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Milton Hershey was born on September 13th, 1857 in Derry Township, Pennsylvania on a small farm.
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By 1867, Hershey's father had greatly cut himself out of the family picture. The details around his parents' separation are cloudy, but it's largely believed that Fanny, Milton's mother, had grown tired of her husband's failures.
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At the age 14, Milton had shown an interest in candy making. He started to become an apprentice (but he didn't really become one until he was 15.). Four years later, Hershey borrowed $150 from his aunt to set up his own candy shop in Philadelphia.
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Although Milton did have incomplete schooling, he became an apprentice to his father in the candymaking business.
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For five long years, Milton drained his energy and time on the business. But finally, he closed his shop and headed west, reuniting with his father in Denver, where he found work with a confectioner. It was there that he discovered caramel and how fresh milk could be used to make it.
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But the hard worker within Hershey wasn't made to work for someone else, and again he struck out on his own, first in Chicago, and later in New York City. In both places, Milton had, once again, failed.
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In 1883 he returned to Lancaster, still convinced he could make a successful candy company.
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Success had finally caught up with him. Within a few short years, Milton had a thriving business and was shipping his caramels all over the country.
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When Milton went to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Hershey got a good look at the art of chocolate making. He was immediately hooked. While his caramel business bloomed, Milton started the Hershey Chocolate Company.
His focus quickly became sighted in on milk chocolate. Milton was determined to find a brand new formula that would allow him to massivly produce milk chocolate candy. -
In 1900 he sold the Lancaster Caramel Company for a shocking $1 million.
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His first winning idea was the Hershey Kiss.
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The trademark foil wrapper for his delicious candy was added in 1924.
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In keeping with the work ethic his mother instilled in him, Hershey continued to work well into his eighties. He died in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on October 13, 1945.