I didn’t realize that Milton S. Hershey made his fortune in…caramel:
Following a four-year apprenticeship with a Lancaster candy maker, he established his first candy making business in Philadelphia. That initial effort failed as did his next two attempts in Chicago and New York. Returning to Lancaster, PA in 1883, Hershey established the Lancaster Caramel Company, which quickly became an outstanding success.
It’s only after he sold his Lancaster Caramel Company, in 1900, that Hershey started to build his gigantic milk chocolate factory, finished in 1905. At that time, milk chocolate was still a luxury good imported from Switzerland.
Around the factory he built a model town, Hershey, Pennsylvania, with a park, Hershey Park, which opened in 1907 and grew into a major amusement park with a merry-go-round, an amphitheatre, bowling alleys, a tennis court, and — eventually — roller coasters. When the Great Depression hit, Hershey grew his company and expanded his building projects.
Coming into World War II, Hershey was tasked with creating emergency “D” rations:
A bar weighing about four ounces, able to withstand high temperatures, high in food energy value, and tasting just a little better than a boiled potato.
Each four-ounce bar contained 600 calories; a three-pack included enough calories (1,800) to sustain a soldier for a day.