Ah, chocolate. It is the bane of many a dieter’s existence. As a solid, chocolate bar, it made its first appearance in 1674. A chocolate emporium served its customers with chocolate rolls and cakes. Yet, from such humble beginnings, the demand for chocolate in many forms has grown to be worldwide. Although not an American invention, Americans did weigh in in the market with amazing success. In places such as Chicago, chocolate factories continue to leave their indelible mark in a very competitive marketplace.
The First Chocolate Bars
Although the point is much debated, the first chocolate bars date back to 1847. In this year, Joseph Fry created a chocolate paste of “Dutched” cocoa powder, sugar and just a little cocoa butter that had been melted. Once pressed into a mold, it formed the shape of a bar – the earliest chocolate bars. Although quite bitter by today’s standards, it set a pattern many other chocolatiers were to adapt to meet their own standards. Actual production of Fry’s Chocolate Cream bar began in 1866 in a factory in Bristol, England.
In the same century, John Cadbury began to produce a similar product. The year was 1849. The taste was similar – bitter sweet. The invention of milk chocolate, by Henry Nestle and Daniel Peter, was 26 years away. Other inventors also got in on the act of producing chocolate bars including Rodolphe Lindt.
The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair
The grand exposition held in Chicago in 1893 introduced Milton S. Hersey to German–made, chocolate production machinery. The result was the first American chocolate bar. However, it is possible that Ganong of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, has a claim to the first North American chocolate bar. The problem is so many chocolatiers were thinking along the same lines. Candy or chocolate bars were an easy way to deliver the taste of chocolate. So much could be done with them. The delivery system was simple and very effective advertising for a company.
World War I had added to the taste Americans had for chocolate. Because the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps had commissioned huge blocks then reduced them to smaller sections for consumption by overseas troops, soldiers, at least, had developed a taste for these bit-size or more bars of chocolate. The companies took to reducing their larger blocks into smaller bars. By the time the war ended, chocolate bars were not a rarity but a common commodity eaten by soldiers and civilians alike.
The Chocolate Bar Today
Candy bar manufacturers continued to grow during the 20th century. At one point, the market saw the influx of some 40,000 different candy bars. While times have changed and numbers declined, America is still producing some of the classic and greatest tasting candy bars available including the ever-popular smooth, milk chocolate bar.