 Hershey's Tropical Bar, 1943 Military chocolate has been a part of standard U.S. armed forces rations since 1937, and is issued to troops as part of basic field rations and sundry packs. Chocolate rations served two purposes: as a morale boost, and as a high-energy, pocket-sized emergency ration. Military chocolate rations are often made in special lots to military specifications for weight, size and endurance. A majority of chocolate issued to military personnel is produced by the Hershey Company. Image File history File links Hershey’s Tropical Chocolate Bar Date: 1943 Catalog #: 80015M Credit: Armed Forces History, Division of History of Technology, National Museum of American History website: http://americanhistory. ...
The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the United States Army United States Navy United States Air Force United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard Note: The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. ...
Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. ...
1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Chocolate is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ...
Morale is a term for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal. ...
Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. ...
A Hersheys Dark (45% cocoa) chocolate bar sold in the United States. ...
When provided as a morale boost or care package, military chocolate is often no different from normal store bought bars in taste and composition. However, they are frequently packaged or molded differently. The World War II K-ration included a bar of Hershey's sweet chocolate. But instead of being the typical flat thin bar, the K-ration chocolate was a thick rectangular bar that was square at each end. This article is becoming very long. ...
The K-ration was an individual daily combat food ration which was introduced by the United States Army during World War II. It was intended to last for a day and provided three courses: breakfast, supper and dinner. ...
In geometry, a rectangle is defined as a quadrilateral polygon in which all four angles are right angles. ...
In plane geometry, a square is a polygon with four equal sides and four right angles. ...
When provided as an emergency field ration, military chocolate was very different from normal bars. Since it was provided as a quick emergency food source, officials initially outlined that it should not be a tempting treat that troops might eat before they needed it. But even as attempts to improve the flavor were made, the heat-resistant chocolate bars never received rave reviews. Emergency ration chocolate bars were made to be high in energy value, be easy to carry and to withstand high temperatures. Withstanding high temperatures was extremely important, since infantrymen would be outdoors, sometimes in tropical or desert conditions, with the bars in their pockets against their bodies. These conditions would make any normal chocolate bar melt within minutes.
Hershey at war
The first emergency chocolate ration bar commissioned by the United States Army was the Ration D Bar. Army Quartermaster Captain Paul Logan approached Hershey's Chocolate in April 1937, and met with William Murrie, the company president, and Sam Hinkle, the chief chemist. Milton Hershey was extremely interested in the project when he was informed of the proposal, and the meeting began the first experimental production of the Ration D bar. The Quartermaster Corps is a combat service support branch of the United States Army. ...
1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
A chemist pours from a Florence flask. ...
Milton S. Hershey (September 13, 1857 - October 13, 1945) founded the Hershey Chocolate Company. ...
Captain Logan had four requirements for the Ration D Bar. It had to:
- weigh 4 ounces
- be high in food energy value
- be able to withstand high temperatures
- taste "little better than a boiled potato."
Logan believed if the chocolate bar tasted good, troops would eat them casually instead of waiting until they needed them for an emergency meal. Binomial name Solanum tuberosum L. The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, commonly grown for its starchy tuber. ...
Chief chemist Hinkle was forced to develop entirely new production methods to produce the bars. Chocolate manufacturing equipment was built to move flowing liquid chocolate into preset molds. However, the temperature-resistant formula of chocolate became a gooey paste that would not flow at any temperature. To produce the bars, each four ounce portion had to be kneaded, weighed and pressed into a mold by hand. The end result was a hard block of dark brown chocolate that would crumble with some effort.
Captain Logan was pleased with the first small batch of samples. In June 1937, the United States Army ordered 90,000 "Logan Bars" and field tested them at bases in the Philippines, Panama, on the Texas border, and at other bases throughout the United States. Some of the bars even found their way into the supplies for Admiral Byrd's third Antarctic expedition. These field tests were successful, and the Army began making irregular orders for the bars. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...
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Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, USN (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was a pioneering American polar explorer and famous aviator. ...
Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earths South Pole. ...
With the onset of America's involvement in World War II after Pearl Harbor, the bars were ordered to be packaged to make them poison gas proof. Numerous changes in the packaging were made to reflect shortages and Army requests from 1941 to 1945. This article is becoming very long. ...
Satellite image of Pearl Harbor. ...
Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ...
For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ...
1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...
In 1943, the Procurement Division of the Army approached Hershey about producing a confectionery style chocolate bar with improved flavor that would still withstand extreme heat. After a short period of experimentation, the Hershey company began producing Hershey's Tropical Bar. This bar was more similar to normal chocolate bars in shape and flavor than the Ration D Bar. The bar exceeded all tonnage for any other item produced by the wartime Hershey factory, including the Ration D Bar. While attempts to retain the sweetened flavor were somewhat successful, many troops found the chocolate tough and unappetizing. Nonetheless, it was perfect as a quick snack in the field, or as barter material. It has been suggested that Swapping (barter) be merged into this article or section. ...
It is estimated that between 1940 to 1945, over 3 billion of the Ration D Bars and Tropical Bars were produced and distributed to soldiers throughout the world. In 1939, the Hershey plant was capable of producing 100,000 ration bars a day. By the end of World War II, the entire Hershey plant was producing ration bars at a rate of 24 million a week. For their service throughout World War II, the Hershey Chocolate Company was issued 5 Army-Navy 'E' Production Awards for exceeding expectations for quality and quantity in the production of the Ration D Bar and Tropical Bar. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...
1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...
1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Postwar to modern day Production of the Ration D bar was discontinued at the end of World War II. However, the Hershey's Tropical Bar remained a standard ration for the United States Armed Forces. The Tropical Bar saw action in Korea and Vietnam. The Tropical Bar returned to fame briefly when it was included onboard Apollo 15 in July 1971. Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: Republic of Korea United States Britain Communist combatants: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Jeong Il-Gwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung, Choi Yong-kun Peng Dehuai Strength Note: All...
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned mission in the Apollo program and the fourth mission to land on the Moon. ...
1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ...
During Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, Hershey's Chocolate tested a new high temperature chocolate that they dubbed the Desert Bar. Hershey's shipped 144,000 Desert Bars to American troops, as a test market for the new chocolate bar. According to Hershey's, the bar could withstand heats in excess of 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). While Army spokesmen said the bar's taste was good, troop reactions were mixed and the bar was not launched into commercial production. See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ...
Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian...
A degree Celsius (°C) is a unit of temperature named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701-1744), who first proposed a similar system in 1742. ...
Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who proposed it in 1724. ...
External links - U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion — Reenactor Website with history for Ration D Bar, along with a recipe for making your own.
- Hershey Archives — Ration D Bar
- Hershey Archives — Tropical Bar History
- Price of Freedom: Americans at War — Smithsonian Institute Exhibit featuring the Hershey's Tropical Bar
- 69th Tank Battalion — Vietnam war veteran speaks about the Hershey's Tropical Bar critically
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