The Design Company.

In-store advertisement, ca. 1930

In the 1920s Hershey Chocolate Company wanted to expand its product line and began experimenting with formulas for another nut bar. Samuel Hinkle, who began his career as a plant chemist in November 1924, spearheaded the company’s efforts. He shared vivid memories of developing the formula for Mr. Goodbar in 1925 in his 1975 oral history interview:

“We’d been experimenting with a peanut bar, peanuts being a popular product with the American people,” said Hinkle. “We decided we’d better use Spanish peanuts rather than Virginia peanuts. We came up with this Spanish peanut, a small round peanut, and we left the little red shell on the outside. We called it roasted, but we really were frying the peanuts in fat and combining them with our milk chocolate. We began to think about a name. Actually, it was Mr. Hershey who really came up with the name. Someone said, ‘That’s a good bar.’ And his (Mr. Hershey’s) hearing being a little bad, he thought they said, Mr. Goodbar. So he named it Mr. Goodbar.”

Mr. Goodbar is one of the Chocolate Company’s most enduring products. During the 1930s Depression Era, it was marketed as a “Tasty Lunch” because the peanuts gave it added nutritional value. During these years the bars sold 2 for a 5 cents. In the 1950s and 1960s the bars carried the slogan, “Quick Energy in Every Bar!”

April 1905: Construction for the new chocolate factory had been completed during the winter and the factory was gearing up for full production. Construction of the Cocoa House had recently been completed. It provided housing and meals for single men as well as office space for a variety of businesses needed by the new town. First and foremost Milton Hershey needed a bank to handle the varied finances of the new community. Earlier in the year he had applied to the state for permission to establish a trust company that would serve as the community’s bank. A state charter was granted on April 27, 1905 and Hershey Trust Company opened for business on June 15, 1905 in offices located in the Cocoa House. A published brochure advertised a wide scope of banking services. In addition to handling the Hershey business payrolls, the Trust Company offered savings accounts, mortgages, and commercial and personal loans.

The decision to establish a trust company rather than a bank was made after Milton Hershey sought advice from the Northern National Bank of Lancaster, PA. In his reply, E.J. Ryder, the Northern National cashier, suggested that in addition to taking mortgages, a trust company would have the added advantage of doing fiduciary business.

Still, in 1905 Milton Hershey’s town was more of an idea than an actuality. Though the chocolate factory began full operations that summer, little else was operating in town. Another year would pass before the community was officially named, when the United States Postmaster granted Milton Hershey permission to establish a new post office.

Hershey Trust Company quickly became the town’s financial center, playing an important role in financing Milton Hershey’s construction and development plans. It was instrumental in the growth and development of the town, advertising mortgages in ads that encouraged people to build a home in the new community. The Trust Company advertised frequently in the local papers, encouraging residents to start savings accounts and to plan for the future. To broaden its accessibility, special deposit stations were established on Hershey trolleys. Specialized savings accounts, such as Christmas Savings Clubs, were clever gimmicks promoted by the Trust Company to encourage new account business. Bank accounts were also promoted as a means to future retirement security.

                           

Hershey Trust Company advertisement, published in Hershey's Progressive Weekly, 7/10/1913

Hershey Trust Company continued to serve as the community’s bank for the next two decades. However, in 1918, the Trust Company took on a new responsibility when Milton Hershey transferred his ownership of the Hershey Chocolate Company, then valued at $60 million, to the Hershey Industrial School Trust fund (today Milton Hershey School).

With Milton Hershey’s gift, the Trust Company needed to direct more of its efforts toward the management of the School Trust’s assets. In particular, the Trust Company assumed responsibility for Milton Hershey’s land assets, by then more than 10,000 acres of land in and around Hershey as well as his other financial investments. As the Trust Company assumed these new responsibilities, it became apparent that the town needed a new financial institution to provide the more traditional banking services for the community. To free the Trust Company for its duties as Trustee of the School Trust, the Hershey National Bank, a nationally chartered institution, was established in 1925 to handle the town’s commercial banking needs.

Army-Navy 'E' Award Ceremony; l-r: Sam Hinkle, Major-General EDmnd B. Gregory, Milton Hershey, J.J. Gallagher, William Murrie and Ezra Hershey. 8/27/1942

Hershey Chocolate products played a critical role supplying the military during World War II. Before the war Hershey Chocolate Corporation had worked with the United States Army Quartermaster Corps to develop the formula for a survival ration bar, labeled the Ration ‘D’ bar. After the United States entered the war, Hershey Chocolate Corporation produced millions of the ration bars for the military.

In recognition of its outstanding efforts, Hershey Chocolate Corporation received the Army-Navy ‘E’ Production Award at a special ceremony held August 22, 1942. Quartermaster General, Major General Gregory, came to Hershey to present the corporation and Milton Hershey with the award of achievement. At the Award ceremony, Major General Edmond B.Gregory noted the company’s achievements stating, “The men and women of Hershey Chocolate Corporation have every reason to be proud of their great work in backing up our soldiers on the fighting fronts.”

Samuel Hinkle, then Hershey Chocolate chief chemist, remembered that Mr. Hershey was overjoyed at the accomplishment itself and at the fine relationship it betokened between management and employees. In the pictures of that event which have been preserved, it is easy to see the pleasure which he carries on his face.

The Corporation received a flag to fly above the chocolate plant and a lapel pin for every employee.By the end of the war in 1945 Hershey Chocolate Corporation would receive a total of five Army-Navy ‘E’ awards.

In addition to the Ration ‘D’ bar, Hershey products were part of seven ration packs. Hershey Chocolate also developed a confectionery product, the Tropical bar, that didn’t melt in high temperatures and therefore could be sent to tropical areas of the world. In 1944 Hershey produced a pamphlet outlining the many ways and many products in use by the military.

Hershey Chocolate Corporation pamphlet, ""Hershey's Products at War;" inside fold. 1944

 

Hershey Chocolate Corporation pamphlet, ""Hershey's Products at War;" inside view. 1944

Hershey’s Products at War

U.S. NAVY LIFE RAFT EMERGENCY RATION-was developed to sustain life in case of shipwreck. The Ration D type of chocolate, with its high powered food energy value, is well adapted for this vital use.

EMERGENCY ACCESSORY KIT-is prepared for front line use. Among other items, chocolate bars are packed in each kit.

PRISONER OF WAR PACKAGE-a gift of the American Red Cross, is regularly supplied to those of our fighting forces who have fallen into enemy hands. Special chocolate bars are included in this package.

HERSHEY’S BREAKFAST COCOA-is widely used by all branches of the service. Its popularity as a beverage is constantly increasing.

HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE FLAVORED SYRUP-long a favorite in the Ships Service Stores of the Navy, is also supplied for Army and Navy messes and Post Exchanges.

HERSHEY’S MILK CHOCOLATE, ALMOND MILK CHOCOLATE AND BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE BARS-familiar to everyone in time of peace, are in even greater demand in wartime.

Hershey Country Club was formally established when Milton Hershey hosted a dinner party at his home, High Point, for one hundred of his friends on April 27, 1930. Preceding dinner, Mr. Hershey announced he was donating his home to the new Hershey Country Club for use as a Clubhouse. He went on to explain that the Club was to be established for the recreation and enjoyment of his friends, Hershey employees, as well as residents of the Hershey community. At this point, Milton Hershey asked his guests to lift their plates. Underneath each plate was a Hershey Country Club Charter Membership card for each guest.

In 1933 the Professional Golfers Association urged the Hershey Country Club to put on a tournament. Hershey Country Club accepted the idea and established an invitational Hershey Open Golf Tournament. First held in1933, the purse of $5000 rivaled that of the U.S. Open and attracted some of the game’s best players.

The Tournament was held for several years. The winners were:

1933 Ed Dudley

1934 Ky Laffoon (French Indian golf star of Denver)

1935 Ted Luther

1936 Henry Picard

1937 Henry Picard

In 1938 the format was changed to a Round Robin Four-Ball Invitational. That year the team of Ben Hogan and Vic Ghezzi took first place. The tournament returned to its traditional format the following year and was won by Felix Serafin.

PGA U.S. Open Tournament, 1940 Byron Nelson tees off while competitor Sam Snead looks on from the sidelines.

The Hershey Open was not held in 1940. In its place, Hershey Country Club hosted the PGA U.S. Open.. In that tournament Byron Nelson edged Sam Snead 1-up to win the PGA Championship. The ninth and last Hershey Open Golf Tournament was held August 28-31, 1941.

 

Hershey Open Golf Tournament, 1941

One of the highlights of Hershey’s Easter season were the flower displays presented each spring in conjunction with Easter. First presented in Milton Hershey’s private greenhouse in 1909, the displays grew more elaborate each year and expanded as new conservatories were built.

The conservatories were open year round and were a popular destination in the winter months. The Hershey Press provided detailed reports of the flora displayed in the greenhouses. During the colder months the greenhouses were filled with the many palms, rubber trees, ferns and that were placed throughout Hershey during the warm months. In addition the greenhouses were used to propagate bedding plants such as coleus, geraniums, and begonias that would be planted throughout the community in its many flower beds.

The Easter displays quickly became an annual tradition in Hershey. The event, initially held on Easter afternoon and later expanding the the entire week before Easter, drew thousands of people to see elaborate displays of blooming Spring blooms and other flowers.

The fifth annual Easter Flower Show was held in 1913, the town’s 10^th anniversary. Both conservatories were opened for visitors on Easter Day from noon to 6 p.m. The flower variety was impressive, including Chinese baby primroses, California poppies, red aftrican daisies, lilies and cyclamens as well as hundreds of tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils. In addition the the elaborate floral exhibits, guests were treated to the fun of seeing tropical birds, fish and even the zoo’s alligators who were housed in one of the conservatories.

Hershey Zoo conservatory (now part of ZooAmerica Desert animal exhibit), ca. 1916

The show was enlarged in 1914 with the addition of a new conservatory located in the Hershey Zoo. The lower level of this conservatory served as winter quarters for several zoo animals.

In 1917 the show was further expanded when the old laundry (future Zoo entrance building) was repurposed as a Horticultural Hall.

 

Hershey Greenhouse, ca.1931-1940

 

The show was discontinued in 1918 and it was not reestablished for several years. In 1930 Hershey constructed a new expansive greenhouse. With the new structure, Hershey was inspired to reestablish the Easter Show tradition. It is uncertain when it was restarted. The first reference to the revived Easter Flower show appears in a 1935 issue of the Hotel Hershey Highlights. The article also mentioned the success of the 1934 show. The Flower Shows continued throughout the 1930s. The last show was held in 1942 and was discontinued the following year because of wartime restrictions.

 

Easter Flower Show, Hershey Greenhouse, ca.1931-1942

 

Hershey Country Club (High Point Mansion), Mary Morrison teeing off; ca. 1935-1940

In 1930 Hershey Country Club was established and Milton Hershey offered his home, High Point, as its clubhouse, retaining two rooms on the second floor as an private apartment for himself.  The Club converted the first floor rooms into dining rooms and built a free standing one-story structure as a men’s locker room.  By the late 1960s, Hershey Country Club wanted to expand and made plans to build a second golf course and a new clubhouse. 

From 1970 to 1976, the mansion sat empty with only a caretaker living in an upstairs apartment.  Rumors circulated that the aging mansion would be demolished and many in town viewed it as a white elephant.

Fortunately, William Dearden, a Milton Hershey School graduate, was made CEO of Hershey Foods Corporation in 1976.  He had a strong vision for the company’s future.  To accomplish his goals, he created a new corporate staff and needed to find space for his executive team to work effectively apart from the day to day operations of the chocolate business. 

To accomplish his goals he acquired High Point  in 1977 with the goal of renovating it to serve as the company’s new corporate headquarters. 

To make the house functional as a business office, extensive renovations were required.  While the first floor was kept largely intact, on the second floor walls were moved and also added to create office space.  Hershey Foods made an effort to maintain architectural elements, duplicating trimwork and door styles.  At times functionality won out such as when ceilings were lowered (covering up plaster trim and part of elaborate crown moldings) to allow the installation of modern HVAC systems.  Hershey Foods also altered the look of the turn of the century mansion by installing wall to wall carpeting (hiding the inlaid hard-wood floors) and grass cloth as wall paper (all the rage in 1970s America).

Practicality also led to the elimination of some of the house’s elaborate porches and sun room.  Extensive wood rot and over-budget costs to repair/replace resulted in the decision to remove these parts of the house during its renovation.

Dearden’s need to relocate his executive corporate team and his passion for protecting Milton Hershey’s legacy saved High Point from possible destruction during an era in which many American cities defined urban renewal by destroying many architectural gems.

Hershey Foods Corporation Corporate Headquarters, Board Room; ca. 1980

Hershey Foods Corporation Corporate Headquarters, Reception Room; ca.1980

Juvenile Country Club, ca. 1935-1950

 

In 1932 Hershey added its most unusual course. The Juvenile Golf Club [today Spring Creek Golf Club] was the only course in the United States dedicated to children under eighteen years old. Youth golf fees were $.35 and for an annual fee of $10, children had unlimited access to the Juvenile course. As a result, golf was very popular with the community’s youth. Lessons were offered to teach the game fundamentals and golf etiquette. Several youth tournaments were held each summer and the results often made the front page of the weekly Hotel Hershey Highlights. The sport was equally popular with girls and boys. Many boys, as soon as they were big enough, spent their summers playing golf and caddying for the Country Club.

The Juvenile Club facilities included a substantial log cabin for its clubhouse. The cabin was decorated with a hunter’s theme, with the walls covered with animal pelts and antlers. The main room also featured two limestone open fireplaces. The clubhouse provided male and female locker rooms and showers.

The Juvenile course was repurposed as a public course open to golfers of all ages in 1969 and renamed Spring Creek Golf Course.

Hershey Industrial School students served as pallbearers at Milton Hershey's funeral. (Students were selected from the Class of 1946): John Albright, Clyde Harman, Rome Owens, Elwood Scheib, Stephen Sekellic, Kenneth Steen, William Swingle, Wilmer Wolf

“I admired him from the beginning.  It was always an inspiration to see the way he calmly and quietly and tenaciously fought his way through one obstacle after the other until he achieved his big success.  And it was an inspiration, too, to find that he measured success, not in dollars, but in terms of a good product to pass on to the public, and still more in the usefulness of those dollars for the benefit of his fellow men.  His life and work will always remain a great inspiration to us all.”

  

 

Hershey Community Building, 1933

Originally planned for 1916 and finally constructed during Hershey’s Great Building Campaign of the 1930s, the goal of the building was to provide entertainment and recreation, as well as to fulfill educational and civic functions for the entire town. World War I and subsequent financial challenges for Hershey Chocolate Company delayed its construction.  Finally in November 1928 ground was broken.  The building was completed in September 1932 and officially dedicated in September 1933 as part of the Town’s 30th anniversary celebration.
 

The primary function of the Building’s recreational facilities was for the use of the Hershey Men’s Club.  The Men’s Club offered an extensive range of programs and activities for the boys and men of Hershey.  The facilities were very impressive.

Game Room: 180 feet long, contains four bowling alleys, a court for practicing driving golf ball or putting, three shuffleboard tables, four ping pong tables, five pocket billiard tables for men, one billiard table for boys, a table for curoque, and a section devoted to games for boys in addition to tables for cards, checkers, chess, etc.

Game Room, ca.1932-1942

On same floor is a swimming pool 75 feet long by 25 feet wide, 3 - 9 1/2  feet deep,  with three spring boards.  Separate showers for men and boys

 

 

 

 

Gymnasium:  (80 x 44 feet with 35 foot ceiling) for class work, volley ball, basketball, softball, badminton and special exercising rooms as well as two courts for four-wall hand ball, also can be used as squash courts.

 

 

Men's Club Junior Division, Community Building Gymnasium, ca.1935

The Archives oral history collections contain many memories of the Community Building and how important it was to the residents, particularly the children.  Many men shared memories of their childhoods spending afternoons and evenings at the Community Building:

 

Frank Simione (93OH02):

In the early years, from starting at my eighth birthday, we belonged to the Hershey Community Building, which at that time was called Community Club for us, where they had the Hershey hospital on the sixth floor, later became the Hershey Junior College. At eight years old, we belonged to this Community Building, where we learned all the athletic sports, all types of games. I think it was three dollars for six months, and you started as a cadet and went up to a junior, and then you went into intermediate, then you went into a senior program.

Spending all that time and all those years there, I learned many athletic games and as much as all the small games that you would play, like checkers and dominos and pool and ping-pong and bowling. We were fortunate to have this facility. At the time, we didn’t know any better, but as we grew, and later on in life, we found that that was a beautiful place for kids to go.

To learn more about the Archives’ oral history collections use this link to visit the Archives online collections database.

 

The Hershey Press issue dated September 17, 1909 carried a variety of articles about the community and Chocolate factory as well as printing ads from Hershey owned and independent businesses.

One of my favorite columns was titled: Hershey Briefs: Items About You, Your Neighbors and Things in General.  Illnesses, individual’s trips to Harrisburg and Lancaster, comments about people who dropped in to visit the Press office, parties, practical jokes, bowling competitions and related events were appropriate for this column.  It reminds me of today’s Facebook postings:  the information in the column varied in significance and interest.

The Hershey Press is also a great resource for documenting the growth and development of the community.  On the front page of this issue, the Press carried an article about the installation of a new pastor at Derry Presbyterian Church, one about the contents of a large freight train delivering materials to Hershey and an article noting the completion of a new addition to the Hershey Chocolate Factory for the Longitudinal department.  I found the article

 particularly helpful because this short article helped the Archives date this photograph of the new department:

Hershey Chocolate Factory, Longitudinal department, ca.1909