All Things Vintage: Hershey Chocolate #AprilA2Z

Good-morning, kittens and dawgs! I’m gonna make this short, but sweet with this edition of All Things Vintage.

hershey-s-milk-chocolate-bars-2ct-7

In 1894, Milton Hershey decided to produce sweet chocolate coating for his caramels with the dawn of a new business that we know as the Hershey Chocolate Company.

My earliest experiences eating this classic American candy was in the early 60s when I was a toddler with my uncles. The candy bar had the classic dark brown paper wrapper on the outside and the candy sealed in a silver wrap. My uncles would tear off the outer wrapper and place the silver wrapped chocolate on the top of a pot belly stove. Within in seconds the solid chocolate melted for me to dip (I’m sure my uncles allowed a cooling period) my finger into the creamy goodness.

D753~Reese-s-Peanut-Butter-Cups-PostersWhen we think Reese’s, we think of Hershey’s. Harry Reese’s Candy Company, also in Chocolate Town USA, invented the original chocolate covered peanut butter cups in 1928 and the Hershey Chocolate Company supplied the chocolate. It wasn’t until 1956 after Reese’s death that the company sold to the Hershey Chocolate Company. Reese’s PB cups are perhaps my favorite of all candy bars. I loved freezing Reese’s in the summer when I was a kid, but these days I’ll eat ’em straight out of the bag.

Hershey'sSyrupThe last Hershey’s product that brings back good memories is their syrup. This is how we enjoyed chocolate milk and it was great served on vanilla ice cream. The poster says it’s s “Stepping Stones to Health”, so I think I need to add this to my daily diet.

I found this very interesting the Hershey Chocolate Company didn’t advertise their products in the early years and it wasn’t until 1969 that they were ready to launch a national media ad campaign due to decline sales against their rival Mars Candy Company.

“The great American chocolate bar. ” ~Hershey Chocolate 1970 slogan.

Do you have a favorite Hershey’s candy? Are you a chocoholic? Have you visited the Hershey’s factory?

A special thank you to the incredibly gifted A2Z Team who many are now my good friends.

Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Heather M. Gardner
Jeremy @ Hollywood Nuts
AJ Lauer
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian
Damyanti Biswas @ Daily Write
Zalka Csenge Virág @ The Multicolored Diary
Joy Campbell @ The Character Depot
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

Now, I invite you to hop with me in checking out some of the amazing A2Zers playing along this year and I hope you’ll come back on Monday to read about Ivory soap.

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42 thoughts on “All Things Vintage: Hershey Chocolate #AprilA2Z”

    1. Birgit, Their regular milk chocolate bars are quite good. Have you had their nuggets? Mmm, those are excellent! You can get them in plain milk chocolate, milk chocolate with almonds, and milk chocolate with toffee pieces. Then they have most of these combinations in dark chocolate, plus they have a cookies and cream. Around Christmas they have a minty chocolate type. Man! Oh, man do I want chocolate now! I would love to have some nuggets, too. The bad news is I don’t have any. I do have some Reese’s PB cups, though. 😀

  2. The town where my grandparents lived had a Hershey’s chocolate factory and I can remember many trips to the store in the front. There you could get a bag FULL of discarded chocolates that couldn’t be packaged: broken Oh Henry pieces, peanut butter cups, pieces of chocolate… so much goodness – and only pay a couple of dollars for the entire loot!! Sadly it did close a couple of years ago, and we made our final trip. I definitely find Reese Peanut Butter cups hard to resist, but I think the one I usually choose was Kit Kat.

  3. It was a great day in my life when Hershey’s canned syrup started coming with a plastic cover for the top. We kept a triangle can cutter in the drawer, just for this product.

    1. Myke, yeah, my parents had one ((we have)of those and they had a pointy tip of opener that I think was used on canned milk, but it got used on the Hershey’s syrup can at times. I haven’t seen those in years. The triangle opener serves us well for punching holes in canned milk and on the other end you can open soda bottles. Do you remember soda bottle openers? lol

  4. I visited the Hershey’s factory back around 1995 with my husband and young son and we couldn’t visit the actual factory. But we could still smell the chocoate and I loved the streetlights in Hershey. I’ve always been a fan of Reese’s peanut butter cups – nothing like them. I never ate them frozen, though. I do freeze Milky Way bars, though.

    1. Alana, what, you’ve never eaten frozen Reese’s PB cups?! You gotta change that now. 🙂 If you like Milky Way bars frozen then you’ll like Resse’s frozen, too. 😉

  5. Hi Cathy – Trust me to turn up to your AtoZ Challenge late, but in time for the chocolate!! Good timing as I am a chocoholic! i was all in a flapper flap to see how much I’d missed of your posts, but looks like you are finding it a breeze and have met some lovely new bloggers! Me too 🙂
    I am always amazed how little I see of Hershey’s & Reese’s chocolate in Australia and the UK, Cadbury’s chocolate is everywhere!
    Have a great week
    Wren x

    1. Wren, At least you made a grand entrance at the right time. We have Cadbury chocolates in the US. Cadbury is based in the UK, but I think it’s now own by Nestle. That’s interesting that y’all have little Hershey’s chocolates. I figured as big as they’ve gotten over the years that it would an easy find. I guess that was a foolish assumption. Do you have any kinds of chocolate that are unique to Australia? Thanks for visiting. I’m off to see you now! 😉

  6. I do love chocolate, but I’m more an Engllish or Swiss chocolate person. But I will eat Hershey’s in a pinch. My person favourite is the PB Cups too. How old are PB cups? I somehow got it in my head they were an 80’s invention.

    1. Jeffrey, Reese’s cups were invented in 1928 making this confection 88 years old. I wonder what caused you to the it was an 80s thing. By the way what’s English chocolate? I’m not sure I’ve had it or not.

      1. I guess I mean European chocolate. As a kid, the first time I saw PB cups was in an 80s commercial. I never knew it was older than that. It never dawned on me.

        1. Jeffrey, I’ve had swizz chocolate and I think I’ve had European chocolate, too. Is it a lighter tasting than milk chocolate? You know when we’re kids it’s hard to think beyond that sometimes and the way we once perceive something then it sorta hangs with us for years unless it gets dispelled. This is why I love researching stuff because I always learn new things, usually clearing up misconceptions.

        2. Most European chocolate is more creamier. If by the ingredients are any indication. Milk is the first ingredient of most European chocolate while Sugar is the first American ingredient. I became spoiled on the foreign chocolate when I was travelling as much as I was a few years back.

        3. Jeffrey, with milk being the first ingredient then it probably dilutes the chocolate flavor some and my brain is interpreting it as a lighter chocolate. It doesn’t surprise me that sugar is the first ingredient on Hershey’s list. Thanks for the clarification!

    1. Liz, I’m a chocoholic. But as I get older I prefer to get my chocolate fix through baked goods. Right now I’m craving a triple chocolate cake that I made DH for his bday last year. I’m on the verge of breaking down to make one.?

  8. I’m very familiar with Hershey’s, not only because I love chocolate but because when I was a kid, I spent a lot of summers in Pennsylvania, close to Hershey, PA. I never went to the factory though. Your post made me want a Reeses so I’m going to go get one right now: we still have some Reese’s eggs left over from Easter! 🙂

    LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate. Am I a chocoholic? I wouldn’t go that far but I do really enjoy it when I have it…

    Michele at Angels Bark

    1. Michele, Reese’s PB cups are addictive. I didn’t make them last Christmas, but I normally make PB balls. Some people call them Buckeye candy. I use to dip them in semi sweet chocolate until I discovered white chocolate is even better on them. Yum, yum! I won’t turn milk chocolate PB cups down, but my first choice is the white chocolate. Have you tried them? Hershey’s makes them, too. In fact it was theirs that inspired me to make my PB balls with the white chocolate. MMM, mez wants some now!

  9. My first favorite is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Second favorite is the regular Hershey bar, followed by the Hershey bar with almonds. YES! I am a chocoholic. 🙂 No, I have never visited the Hershey factory, but it is on my list of things to do. I have seen pictures of the town and I love the street lamps!

    Have a blessed weekend!

  10. Hubby still uses Hershey’s syrup for his chocolate milk. he’s a big kid at heart. hehehehe Have a great weekend.

    1. Marie, there’s nothing wrong with still liking Hershey’s syrup in your milk. I would put it in my milk, too if I wasn’t lactose intolerant…but I can add it to my almond milk. 😀

  11. Love your theme for the A-Z challenge. I pretty much like everything Hershey’s makes. When we toured the “factory”, it was a ride through a simulated factory, but interesting all the same. And at the end, we got a free candy bar. 🙂

  12. My all-time favorite candy bar… boy, this is tough. Probably Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. BUT, I really like caramel. So, my second favorite is the 100 Grand Bar. As you say, Reese’s PB cups in the freezer in the summer… yum.

    1. Robin, you can’t go wrong with PB cups or caramel. I remember eating 100 Grand bars, but it was known as the $100,000 Bar when I was a kid and all the way through the 80s. I haven’t had one of those in 20+ years. Now, I’ve gotta have one!

    1. John, Big bars as in the standard candy bar size verses the big size snack bars? I know with some of Hershey’s products there is a difference in the taste, especially with the PB cups. They small ones aren’t as good as the regular size cups. Strange, isn’t it?

      1. I’m talking about the seven-ounce ones that break into twenty pieces. The regular bar is 1.55 ounces. Either way, they’re good. The Hallowe’en size ones are good, too, especially the assorted ones with Krackel and Mr. Goodbar mixed in.

        Have you tried the little peanut butter cups that come in bags like M&M’s?

  15. I wouldn’t say I’m a chocoholic because I didn’t eat any chocolate for a couple of years and then started again recently. It’s good for what ails me. I like my chocolate and PB Cups frozen. The public is no longer allowed to enter the actual Hershey’s factory, or at least they weren’t when my ex-husband did some work there. Some Hershey’s products used to be made with testing devices he designed and manufactured. Our company went out of business, and the devices gradually wore out, leaving some companies wishing they’d kept us in business. X ate kisses off of the production line. When we took our children to the park about fifteen to twenty years ago, a free ride next to the park offered windows with views of what it was like in the real company, which was located farther into the town. The Hershey’s Chocolate World song played over and over until we all wanted to scream! It reminded me of It’s A Small World at Disney. We had a lot of fun taking our children to the park, and we once took them to an ice skating show at one of the Hershey venues.

    Love,
    Janie

    1. Janie, so you’re from Pennsylvania originally. Mmm, eating kisses off the production line sounds so yummy! But, I know like all good things it had to get tiring, right? I’m not sure I remember the Hershey’s chocolate world song. I will have to check that out on YouTube….BRB…I found it! Here it is for the curious minded like me. 😉

      So, after listening to this little tune I can say I had not heard it before and appreciated being exposed to it long last. Thanks, my friend!

  16. I’ve never visited the factory, which is probably a good thing for them. It would be hard not to eat EVERYTHING in sight! I love Reese’s PB cups too. Nothing beats choc & PB! 🙂

    1. Lexa, yeah, I’m with you. It’s a good thing I have yet to visit the Hershey’s factory for fear of eating everything in sight. The good news is the older I get the less prone I am to eating a lot of candy. My sweet tooth now leans toward cakes, cookies, and pies. But, I won’t turn chocolate candy down completely. 😀

  17. I have very vivid memories of my father, who LOVED his “Hershey bars” as he called them, eating them when I was a child and teenager. I remember the silver wrapping on the bar of chocolate surrounded by a brown sleeve. I haven’t thought of that packaging in years. I also have memories of my grandmother’s refrigerator, for she always kept a can of Hershey’s syrup in there. The can was metal like a soup can, had to be perforated, and came with a plastic lid. The lid was always a sticky mess due to all the grandkids getting in the syrup to make chocolate milk.

    Thank you for dusting off some long ago, hidden memories that I didn’t realize I had forgotten to remember.

    1. Ericka, it sounds like we share some of the same sorts of memories involving Hershey’s. You know, now that you mentioned it I remember my the Hershey’s syrup can a tacky mess to handle. I loved that stuff and still do. It seems several years ago we did a taste comparison between the canned chocolate syrup and the squeezable chocolate bottles. I believe I over all liked the original canned chocolate syrup better as an ice cream topping or mixed in milk. I may have to do another taste testing to make sure my earlier findings are accurate in my mind. lol

    1. “Steeping stones to health.” who knew, right? I’m not sure when that poster was published for Hershey’s, but my parents never kept sweets away from me as a child. I wish they had, though. lol DH and I never gave our children chocolate or sweets before their first birthday and then it was very controlled. They probably would have liked that we thought along this line, though. lol Everyone loves Hershey’s! Thank you for stopping by for a visit!

  19. Hi, dear Cathy!

    This is a wonderful post and brings back many childhood memories. As you know, I grew up in York, PA, and spent the first 13 years of adulthood in nearby Lancaster. Both cities are close to Hershey. As a boy I ate many Hershey bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and routinely mixed Hershey’s syrup with milk. My family also bought bags of Hershey’s Kisses, which my family nicknamed “Hershey Buds.” When I was in my 30s, I took the riding tour of the Hershey Chocolate Factory and enjoyed it very much. (In my late teens I worked in a potato chip factory in York and, on the job, was able to eat as many freshly baked potato chips, waffle chips, barbecue chips and as much cheese corn as I wanted. We took the snacks right off the conveyor belt while they were still hot!)

    Thank you very much for bringing back fond (and very sweet) memories, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom, Mmmm, reading about your reminisces of the good ole days eating Hershey bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and making chocolate milk with Hershey’s syrup makes my lips smack! That’s a cute nickname for Hershey’s Kisses. Those little candies are good, but I like the big Hershey’s bars better. There is a difference between the candies, which I think is interesting. Now, your job working in a potato chip factory sounds heavenly! Hot, fresh products right off the conveyor belt. That sounds like some good eating. All you needed was some Hershey’s chocolate bars to go with those chips! Yes, I loved eating the two together. DH calls me crazy. Maybe, I am and then maybe I’m not because I know there are others who like the combination. I’m ready for the two now, but I’m all out of potato chips. 🙁

    2. My son now lives in York and we enjoyed visiting the UTZ factory especially because they are my favorite chips. Did you work there or at another one?

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