Carla Martin

Of course, many have come to associate that with aphrodisiac qualities.

Then, of course, there are these chemicals that exist in chocolate.

Theobromine, caffeine, these are stimulants.

They're also associated with a sense of well-being.

And then we add things like sugar or nuts.

Nuts have also often been associated with aphrodisiacs.

We add vanilla.

There's a long history of associating flowers and their aroma with romance.

And so all of these different components combine to make a sensory and psychological experience that, when socialized through all of this promotion and marketing of chocolate, really drives the point home about its association to Valentine's Day.

So this is a really interesting question.

The Hershey Company was, when it began, perhaps not all that different from any other small chocolate company around the United States.

There was a time when many towns had their own individual family-owned chocolate firm.

What was unique about the Hershey Company was the ambition of its founder and the techniques that were put into place to promote the chocolate itself.

Milton Hershey was one of the first chocolate company owners to ship chocolate out of Hershey, Pennsylvania, and place it in different shopping points all across the United States, which made it something that became well known to many consumers across the nation.

He also invested very heavily in the town, tying

to create what was his idea of a utopian vision, which essentially meant him in a mansion on a hill overlooking workers' homes and large factories and fields with cows producing dairy.

And so Hershey, Pennsylvania was founded out of that vision and those working conditions.

It absolutely did change the meaning for many centuries.

So especially through the 16, 17, and even into the mid-1800s, it was actually the case that access to chocolate was exclusively among the uber elite.

When I say that, I mean royal families, the nobility.