Milton Hershey was and still is one of the greatest chocolate makers of all time. He was the man who transformed a bare patch of land into a thriving chocolate town and dragged everyone through the Great Depression. But Hershey is best remembered for being the person who popularized chocolate in America and other parts of the world. Many people today know and purchase the infamous chocolate products produced by the Hershey Factory, but some know how the company became so successful. Milton S. Hershey was born in a small town in Pennsylvania called Derry Township on September 13, 18571. He was the only child of Fannie and Henry Hershey. His mother was a Mennonite2 and moved often, which interrupted his education and he could only finish the fourth grade3. Hershey apprenticed to a Lancaster candy maker for four years and began to enter the candy business. Milton opened his first candy store in Philadelphia in 1876 at the age of 184, which failed after 6 years and went bankrupt in 1882.5 Milton then tried his luck opening candy stores in Chicago and New York, both of which failed and failed by new in 1886.6 When Milton visited Denver, he discovered how to mix fresh milk with caramel and returned to Lancaster to start a caramel business in 1883. His business proved to be enormous. success and was called the Lancaster Caramel Company8. The success of this candy company was what made Milton a candy maker and provided him with financial stability to start his next interest, chocolate. Milton purchased his first chocolate-making equipment from a German company called JMLehmamm Company in 1893, which was displayed in the Columbian World Expedition9. He founded a subcompany called Hershey Chocolate Company under the Lancaster Caramel Company and began producing chocolates. In 1900, Hershey sold his successful caramel business for $1,000,0010 to aim to begin mass production of chocolate. Hershey needed a place to make so much chocolate and returned to Derry Township, Pennsylvania, to build his new factory in 1903. Derry Township was an ideal place to make chocolate due to its source of water, fresh milk, and workers. The factory, later named The Chocolate Factory, was built in 1905 and used the latest mass production techniques producing the first American-made milk chocolate 11.