9. Milton Hershey and the chocolate bar
Many Americans have long believed that the chocolate bar was an invention of Milton Hershey in what became the company town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, famous for its streetlights shaped like Hershey Kisses. He did not, nor did he invent the milk chocolate bar, though he has from time to time over its long history been the most popular candy bar in America. The chocolate bar was born in England in 1847, when a confectioner named Joseph Fry developed a paste of cocoa and sugar, pressed into a bar. Two years later he was joined by John Cadbury, a fortuitous pairing if there ever was one. Their chocolate bar was what would today be called semi-sweet.
Milk chocolate was invented by Henry Nestle, whose profession was the preparation of baby formula. Working with Frenchman Daniel Peter, Nestle combined milk with chocolate in 1875, and the partners created the Nestle Company four years later. The Hershey Milk Chocolate bar did not reach the hands of consumers until 1900. Hershey’s Kisses appeared seven years later. They have been manufactured ever since, though in 1942 production was temporarily suspended due to a shortage of the foil needed to wrap them. In 1924 Hershey was awarded a US patent for the paper plume which is present in the wrapping of the milk chocolate candies, but not for the candies themselves.