All it takes is one man with a big dream and a heart full of love and kisses.
Milton S. Hershey grows up a simple farm boy, son of an entrepreneur father and a Mennonite mother, learning by example the value of “dreaming” and the virtues of fairness and charity. His first job is as an apprentice in a candy shop and the hook is set. After two bankruptcies of his own candy companies, Milton gets the break he needs when a backer helps finance a huge shipment that jump-starts his business. He meets his love Kitty Sweeney in a candy store. After a whirlwind romance, they marry with plans to have many children right away.
Milton starts the Hershey Chocolate Company, builds a new factory, starts making Hershey’s Kisses, and founds the town of Hershey. Kitty’s health fails and she’s unable to have the children they so desperately want. Together they start the Hershey Industrial School for orphan boys. Milton’s manipulative banker is furious that he’s giving his profits to orphans. Kitty dies and Milton is crushed with grief; both his business and the orphanage suffer. In Kitty’s honor, he gives his entire fortune of $60 million to their Milton Hershey School.
The banker takes control of the company for a time, then tricks Milton into selling the controlling stock to the bank, putting the orphanage and the town of Hershey in jeopardy. The stock market crashes, the banker’s plans fail, and the Hershey Chocolate Company is returned to Milton. Refocused and with renewed inspiration, Milton fully embraces fatherhood to his orphan sons and grows his candy business into global recognition and success.
Postscript – Milton even finds a way to serve his country with his candy. By the end of World War II, the entire Hershey plant was producing ration bars at a rate of 24 million a week. For their service throughout World War II, the Hershey Chocolate Company was issued five Army-Navy 'E' Production Awards for exceeding expectations for quality and quantity in the production of the Ration D Bar and Tropical Chocolate Bar. The Hershey factory machine shop even made some parts for tanks and machines during the war.
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery.