Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Pennsylvania (37 page)

Intrigued by the process, Hershey had one of the German machines sent to Pennsylvania and decided to devote his career to manufacturing an affordable domestic version of milk chocolate. He created the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894 and, six years later, gave up on caramel and turned his attentions entirely to chocolate. He sold his Lancaster Caramel Company and used the profits (about $1 million) to buy 40,000 acres in Derry Church. The area provided everything he needed: access to the nearby Susquehanna River for shipping, abundant dairy farms for milk, and a willing workforce. By 1905, Hershey was operating the largest chocolate manufacturing plant in the world, and a year later, the town of Derry Church was renamed to honor him. Hershey, Pennsylvania, was born.

The chocolate-making business made Milton Hershey one of the wealthiest men in the country. And he decided to invest some of his money in the workers who had contributed to his success. To make the company's town as fulfilling a place to live as possible,
Hershey created an entire community around his factory, including homes, an accessible public transportation system, and lavish recreational opportunities. In 1907, he built a small neighborhood park for his employees to enjoy on their days off. Initially, the park was landscaped with trees and ponds, but over the years, Hershey added a swimming pool, a bandstand and pavilion (the site of company-sponsored concerts and theater productions), a bowling alley, and a carousel. By the mid-1930s, the park included a fun house, a water flume ride, a roller coaster, and a penny arcade.

For many years, the park remained just a local attraction. But as more people outside of Hershey started to visit, it seemed logical that the park should incorporate and expand. So in the 1970s, the company park officially became Hershey Park, an amusement complex that today sits on more than 100 acres and boasts 60 rides—including 10 roller coasters. Next door is Hershey's Chocolate World, which offers guests chocolate-themed shopping and restaurants.

The amusement park wasn't all that Milton Hershey gave to his workers. The Great Depression hit Pennsylvania hard, and the craftsmen who'd built the town fell on tough times. Hershey, on the other hand, was producing cheap, tasty chocolate, and his business had barely suffered. So he conjured up the Hotel Hershey and hired 800 local laborers to build it. His primary stipulation was that the dining room not have any corners. Hershey had spent a lot of time in fancy hotels where bad tippers were banished to corner tables, and he didn't want visitors to his hotel to encounter the same fate.

The workers completed the hotel—circular dining room and
all—in little more than a year, and since the grand opening in 1933, it has been in continuous operation. Today, the Hotel Hershey is a member of the Historic Hotels of America.

Hershey also invested his money in education. Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, he hadn't had much access to good schools. So he invested millions of dollars in the Hershey Industrial School for orphaned boys. In 1918, he donated much of his fortune—including his controlling interest in the Hershey Chocolate Company—to a trust that would be used to run the school. Today, the 10,000-acre Milton Hershey School educates and houses about 1,700 children (girls and boys) from low-income families or who are in foster care.

Milton Hershey died in 1945, but his chocolate empire now makes about $5 billion a year and employs more than 13,000 people. His town and amusement park are Pennsyl vania staples, and his philanthropic endeavors (including his school) have built hospitals, theaters, and gardens throughout the state.

 

 

 

A few fascinating facts about the Philadelphia Eagles
.

T
he National Football League's Eagles were founded by Pennsylvanians Bert Bell and Lud Wray in 1933 (the same year as—but a few months before—the Steelers).

Name:
Bell and Wray choose Eagles after being inspired by the insignia of a large blue eagle that symbolized President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program.

Colors:
Midnight green, black, white, and silver

Logo:
From 1948 to 1996, the Eagles logo changed a few times, but it was always a version of a green eagle with outstretched wings. Since 1996, it's been just the head of an eagle.

Like most new NFL teams, the Eagles got off to a bad start. They lost their first game to the New York Giants by a humiliating score of 56–0, and over the next 10 years won only 23 games total. (They lost 81, and four games ended in ties.) Things finally got going in the 1940s, and in 1947 the Eagles made it to their first NFL Championship game. They lost, but returned the next year and, in what was known as the “Blizzard Bowl,” won their first NFL Championship, beating the Chicago Cardinals 7–0 in a blinding snowstorm. They won a second championship in 1949, beating the Los Angeles Rams 14–0.

The 1960 NFL season, though, is the most celebrated in the franchise's history. On December 26, after a 10–2 season, the Eagles met Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship game and beat them 17–13. It's the only playoff game that Lombardi's Packers ever lost.

In the years since, the Eagles haven't managed to win another championship. They made it back to the playoffs in 1978 and to the Super Bowl twice, in 1981 and in 2005, but lost both times.

On
page 268
, we told you about Rolling Rock and the Latrobe Brewing Company, but Pennsylvania is actually home to more than 70 breweries, including the nation's oldest
.

German beer brewer David G. Jüngling immigrated to the United States in 1823. He changed the spelling of his name to Yuengling and, six years later, opened his first brewery: the Eagle Brewery in Pottsville. It was the first large commercial brewery in the United States. The brewery's name changed to D.G. Yuengling and Son in 1873, when Frederick Yuengling joined his father. The brewery is still operating, is the sixth-largest in the country, and is still owned by the Yuengling family.

The city of Lancaster, in the heart of Pennsylvanian Dutch country, became a hotbed of beer brewing in the late 1700s, when Scottish and English immigrants brewed beer for their inns and taverns. In the 1840s, German immigrants added their own lagers, and the region became known as the “Munich of the United States.” It's been home to several breweries since then, but only the Lancaster Brewing Company is still around today. That company makes several kinds of beer, including Amish Four Grain, Hop Hog IPA, and Milk Stout, a sweet, English-style beer.

This Pittsburgh brewhouse has been around since 1861 and has had a tumultuous history. Founded by German immigrant Edward Frauenheim in 1861 as the Iron City Brewing Company,
it merged with 11 other local breweries in 1899 to create the colossal Pittsburgh Brewing Company—the third-largest in the country. The company survived Prohibition by making soft drinks and near-beer (which has little or no alcohol in it). Between 1986 and 2005, the brewery changed owners several times and continually lost money. Finally, in 2005, it filed for bankruptcy. Two years later, the equity firm Unified Growth Partners bought the brewery—and changed its name back to the Iron City Brewing Company. Today, it's the thirteenth-largest brewery in the United States.

Straub's story goes back to 1872, when German immigrant Peter P. Straub got a job brewing at Captain Charles C. Volk's Lager Beer and Eating Saloon in St. Mary's (north-central Pennsylvania). Four years later, he bought the business and renamed it the Benzinger Spring Brewery. Peter Straub ran the company until 1912, when his son Anthony took over and renamed it Peter Straub Sons' Brewery. It's been owned by the family ever since and today is just called the Straub Brewery.

 

 

Put on your Keystone thinking caps and see how well you do. (Answers are on
page 309
.)

1.
Name the dam in the Allegheny National Forest that created Pennsylvania's deepest lake. (Extra credit: Name the lake.)

2.
Name the five most populated cities in Pennsylvania. (Feeling extra smart? Name the ten largest.)

3.
Name the
Saturday Night Live
comedienne from Upper Darby who made political-parody history in 2008.

4.
What's the shortest route from Pennsylvania to Canada, and how far is it?

5.
Remove a letter from the name of this Pennsylvania river (and county), and you'll have something to wear comfortably in Rome.

6.
Name three mountain ranges in the Keystone State.

7.
Andy Warhol had a stuffed dog named Cecil that's now on display at the Andy Warhol Museum. Where's the museum? (Hint: It's in the city where Warhol grew up.)

8.
Speaking of dogs . . . the Great Dane is Pennsylvania's official state dog because another famous Pennsylvanian owned one. Who was it?

On
page 95
we introduced the mammals found in Pennsylvania. Here are a few less cuddly animals that call the state home
.

In 1980, Pennsylvania had only three known nesting pairs of bald eagles. Even though the birds are still considered threatened today, conservation efforts over the last three decades have brought their numbers up to more than 100 pairs. Migrating eagles pass through, too.