Fascinating facts about the invention
of the candy bar by Joseph Fry in 1847.

The inventor of 'chocolate for eating' is unknown, but in 1847,  Joseph Fry & Son -- under the leadership of the original Joseph Fry's great-grandson -- discovered a way to mix some of the melted cacao butter back into defatted, or "Dutched," cocoa powder (along with sugar) to create a paste that could be pressed into a mold. The resulting bar was such a hit that people soon began to think of eating chocolate as much as drinking it. Many people credit this as the very first chocolate bar for eating.

John Cadbury added a similar product to his range in 1849, and by today's standards these original chocolate bars would not be considered very palatable. The early eating bars of chocolate were made of bittersweet chocolate. Milk chocolate was introduced in 1875 when Henry Nestle, a maker of evaporated milk and Daniel Peter, a chocolate maker, got together and invented milk chocolate.

In 1879, Rodolphe Lindt thought to add cocoa butter back to the chocolate. Adding the additional cocoa butter helped the chocolate set up into a bar that "snaps" when broken as well as melting on the tongue.

At the 1893 Columbian Exposition, a World's Fair held in Chicago, chocolate-making machinery made in Dresden, Germany, was displayed. It caught the eye of Milton S. Hershey, who had made his fortune in caramels, saw the potential for chocolate. He installed chocolate machinery in his factory in Lancaster, and produced his first chocolate bars in 1900.

Other Americans began mixing in other ingredients to make up new candy bars throughout the end of the 1890's and the early 1900's. But it was World War I that really brought attention to the candy bar. The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps commissioned various American chocolate manufacturers to provide 20 to 40 pound blocks of chocolate to be shipped to quartermaster bases. The blocks were chopped up into smaller pieces and distributed to doughboys in Europe.

Eventually the task of making smaller pieces was turned back to the manufacturers. By the end of the war the returning doughboys had grown fond of chocolate candy and now as civilians wanted more of the same. As a result, from that time on and through the 1920s, candy bar manufacturers became established througout the United States, and as many as 40,000 different candy bars appeared on the scene. The Twenties became the decade that among other things, was the high point of the candy bar industry.

TO LEARN MORE

RELATED INFORMATION:
Invention of the Hershey Bar  from The Great Idea Finder
History of Food and Snacks   from The Great Idea Finder

ON THE BOOKSHELF:
Candy: The Sweet History
by Beth Kimmerle / Hardcover: 176 pages / Collectors Press (November 1, 2003)
Inside this tasty tome are more than 85 sensational candies, including those hard-to-find local favorites made by small, family-owned factories relying on handed-down recipes and old-fashioned techniques.
The True History of Chocolate
by Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe / Paperback: 280 pages / Thames & Hudson; Re-ed (2000)
The material on ancient cultures is particularly fascinating--did you know that the Maya used unsweetened liquid chocolate as currency? And in a chapter called "Chocolate for the Masses," they detail the modernization of chocolate manufacture.
Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory
by H. A. Rey / Paperback: 24 pages / Houghton Mifflin (October 26, 1998)
When George and the man with the yellow hat stop to shop at a chocolate factory store, George becomes curious about how chocolates are made. Though he begins to follow the factory tour, George is soon off on his own to investigate.
The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars
by Joël Glenn Brenner / Paperback: 384 pages / Broadway; 1st Broadw edition (January 4, 2000)
The chocolate wars between industry giants Hershey and Mars are anything but sweet. In The Emperors of Chocolate, Joel Glenn Brenner reveals the bitter legal and marketing fights, palace intrigue, and personality clashes that dominate Hershey and Mars--and the candy industry as a whole.

ON THE SCREEN:
Candy
DVD / 1 Volume Set / 50 Minutes / History Channel / 75814 / Less than $25.00
Americans eat 7 billion tons of candy, and it all has to come from somewhere. In Hershey, Pennsylvania, see how the cocoa bean is processed at the candy giant's latest plant. The traditions of the past remain plain at Schimpff's Confectionary, where they still use small kettles, natural flavors, and hand-operated equipment. Jelly beans, saltwater taffy and licorice are also on the menu, as well as exotic creations like scorpion on a stick!
Biography - Milton Hershey: The Chocolate King  
DVD / Color, Closed-captioned / NR / A & E Home Video / 50 min. / ASIN: B0002V7NTI
This is a great video and I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever enjoyed a piece of chocolate! The video moves fast, and is fascinating, motivating, as well as informative.

ON THE WEB:
History of the Candy Bar
The Twenties became the decade that among other things, was the high point of the candy bar industry. As many as 40,000 different candy bars appeared on the scene.
(URL: www.candyusa.org/Candy/candybars.asp)
Cacao and Chocolate Timeline
Joseph Fry & Son, chocolate manufacturers, was founded by a Quaker who had been a doctor before opening the business. As the successive generations of the family took over the business, they made steady improvements.
(URL: www.chocolate.org/timeline/index.html)
Chocolate for Eating
The inventor of 'chocolate for eating' is unknown, but in 1847, Fry & Sons of Bristol, which merged with Cadbury Limited in 1919, sold a 'chocolate delicieux a manger'. Many people credit this as the very first chocolate bar for eating. John Cadbury added a similar product to his range in 1849, and by today's standards these original chocolate bars would not be considered very palatable.
(URL: www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/about_chocolate/history_chocolate/eating_chocolate.htm)
HERSHEY'S chocolate bar
For years, this chocolate bar has simply been making people happy. Whatever flavor you choose - HERSHEY'S milk chocolate, HERSHEY'S milk chocolate with almonds, SPECIAL DARK chocolate, or HERSHEY'S COOKIES 'N' CRÈME - you'll be treating yourself to a delicious classic.
(URL: www.hersheys.com/products/details/hersheysbar.asp)
Candy bar Reference
American adults (18 and over) consume 65 percent of the candy that's produced each year. In the U.S. chocolate candy outsells all other types of candy combined, by 2 to 1.
(URL: www.foodreference.com/html/fcandybars.html)
Food of the Gods
The tree at the heart of this sublime subject, has grown wild in Central America since prehistoric times. The cocoa tree's scientific name couldn't be more apt; theobroma cacao is Greek for "food of the gods" and the first people to make use of it were the Maya, an ancient people who lived in the Yucatan Peninsula in South America, as long ago as 600 AD.
(URL: www.middleboro.k12.ma.us/Middleboro/CHOC/Chocolate.htm)
Candy History
Established in 1927, McKeesport Candy Co., one of America’s oldest candy wholesalers, has seen confectionary trends come and go. Their site has an education  section containing facts, myths, triva and vintage advertisements.
(URL: www.candyfavorites.com/shop/history_candy.asp)
A Century of Candy Bars: An Analysis of Wrapper Design
The findings present a clear picture of an industry that relies heavily upon packaging as the main sales tool for reaching consumers. Because of the impulse-purchase, which the industry accounts for almost all of its sales, the package must communicate on its own merits – often without supporting media. Therefore, the design of such wrappers can be as important, if not more so, than the actual product.  Article by Dave Grager.
(URL: www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/002235.html)
Chocolate
More than 300 different constituent compounds in chocolate have been identified. Chocolate clearly delivers far more than a brief sugar high. Yet its cocktail of psychochemical effects in the central nervous system are poorly understood.
(URL: www.chocolate.org/)
Lindt & Sprüngli - A success story
During the first two decades of the present century, the Swiss chocolate industry enjoyed almost incredible expansion, especially in export markets. Lindt & Sprüngli played a powerful role in this boom which persisted throughout the First World War.
(URL: www.lindt.com/2865/2870/3154.asp)
The Swiss Chocolate Pioneers
Innovations, continuous investments in their plants and efforts in research and development will ensure the Swiss chocolate manufacturers to remain up-to-date. "Only the best quality is good enough" is the maxim, today as ever!
(URL: http://www.chocolat.ch/chocolate.php?page=2)

WORDS OF WISDOM:
“Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands -- and then eat just one of the pieces.” - Judith Viorst (b1931-)

"Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate." - Sandra Boynton

"Forget love... I'd rather fall in chocolate!" -  Anonymous

"There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love chocolate, and communists." - Leslie Moak Murray in ‘Murray's Law’ comic strip

"Caramels are only a fad. Chocolate is a permanent thing." - Milton Snavely Hershey

HOW IT WORKS:
How They Make Chocolate
Chocolate making is based on long traditions of expertise in recipe and processing unique to Cadbury. Techniques are improving all the time and new technology enables the whole process to be finely tuned to match evolving tastes and preferences

DID YOU KNOW?:

• In the "Twenties" as many as 40,000 different types of candy bars appeared on the scene. That decade was the high point of the candy bar industry.
• When Curtiss Candy Company, was acquired by Nabisco in 1981, they realized they had somehow lost the original recipes for the Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars. No one at the old Curtiss factory remembered how to make the candy bars, and Nabisco had to develop new recipes that customers would accept.
• Milk chocolate, is preferred by 80% of the world's population
• In 1579, one pirate ship burned an entire shipload of cacao beans, under the impression that they were sheep droppings.
• The candt wrapper must communicate on its own merits – often without supporting media. Because almost all candy industry sales are an impulse-purchase by the buyer.
• More than 25 million Hershey's Kisses roll off the conveyor belt each day