Hotel Hershey 1933
(the year it was completed)
Excerpts from The Chocolate Prison
“It had long been Milton S. Hershey’s dream to build a grand hotel on the highest hill around – overlooking his chocolate empire…
The press took to calling it the million-dollar Hotel Hershey.
Of course, no one knew then, that just ten years later, during the middle of a raging world war, the hotel would become not only the setting for international intrigue and scandal but also a silent symbol of Mr. Hershey’s commitment to patriotism.”
The Hershey Chocolate Factory
Excerpt from The Chocolate Prison
“A man gazed out his third-floor room window on a dreary, cold day a week after settling in. This detainment was most unexpected and highly inconvenient. The room overlooked the famous chocolate factory, spread out a mile away. The power plant stood in the foreground, easily identified by two giant brick smokestacks with the word ‘HERSHEY’ painted in large white letters down each one of them. He reviewed the sketch one last time and then folded the paper, stuffed it into an envelope, sealed it, and dropped it into the mailbox. As he ascended the hill back to the hotel, one question dominated his thoughts: Would the saboteurs have enough dynamite to topple a 76-meter-high smokestack?”
Sadness in Chocolate Town
My blog post about the demolition
of the chocolate factory
Excerpt from The Chocolate Prison
“A rush of excitement surged through his body, the thrill of forbidden activity. He had almost forgotten the feeling. Although he and his compatriots had only been at the hotel about two months, it felt like an eternity of boredom. He walked about 25 minutes, climbing down the steep wooded slope in front of the hotel, and finally reached the base of the towering stacks. They loomed larger than they appeared from his room, at least 76 meters tall. He scanned the area for security. Any guards around? He didn’t see any movement. A high chain link fence topped by barbed wire surrounded the facility. He studied the brick stacks a good long while, estimating they were about 23 meters in circumference on the ground, 15 meters or so at their top. The giant letters HERSHEY practically glowed in the moonlight.”
The real historical figures
behind the story
The Hershey Hotel
in the 1930s
Historical Background
https://www.britannica.com/place/Vichy
With the surrender of France to Nazi Germany in June 1940, a new French government formed in the area of France not occupied by German forces. Centered in the southern city of Vichy, this government, called Vichy France, was officially independent of Germany, but came to adopt a policy of collaboration with the Nazis.
French people everywhere began to recognize that their old way of life was vanishing and shifting loyalties brought increasing distrust of their countrymen. Free France, a resistance government in exile in London, claimed to be France’s legitimate government.
Although the United States opened diplomatic relations with Vichy France, US diplomats held deep suspicion of the government’s true loyalties and agenda.
Visit Hershey, Pennsylvania
https://www.hersheylegacy.org/hershey-pa/visit-hershey-pa
Recipe for Hershey Kiss Cookies
Peanut Butter blossoms
Alternate recipe
