Milton Snavely Hershey, the chocolate man, was talking to an old friend some forty years ago about the strange, artificial, moneymaking town that he had started from scratch, and named for himself, back at the turn of the century: “We haven’t any politics, and our employes don’t have to live here if they don’t want to.” He explained how the town of Hershey, set in the lush, rolling dairy land of central Pennsylvania, was run: “When a street is to be paved, or something is required to be done in this town, somebody always notices the need before it becomes imperative. If he happens to be passing our offices, he walks in and tells us, or else he passes the word along through a third party. I am informed, if I am in town, and we go ahead with the work.” It was “M.S.”—as Hershey was deferentially called—who personally decided what work did or did not need doing, and it was M.S. who paid for it.
“You might liken this business to a large farm, “he said, “and when I speak of the business I include the community. We can all find plenty to do without wasting time on rules and regulations. It has been my experience that the expectation of trouble is often one of the chief causes of it. Men make regulations to prevent other men from doing something wrong or foolish. Later it is discovered that the regulation interferes with actions which might be of general benefit. We simply try not to interfere with people who want to work.” Hershey deeply resented any criticism of his altruism. A Fortune reporter in 1934 claimed that local Pennsylvania Dutch farmers called the characteristic smell in the Hershey air “da chockle shtink, ” and he continued : “The moral atmosphere of the town is pervaded by another odor —the sweet and oppressive odor of charity.” Hershey retorted: “I’ve always half suspected that some of these so-called New York wonder workers are disgruntled because they can’t get their fi ngers on my money ! I Ve tried to build a town where people can live contentedly, and where they can be happy at work, and where they can live in pleasant surroundings. You’d think I’d get a little credit for what I have done, wouldn’t you?”
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