Cornell told me they want me down there, and I was to report to Harry Spangler. I remember reporting to Harry Spangler. Harry Spangler was the comptroller at the time. He interviewed me and put me to work the same day. Our offices for Hershey Estates were on the second floor of the bank. So I became a clerk, bookkeeper, that sort of thing.

Hershey Trust Company and Hershey National Bank. ca.1935

Hershey Community Archives oral history collection is a rich resource for understanding the historyof the community, its industries and activities.  Excerpts of oral history interviews with factory workers, Hershey Estates employees, bookkeepers and bank tellers reveal what it is like to work in the “sweetest place on earth.”

The stories of how people first got a job in Hershey are varied.  Many of Hershey’s most committed employees initially had no interest in working here.  Frank Mather, whose Hershey Bears’ ice hockey career spanned several decades, needed some special convincing to  come to Hershey.  In his oral history interview Mathers relates this story:

I was brought in as a player-coach. I had gone home [to Winnipeg]. I was thirty-one at the time and I figured it’s time to, you know, get a real job. So I went home. I really had no intention of being a coach. That, too, was not one of the things that I had planned, but anyway, Mr. Sollenberger phoned, and he was a very insistent gentleman. I told him no, I wasn’t interested really, but then finally he said, “Come on down. Just stay at the hotel. Bring your wife down.” We did and [he] treated me very well, gave me a car and carte blanche around Hershey, and, “Just tell them you know me and sign the check,” and that type of thing. And I did. I’m glad that I did, of course. That was the smartest move I ever made, because I signed with Hershey.

This is a funny story and it’s a true story. But I really never enjoyed Hershey when I played in Pittsburgh, the reason being we came to Hershey when the Ice Show was in Pittsburgh, and we’d be here for–what I’d say, stuck for two weeks in Hershey in the middle of the winter. At that time there was one show that changed maybe twice a week and there was very little action at all. We used to say that the highlight of the day was walking over to the arena from the Cocoa Inn.

Anyway, so I really didn’t think that I would enjoy it, but I came here. I think we arrived Tuesday and we went through the whole area. So after we saw all of Hershey at our own pace, doing what we wanted to see, then we met–this must have been a little bit later in the spring, because the park was open. As I recall Mr. Sollenberger didn’t go to the hockey games because he had a bad heart–too exciting. The only game that I can recall him ever going to was an All-Star game where the outcome was not important. Yeah. So he didn’t go to the games, but yet we went to the park. And we went on the roller coaster–now, he sits in the front seat with his wife and Pat and I are right behind them. [Laughter] And we were on there, I swear, for twelve rides. I think, “If this guy wants me to sign for hockey, I’d better sign and tell him I’m going to sign now. I’ll be his coach. Then we’ll get off this thing.”

Hershey Bears ice hockey team, 1956-1957 season. Frank Mathers is 8th from the left.

Hershey Convention Hall, exterior. 1915

When the Church of the Brethren chose Hershey as the location for its next annual meeting, the church requested permission to erect a tent on park grounds. Milton Hershey responded with an offer to build a 6,000 seat convention hall for their use. The Convention Hall was completed in less than a year, just in time for the Brethren’s June 1915 meeting. Over 60,000 people from all over the United States attended the convention that year.

Hershey Convention Hall, Church of the Brethren Triennial Convention, 6/1915

The Hershey Convention Hall was originally conceived as a Chautauqua Hall, which would offer a wide array of educational and cultural opportunities.  The size and location of the Convention Hall led to its use not only as a meeting place but also as a performance hall.  Between 1915 and 1930 it hosted nationally recognized performers, including Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, the Sistine Chapel Choir, soprano Marion Talley and Will Rogers. In 1925 the Convention Hall was remodeled, and its acoustics were improved. That year John Philip Sousa and his band performed at the Convention Hall over the Fourth of July weekend celebration. Tickets for his afternoon and evening concerts were 75 cents. There was standing room only for the concerts, and many more people crowded around the building listening to the music.

In 1931 the Convention Hall was remodeled as an Ice Palace for ice skating and hockey. ca. 1931-1936

In 1931 the Convention Hall was again remodeled and a ice rink added to the facility. Each winter the rink was used for public skating, an annual ice carnival and ice hockey games. Hershey’s instant love affair with ice skating and hockey would lead to the construction of the Hershey Sports Arena in 1936.

Comet Roller Coaster ride entrance, ca.1946-1960

The end of World War II was celebrated at Hershey Park with the addition of a new roller coaster, the Comet.  Opening for the 1946 season, the Comet replaced the 1923 Wild Cat Roller coaster.  Like the park’s first coaster, this one was designed and constructed by Herbert Schmeck and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.  One unique feature of this coaster is that it crosses Spring Creek twice during its 3,360 foot journey. 

Hersheypark's Comet Roller Coaster crosses Spring Creek twice during its journey. ca.1960-1070

A total of 248,919 feet of lumber was used to build the double out-and-back coaster.  The coaster is built so close to town that riders’ screams can be heard on Chocolate Avenue.  The coaster features a series of drops that curve as they descend on the third and forth runs to create a more exciting ride.  The ride’s finish is a series of hills or bunny hops with a turnaround to the brake curve and loading station.

Aerial view, Hersheypark Comet Roller Coaster, ca.1946-1956

Riders wait to board the Hershey Monorail, ca.1969

By the late 1960s, traffic on Chocolate Avenue during the summer months was overwhelming. Tourists wanting to tour the Chocolate Factory and visit the park often created traffic jams. Downtown parking was limited. To ease congestion Hershey Estates and Hershey Chocolate Corporation agreed share the costs of constructing a Monorail that would link Hershey Park and downtown Hershey. There were two stations, one by the Sports Arena and one at the north end of the building at One Chocolate Building. People could board the train at either station. Dedicated on June 20, 1969, the monorail was both a means of transportation and a new Park attraction. The track loop was laid out to provide riders with a scenic view of Hershey Park and the Zoo. The monorail remained a separate attraction until 1973 when the factory tours ended and it was incorporated into the new Hersheypark.

Monorail passes over the Hershey Park Turnpike ride. ca.1969

Billboard advertises new ride coming to Hersheypark for the 1977 summer season.

The early years of the newly redesigned Hersheypark were filled with highs and lows. In 1972 Hurricane Agnes had closed the Park for nine days and caused it to suffer significant budget shortfalls. 1973 marked the new Park’s first truly successful season and erased all doubts about the wisdom of redeveloping Hersheypark as a themed amusement park. The energy crisis of 1974 again caused financial challenges and forced the Park to scale back its redevelopment plans. Hersheypark’s success was firmly established a few years later, with the addition of the sooperdooperLooper which marked Hersheypark’s entry into the category of nationally recognized theme parks.

This coaster was the first looping coaster on the East Coast and only the second of its kind in the United States. The new coaster was the park’s most expensive ride at that point, costing more than $3 million. Building a proto-type roller coaster created a major challenge for the Park and presented unbelievable problems. Being a new style ride, the Park would practically re-engineer the ride from the original plans before being satisfied with the ride’s operation. All the bugs had not been worked out by opening day. That day the Park’s General Manager, Bruce McKinney, and his wife Sally boarded the ride car to officially launch the ride. The ride successfully made it through the loop only to only to get stuck on the next rise. Park engineers were unable to get the ride to move and the passengers had to exit the ride by walking down the catwalk, witnessed and documented by news photographers and television cameras.

In spite of such an eventful launch the ride made the Park’s 1977’s season a huge success. Hundreds of thousands of people came to the park that year to ride or simply to watch the new looping roller coaster. The most popular Park souvenir that summer was a T-Shirt with the words “I Survived the sooperdooperLooper.” That year the Park set daily attendance records that still stand as record breaking days to this day. The summer of 1977 would stand as the park’s most successful season for years to come.

Riding the loop of the sooperdooperLooper, ca. 1990-2000

For almost 60 years swimming at the Hershey Park Swimming Pool was a popular destination for visitors and local residents.  Today, for many people, seeing the Lighthouse across the street from Chocolate World and the Hersheypark entrance evokes memories of swimming in the “giant” swimming pool, meeting friends, and teensagers staying late to listen the the dance bands performing at the Hershey Park Ballroom.

Hershey Park’s first concrete swimming pool was added in 1911.  Completed in the fall, the pool served as an ice skating rink that winter and opened for its first swimming season in 1912.  The pool was a popular destination and attracted 1000s of visitors both as users and spectators.  A few years later the pool was enlarged and a water toboggan feature was added.  To ride the toboggan swimmers carried wooden “sleds” to the top of a long wooden slide and rode the sled down to splash in the pool below.  The ride was so fast that riders hydro-planed for several yards before sinking into the water.

Hershey Park Pool; York and South Temple Water Polo teams, 7/12/1936

By the 1940s over 100,000 people visited the pool each summer.  The Archives’ oral history collection contain many fond memories of the Park Pool.  Many families came to the pool every day during the summertime.  Young men remember the pool as a wonderful place to bring a date if you didn’t have much money.  The pool was located right next to the Ballroom.  From the pool, you could hear all the great bands that played at the Ballroom, such as Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and Harry James.  The Pool was closed following the 1971 summer season.  Today all that remains of the famous Park Pool is the lighthouse along Park Boulevard.

Hershey Park Ballroom was a popular venue for Big Bands during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.  Virtually every nationally known Big Band played at the Park Ballroom, making it the leading dance floor in Central Pennsylvania.  Dancing was sometimes a problem in the ballroom, despite its 190 foot length and 40 foot width.  The crowds were frequently so large that it was hard to move, let alone dance.  Dances always ran 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m., except when Guy Lombardo played and for some unknown reason the time shifted to 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m..

Harry James was one of the most popular bands to play at the Ballroom.  At his July 8, 1944 performance attendance reached a new high with 6,194 people.  That record was broken a few years later when Vaughn Monroe’s August 23, 1947 performance brought in 6,945 people.

Vocalists Buddy DeVito and Kitty Kallen wait while band leader Harry James performs his trumpet solo at Hershey Park Ballroom, 7/25/1945

During the 1940s the price of admission to the Ballroom was $2.40 for dancers, $1.20 for spectators and $1.50 for military personnel.  For those that could not afford those prices, the pool offered a cheaper alternative. In an 1990 oral history interview with Dick Bacastow, he explains: “You could go swimming for twenty-five cents. . . .The swimming pool was right next to the Ballroom, and if you went down there later on when you got interested in young ladies and you didn’t have the  money or weren’t old enough to go to the ball room, you’d go in swimming in the afternoon, four, five o’clock, and then you could sit along in the sand–they had a great beach–and listen to Glenn Miller, Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey, etc.  All the great bands in the world came to Hershey’s Ballroom.”

Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians perform to a standing room only crowd at Hershey Park Ballroom, 7/4/1953