NONFICTION/HISTORY

TheHistory

Chocolotecandy treat

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Vocabularydelectable: deliciouscalonies: areas settled and controlled by people fronnanother country, as Europeans settled in the Americasimmigrants: people who move to a new country to live thereflocked: gathered in a crowd; went in large numberscaptivated: delighted, fascinated, charmed

on I May 6, 2013

It all started witha smellsweet anddelicious.

The year was 1893.Milton Hershey wasvisiting a big fair inChicago. Part of the fairwas an exhibit of new andamazing inventions fromaround the world.

From the momentHershey entered the exhibithall, he was struck by adelectable scent. It filledthe air. In a back cornerof the hall, men from aGerman company weremaking chocolate.

The men had machinesthat changed bitter cocoabeans into sweet chocolatecandies. Hershey watchedwith amazement.

Hershey was already aleading candy maker. Hehad created the largestcaramel factory in thecountry. But he becameconvinced that thefuture of his businesswould be chocolate.

Chocolate HistoryInside a cacao fruit are

bitter little seeds. Around 400B.c., Indians living in today'scentral Mexico found

that the seeds could beroasted, ground, and eaten.

By the year 400 A.D.,Maya Indians had createda chocolate drink. Theymixed cocoa powder withwater and spices. Over thecenturies, chocolate drinksspread to Europe and thecolonies in America.

Treat TrendsHershey built his caramel

company in the 1880s.Back then, there was plentyof candy in the U.S. But itwas expensive and hardto make. Plus, the qualitywasn't always great.

America's most populartreats at that time were"penny candies." Thesewere peppermints, lemondrops, and other small

sweets sold from largejars. Recipes for manyof these treats hadcome from Europeanimmigrants.

Italians were knownfor making hard candies,

like jawbreakers. Germansspecialized in candies madefrom almond paste andspun sugar.

America's first candymakers worked in tinyhome kitchens. But by 1893,there were dozens of largecompanies, like Hershey's.

www.scholastic.com/actionmag { May 6, 2013 15

Made in the U.S.A.At the fair in Chicago,

Hershey bought chocolate-making equipment. Hehad it shipped back tohis caramel factory inPennsylvania. Then hehired two chocolate makers.Soon the company waschurning out chocolatecandies in more than100 shapes.

Still, Hershey wasn'tsatisfied. Yes, his chocolateswere tasty. But he wanted tomake a chocolate that waslighter and creamier.

The trick, he knew,was to add milk. Swisscompanies were makingmilk chocolate. But theirrecipes were secrets. IfHershey wanted to sell milkchocolate, he would haveto figure out how to makeit first.

Marvelous MilkFinding a way to mix

chocolate and milk wasvery difficult. Hershey'steam worked 16 hours aday, month after month.

Milk, which is 90 percentwater, and cocoa butter,which is mostly oil, don'tblend together easily. Timeafter time, Hershey's milk

chocolate experimentsended in oily messes.

But finally, in 1900,Hershey succeeded.

He sold his caramelbusiness. Then hebought 1,200 acres ofland in Pennsylvania.There, he built theworld's biggest chocolatefactory. He also built a town,named Hershey, for hisworkers and their families.

By 1915, Hershey's milkchocolate bars were theNo. 1 candy in the nation.

Visitors flocked toHershey, Pennsylvania.They admired the tidystreets and giant factory.But what made the townreally special was itssmella chocolaty breezethat filled the air. It was thesame heavenly scent thathad captivated MiltonHershey many years before.

Lauren Tarshis

11

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Making a Candy HitHow a little alien helped Reese's Pieces socir

It was the late 1970s. The Hersheychocolate company was hungry for a newhit. The company had fierce competitionfrom Mars. That's the company that makesMilky Way, Snickers, and M&M's.

Hershey's leaders decided to build on thesuccess of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Theiridea was to create a candy like the M&M.Instead of chocolate in the center, they woulduse peanut butter. It was hard to get therecipe right. At first, the oily peanut buttercaused the candy shell to become greasy.

Finally, Hershey's scientists created theperfect mix of peanuts and sugar. It wassmooth and tasty and stayed put withina thin candy covering. Hershey came outwith the new candy, Reese's Pieces, in 1978.Sales were strong at first but soon sagged.

Would Hershey's newest candy fail?Then came an offer from Hollywood. A

film company needed a candy for a newmovie about an adorably odd-looking alien

Compare and ContrastUse the story on this page and the article"The History of Chocolate" to answerthe question. Write your answer on aseparate piece of paper.

Milton Hershey believed that a person hadto be willing to fail in order to succeed. Howdo the stories of Hershey's nnilk chocolateand Reese's Pieces show that thiscan be true? Use three details fromeach story in your explanation ofwhat happened.

Answers are in

named "E.T." An 8-year-old boy gives thecandy to the alien and they become friends.

In the original script, that candy wasM&M's. But Mars would not let its candybe used in the movie. So the filmmakerscalled Hershey. They offered the chance tohave Reese's Pieces star in the 1982 movie.Hershey's leaders didn't know v\ hat to do.If the movie flopped, Reese's Pieces mightflop too. The candy might never recover.

In the end, Hershey said yes. The moviewas a smash hit. Almost overnight, Reese'sPieces became America's most famouscandy. Today, it is one of the top-10 best-selling candies in America. And for that,Hershey can thank a delicious recipeanda cute little alien.

The stars ofthe movie E.T.:Reese's Piecesand an alien.

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