Chocolate and Cocoa Nourishing Foods

The 1950 edition of Hershey’s “educational” broadside about the global production of chocolate.

“The purpose of Hershey’s Educational Wall Chart is to visualize the manufacturing processes of Chocolate and Cocoa…Teachers have found the chart an excellent visual aid when covering assignments on Commercial Geography, Civics, and Home Economics.” – Text, verso.

This incredible visual compendium of chocolate was published in 1950 by the Educational & Dietetic Bureau of the Hershey Chocolate Corporation. One of America’s most iconic brands got its start with candy manufacturer Milton Hershey in Lancaster, PA in 1894, who at that time focused on making caramels with fresh local milk. Wholesale chocolate was also part of the business, eventually justifying the creation of its own department within the business. A new recipe for milk chocolate was formulated in 1899, prompting the construction of a new plant in Hershey’s hometown of Derry Church, later renamed after the man who invested so much in the city. Popularity and consumption exploded, and by Hershey’s death in 1945, the candy had become ubiquitous across the country, even around the globe, with the inclusion of Hershey bars in WWII field rations (albeit specifically designed to be bad-tasting).

The vibrant broadsheet highlights the global components of Hershey’s production process – literally, promotional eye candy. The central map shows sources of cacao shipped from West Africa, South America, and the Caribbean, with an accompanying text marveling at the benefits of international trade. “With our present highly developed systems of communication and transportation, we have become neighbors with the world, all of us helping to feed, clothe, and serve one another.” Below the map can be seen a life-sized image of the precious pod, while some of Hershey’s most popular products are pictured immediately underneath. ‘The Story of Cacao’ and ‘The Lands of Cacao’ described the history and geography of chocolate, respectively. One excerpt from the latter reads, “The villages or settlements on the West Coast of Africa, from which a large quantity of the finest cacao comes, are rather primitive…It is a very unhealthful country for white people, and most of the cacao plantations are owned by native cultivators… Just the opposite is the rule in South and Central America. There, a high degree of culture and civilization exists.”

On either side of the sheet, eight captioned illustrations show the process of manufacturing milk chocolate, from the collection of cacao pods to molding the bars. Of particular interest is #2, which shows a group of West African women extracting the beans individually by hand. Each pod, after being opened with a special knife or machete, contains between 20 and 50 beans, and approximately 400 beans are necessary to create one pound of chocolate. The all-important drying process takes several days and is mentioned, but not illustrated. This manual collection and curing contrasts sharply with the other scenes, which depict vast automated systems and advanced technology emblematic of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

There were at least five examples of the ‘educational’ poster published – 1933, 1939, 1944, 1950, and 1955 – all featuring similar content with carefully curated updates reflecting progress in production and nutritional science. This example comes with an assortment of contemporary promotional material issued by the Hershey Corporation, including the Story of Cocoa and literature for the Milton Hershey School.

Sources: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Barry Ruderman Rare Maps; Aurburn University;