Milton Hershey was born on this day in 1857. And the National Confectioners Cartel, I mean Association have declared with the full weight of the sugar lobby that this day be celebrated as International Chocolate Day. Works for me, particularly when I learned the principal way of celebrating is through the consumption of chocolate, ideally, in large quantities.
Now, there is a schism among the chocoholic community as some would rather observe this glorious holiday on July 7th, the traditional day some four hundred, and sixty-six years ago when chocolate was introduced to the previously deprived Europeans. However the argument for today is pretty compelling.
Until Mr Hershey stepped onto the scene chocolate was the treat of the rich. He made it a people’s delight. And, while, okay, maybe it isn’t the best chocolate going, it’s pretty darned good. He offered an affordable chocolate bar starting in 1900. He introduced the Hershey kiss onto an unsuspecting public in 1907. And, then completed the trifecta of yum by introducing a chocolate bar with almonds in 1908. During the Second World War Hershey produced chocolate bars to include in soldier’s rations. It is estimated they made more than three billion bars for the war effort.
Mr Hershey also turned out to be a good citizen. The M.S. Hershey Foundation helps provide educational and cultural opportunities in the city of Hershey, and has done so for many years. Perhaps most significantly, he and his spouse Catherine established the Milton Hershey School (originally the Hershey Industrial School) and eventually transferred the majority ownership of the business to the school. Originally it was designed to help impoverished white male orphans. But it has long since expanded its mission. Today the residential school, which has an enrollment of two thousand students, has a majority girls, just under half of the student body are white, thirty percent are African American, eleven percent Hispanic, a tad less than one percent Native American and twelve percent are counted as “other.” Among notable alumni are sports figures Nellie King, Garry Gilliam, and Joe Senser, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Trymaine Lee, and Deesha Dyer, current White House social secretary.
Rolling in the chocolate fortune, the school then founded the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center with an initial endowment of sixty million dollars, with the sole restriction that the hospital be located in Hershey.
With stumbles along the way, of course, today the profits of Hershey’s products support some very good things.
And, me, I do love those kisses…
So, whether Mr Hershey’s bars, kisses, or something a bit more upscale, today you should eat your chocolate proudly!
Okay, after celebrating Mr Hershey, in the interests of complete fairness, here’s a little skit that I understand was prepared for at the See’s factory in Los Angeles. And, I admit, See’s is a personal favorite, which during our long family exile in foreign climes (East Coast, mostly) I often dreamed about…
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