Historical Context

This document is a Visitor's Admission Card to the Hershey Chocolate Corporation factory, dated April 10, 1933.

By the time of the 1933 visit recorded on your admission card, the factory was the heart of a full-scale "model company town". Even during the height of the Great Depression, the factory remained a powerhouse. While other industrial towns collapsed, Milton Hershey famously kept his factory workers and local builders employed by launching the "Great Works Project," constructing iconic town landmarks like the Hershey Hotel, a massive community building, and a theater.

The factory was famous for welcoming the public. Formal, free public tours began as early as 1910, guiding visitors directly onto the real production floor to see the chocolate being molded and wrapped.

To manage the crowds, the Hershey Visitors Bureau (opened in 1915) distributed physical "Admission Cards".  In the late 1920s and 1930s, the tour included a visit to a special lobby where guests were given a free cup of chocolate drink and a small souvenir pack of chocolate bars.