Hershey, Pennsylvania is not too far from my former home of Camp Hill (near Harrisburg); the close proximity was a very good thing for a kid who missed Disneyland so much. At least we could go to "Hersheypark" to satisfy our amusement park cravings.
This first photo (from 1967) shows a bronze statue of a magnificent stag - this feels so old fashioned to me, somehow. Milton S. Hershey not only founded the company that bears his name, but had a town built for the many workers from his nearby factory. There were beautiful gardens to enjoy, and in 1908, a Merry-Go-Round became the first ride in what would become one of the great amusement parks of the area.
The following 3 photos are all from July, 1960. This first one is taken from a road that passed over the train tracks - trains that must have shipped zillions of cocoa beans, untold tons of sugar, and many thousands of gallons of milk over the years. It's hard to see here, but the world "Hershey" is painted on the sides of those twin stacks in the distance.
The photographer pivoted to his right and took this shot of downtown Hershey, a very pretty town that almost has the feel of a college campus.
This last photo shows "The Comet", a wooden coaster built in 1947 by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. Happily, this classic roller coaster is still around today!
I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, I no longer buy Hershey products. Ever since they changed the ingredients in their chocolate, it just doesn't taste the same to me. The quality was definitely compromised in the process. They claim that they did it to avoid having to raise prices or shrink the size of their candy bars, but for me, the product is now inedible.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I would still love to visit Hershey Park one day.
TokyoMagic, I'll eat your share! Send them to me, preferably in large amounts!
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer to remember my three visits to Hershey, PA with fondness, and not think about their so-called 'chocolate' products - most, but not all of which, are pretty awful. These images have done just that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major.
TokyoMagic!, I didn't know that they changed the ingredients for their chocolate. Hopefully that added more melamine. What I did know is that a Hershey bar is about as thick as a credit card now. Who would even want that?
ReplyDeleteLeonard Bast, sounds like you need one of the 11-pound Hershey bars that we used to see for sale at the park. Of course my mom always said "no" when we whined for one.
Nanook, Hershey chocolate might not be the finest, but the smell of it (from the faux factory tour) was still pretty amazing.
Gotta love "The Comet" image. Wonderful! And the Town of Hershey is quite beautiful! These are right up my alley. Thanks, Major!
ReplyDeleteMajor, hopefully it's partially hydrogenated melamine!
ReplyDeleteNanook, don't they have an omnimover ride through "the history of chocolate" or something like that?
@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteOh, yes they do. And there you can take-in all the "smells", as The Major put it, of not only the cocoa, but also (if it had a detectable odor) the Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate, the latest substitute for soy lecithin - as if that isn't cheap-enough. The mind boggles at just how little cocoa butter remains in each bar of their milk chocolate. (And real milk, for that matter).
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOh thanks, Nanook. I would love to check that out. Omnimover rides are the best!
ReplyDeleteI did some further research and came across this information:
"In April 2006, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in the United States, whose members include Hershey, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, lobbied the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk substitutes. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration does not allow a product to be called "chocolate" if the product contains any of these ingredients."
Thank goodness the Food and Drug. Admin. didn't cave in and allow that! There was also this bit of info about the ingredients:
"In September 2006, ABC News reported that several Hershey chocolate products were reformulated to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil as an emulsifier. As the new versions no longer met the Food and Drug Administration's official definition of "milk chocolate", the changed items were relabeled from stating they were "milk chocolate" and "made with chocolate" to "chocolate candy" and "chocolaty.""
No wonder their chocolate tastes like cardboard now. It might be "chocolatey", but it's chocolaty cardboard.
I've watched a YouTube video of that ride, and it looked fun, in an old-fashioned dark-ride way. Apparently it's currently under refurbishment to add more technologically advanced parts.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cpbj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20160209/CPBJ01/160209773/hersheys-chocolate-world-tour-closing-for-upgrades&template=mobileart
I'm nowhere near the park, but it's on my to-do list.
Went to Hershey Park once when Rachel was about 3 (she is 26 now). Hope to get back there one of these days. :-)
ReplyDelete