History of the Hershey's Kiss

Hershey Kisses are small, distinctively shaped chocolate candies that are individually wrapped in foil. Hershey Kisses have been manufactured almost continuously since 1907 and have changed little in the century they have been produced. In recent years, there have been newer variations created, but the basic Hershey Kiss remains unchanged.

History

The founder and creator of the Hershey Chocolate Company was Milton Hershey. Hershey was born in 1857 in Central Pennsylvania. In 1894, Hershey started the Hershey Chocolate Company. His company has created many famous candies including the Hershey Kiss.

The Hershey Kiss was first created in 1907. This candy has been continuously made, except between1942 and 1949, until the present time. Hershey Chocolates was forced to temporarily suspend production of the Hershey Kiss due to scarcity of aluminum because of World War II.

Wraps

The Hershey Kiss was only made with silver wrap until 1962. After 1962, various other colors were gradually introduced. The first variations were red and green to celebrate Christmas. Easter colors were added in 1968, and Valentine's Day colors were added in 1986. More recently, there have been other variations added with the addition of other flavors of the Hershey Kiss.

Trademark

Each Hershey Kiss was wrapped by hand between 1907 and 1921. After 1921, a machine was introduced that automated the wrapping process. This new machine was also able to insert the tiny slip of paper into the top of the Hershey Kiss foil. This tiny slip of paper was registered as a Hershey Chocolate trademark in 1924.

Flavors

Originally, the Hershey Kiss was made with only milk chocolate. More recently, however, there has been a variety of newer flavor selections introduced that are in addition to the original milk chocolate kiss. Some of the newer flavors include dark chocolate, caramel, mint chocolate, coconut, peanut butter, toffee and others. There are also other variations of the Hershey Kiss that include nuts and white chocolate coatings over the darker chocolate centers.

Theories/Speculation

A popular theory suggests that the possible reason for the unusual name of the Hershey Kiss comes from the machine that is used to produce the actual candy. As the machine produces each candy on the conveyor belt, a "kiss" sound can be heard. This theory is even highlighted on the Hershey Kiss website.