MILTON HERSHEY: THE CHOCOLATE KING, (A&E Television Networks, $19.95)
This video biography traces the rise of Milton Snavely Hershey (1857-1945)from apprentice confectioner at the age of 14 to a candy mogul whose fortune rose with the nation’s taste forchocolate. Born in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, Hershey was determined to bring chocolate–up to then a luxuryavailable only to the rich–to the masses at an affordable price, leading him in 1903 to build a chocolate factory nearhis birthplace. Among the areas of Hershey’s life covered by the program are his establishment of the town of Hersheyto accommodate his workers; the founding of a school for orphans and an amusement park in 1909; the building of theluxurious Hotel Hershey during the Great Depression; his bid to aid the war effort during World War II, which resultedin the development of high energy chocolate bars that were included in the field rations given to GIs; and howdedication to his motto–“Give them quality, that’s the best advertising in the world”–resulted in his personal fame andfortune and benefits for generations of workers and schoolchildren.
More Reviews from the April 1997 issue of American History:
COLLECTING THE UNION/CONFEDERATE SOLDIERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART FDRTHE AMERICAN INDIANTHE STORY OF THE GUN SKYTRIP AMERICA: AN INCREDIBLE RIDE THROUGH U.S. HISTORY
