Chow Down Chicago: Good Eats from the Windy City

While Hershey’s chocolate is closely associated with Pennsylvania, it has some unexpected ties to Chicago. Milton Hershey got his start with an apprenticeship to a confectioner in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1873. After the apprenticeship, he opened a candy shop in Chicago. Unfortunately, the business venture failed, as did  candy shops Hershey also opened in Philadelphia and New York City. In 1883, Hershey returned to Pennsylvania and founded the Lancaster Caramel Company. But it was while attending the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago when Hershey decided to go into the chocolate business. German-made chocolate processing machinery was on display at the fair. After seeing a demonstration of how it turned bitter raw chocolate into sweet milk chocolate, Hershey was sold. He purchased the machinery, had it shipped to Pennsylvania, and founded the Hershey Chocolate Company the following year.  In 1900, Hershey began manufacturing the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar. At this time