The Lancaster Caramel Company was an American candy company based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1886, and was his first successful candy company which helped him build a reputation. [1]
The business was first located in a warehouse on the west side of South Duke Street near Vine Street. However, the facilities lacked a boiler to cook the caramels and Hershey soon moved to an old factory building on Church Street that had once housed the Edison Electric Plant. The early months were a struggle, but a British candy importer placed a large order and the cashier at the Lancaster County National Bank backed a loan, enabling Hershey to purchase supplies. As the business began to grow, Hershey expanded into other parts of the factory building. By 1894 the Lancaster Caramel Company employed approximately 1300 workers. [2]
In 1891 Hershey acquired three lots and a small factory in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania and the new factory soon began caramel production. In 1892, Lancaster Caramel Company expanded, opening a western branch in Chicago, which later moved to Bloomington, Illinois. The Bloomington factory operated until 1900 when it was sold to the Paul F. Beich Company. Shortly after establishing the Western Branch, Hershey set up a third caramel factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. [2]
The Lancaster Caramel Company was incorporated on February 8, 1894 and the Hershey Chocolate Company was formally organized as a subsidiary. [2] In the Spring of 1900, believing caramels were a fad, Milton Hershey sold the assets of the caramel business including the factory, the machinery, the confectionery formulas, stock on hand and the Crystal A trademark for $1 million in cash to the American Caramel Company. Hershey kept the Hershey Chocolate Company subsidiary plus the chocolate making equipment because he felt that there was a large market for chocolate confections. [3]
The American Caramel Company grew out of an industry established by Peter C. Wiest in 1867. He was a pioneer in the manufacture of caramels and soon developed a successful business. In 1878, Daniel F. Lafean became a partner and the firm of P. C. Wiest & Company was organized. The original proprietor retired from the business and in 1895 The P. C. Wiest Company was incorporated with Daniel F. Lafean as president. [4] Lafean was instrumental in establishing the American Caramel Company; which was created March 28, 1898 when the Breisch-Hine Company in Philadelphia merged with The P. C. Wiest & Company in York, Pennsylvania. The home office of the American Caramel Company was located in York.
The American Caramel Company was created on March 28, 1889, when the Breisch-Hine Co. of Philadelphia and the P. C. Wiest Co. of York, Pennsylvania, merged. After acquiring the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1900, the American Caramel Company became famous by including baseball and other cards in with its candies. With the addition of the Lancaster Caramel Company, the American Caramel Company grew to control 90% of the caramel in the country. The American Caramel Company was one of the early businesses to issue of Baseball Cards with their product. In December 1928, The American Caramel Company shut down the York Plant, moving the candy making machinery to a more modern facility. [5]
The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world; it also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milkshakes, as well as other products. The Hershey Company was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, originally established as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. The Hershey Trust Company owns a minority stake but retains a majority of the voting power within the company.
Milton Snavely Hershey was an American chocolatier, businessman, and philanthropist.
Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey, and Hersheypark, an amusement park.
York Peppermint Pattie is an American dark chocolate enrobed peppermint confection introduced in 1940 and currently produced by the Hershey Company.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are an American candy by the Hershey Company consisting of a peanut butter filling encased in chocolate. They were created on November 15, 1928, by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey. Reese was let go from his job with Hershey when the Round Barn which he managed was shut down for cost-saving measures. He subsequently decided to start his own candy business. Reese's are a top-selling candy brand worldwide, with $3.1 billion in annual sales.
The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar is a flagship chocolate bar manufactured by The Hershey Company. Hershey refers to it as "The Great American Chocolate Bar". The Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar was first sold in 1900.
Milk Duds are a brand of candies made with chocolate, created in 1928 by Hoffman and Company of Chicago and now produced and marketed by The Hershey Company, under license from owners of the brand, Highlander Partners, a Dallas-based global private equity firm.
Harry Burnett Reese was an American inventor and businessman known for creating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and founding the H. B. Reese Candy Company. In 2009, he was posthumously inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame.
Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company is a privately held company based in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Milton S. Hershey established HE&R in 1927 to distinguish and separate his chocolate manufacturing company from his other business ventures. All of his non-chocolate producing businesses were established as Hershey Estates, renamed HERCO, Inc. in 1976 and Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company in 1998.
The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core and coated in milk chocolate. It was introduced in 1917 by David L. Clark and was popular during and after both World Wars. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy bars followed the Clark Bar, the Butterfinger bar (1923) made by the Curtiss Candy Company and the 5th Avenue bar (1936) created by Luden's.
The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue is devoted to the history and legacy of Milton S. Hershey and the chocolate candy confections he invented. It is located at 63 West Chocolate Avenue in downtown Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, and opened in January 2009.
Daniel Franklin Lafean was an American politician and businessman who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1903 to 1913 and again from 1915 to 1917. He was the first president of the American Caramel Company.
Hershey Creamery Company, also known as Hershey's Ice Cream, is an American creamery that produces ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt, and other frozen desserts such as smoothies and frozen slab-style ice cream mixers. It was founded by Jacob Hershey and four of his brothers in 1894 and taken over by the Holder family in the 1920s. The company was one of the first to offer consumers pre-packaged ice cream pints.
The D. L. Clark Company was founded in 1886 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh, by David L. Clark (1864–1939), an Irish-born candy salesman. In 1921, Clark Brothers Chewing Gum Company was spun off as a separate corporation. In 1955, when the family-owned D. L. Clark company was sold to Beatrice Foods, they had production facilities in Pittsburgh and Evanston, Illinois. Beatrice sold it in 1983 to Leaf, and they in turn sold Clark in 1991, though Leaf retained the rights to Clark's Zagnut and P. C. Crunchers bars. The new owner, entrepreneur Michael P. Carlow, would operate it under the umbrella of the Pittsburgh Food & Beverage Company.
The Milton S. Hershey Mansion, also known as High Point, is a historic house at 100 Mansion Road East in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Built in 1908, it was the home of Hershey Chocolate founder Milton S. Hershey (1857-1945) from 1908 until his death. Hershey is credited with introducing the mass production of chocolate to be sold at low prices and operated what became the world's largest chocolate maker. His house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1983. It presently houses the offices of the Hershey Trust Company, a multibillion-dollar trust fund which owns a controlling share of Hershey Foods Corporation and runs the Milton Hershey School.
The Hollywood Candy Company, or Hollywood Brands, was an American confectionery company formed in Hollywood, Carver County, Minnesota, in 1912 by Frank Martoccio.
Cassius Emlen Urban was a Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based architect. He was the leading architect in Lancaster from the 1890s to the 1920s.
Hershey, Pennsylvania witnessed a six-day sit-down strike of workers at the Hershey Chocolate Corporation in 1937. The strike ended in violence, as dairy workers and loyal Hershey employees stormed the factory to force out strikers. Eventually, the company signed an agreement with the American Federation of Labor through the Bakery and Confectionery International Union, becoming one of the first American candy companies to unionize.
Lancaster Soft Crèmes are a caramel or milk-based candy produced by The Hershey Company. First launched in China in 2013 as a "milk candy", it was introduced into the United States as a caramel candy the next year. The candy was Hershey's first entirely new product in 30 years.