Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography ; v. 142, no. 3
Summary
Abstract: Over the course of the twentieth century, Hershey became synonymous with chocolate in America. Americans saw the company's founder, Milton Hershey, as a great industrial philanthropist, and the town flourished as a tourist attraction. This article shows how Hershey chocolate became American, traces the history of the town as a destination, and explores the way Hershy's industrial and imperial past has been obfuscated in favor of a narraqtive grounded in the brand's place in American culture and Mr. Hershey's personal legacy. Commitment to welfare capitalism, the desire for Americans to visit the town and the factory, and the Hershey Company's intentionally folksy self-promotion worked to establish the brand as part of American popular culture.
