At the age of 18, Milton Hershey established his first candy business in Philadelphia just in time for the Centennial Exposition of 1876. Despite long hours of hard work and the financial backing of his mother’s family, the business failed after six years.

Next, Hershey followed his father to the Colorado silver fields, where he took a job with a Denver candy maker and learned the secret of making caramels with fresh milk. After a few months, he left Denver and ended up in New York City.

Here, in the largest candy market in the world, he tried once again to make a go of it. And once again, despite all his efforts, he was unsuccessful. In 1886, he returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was 28 years old and penniless.