AMERICAN CARAMEL CO Stock 1900 Mt. Joy, PA Bought Hershey. Famous Baseball Cards

Description

American Caramel Company. Stock issued October 22, 1900. Incorporated in 1898 in the State of Pennsylvania
. Embossed company seal lower left.
Revenue stamps
on verso. Certificate
No. A176
was issued to Waldo M. Place for 10 shares of Common capital stock (0 per share). Company capital was
,000,000
(,000,000 8% Cumulative Preferred; ,000,000 Common). Hand signed by company
president William L. Blair
and
secretary-treasurer D. (Daniel) F. Lafean
. Certificate is about 8” x 11”. Black print with dark-blue overprint/underprint. Vignette of an eagle on a shield.
American Caramel Company was formed in 1898 as a consolidation of the Breisch-Hine Company of Philadelphia, and the P. C. Wiest Company of York, Pennsylvania (P.C. Wiest was a pioneer in the manufacture of caramels and developed a very successful business). In 1899 American Caramel approached Milton Hershey to try to purchase his Lancaster Caramel Company, which was incorporated in 1894 in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Hershey was interested in selling Lancaster Caramel because he believed that the caramel market was losing its popularity; it was at this time that Hershey Chocolate Company was formally organized as a subsidiary of Lancaster Caramel. American Caramel felt that Lancaster Caramel was their only serious rival and merging with Lancaster would allow them to control 95 per cent of the caramel market. However, Milton Hershey was initially not interested in the idea of the merger. At first, American Caramel threatened to put Milton Hershey out of business, but Hershey was not intimidated. Finally, the owners of the American Caramel Company approached Milton Hershey with an offer to buy his business. Negotiations to sell the Lancaster Caramel Company stretched on for months. Finally, in Spring, 1900, the price was finally agreed on: Milton Hershey would sell the company for one million dollars. Milton Hershey surrendered the factory, the machinery, the stock in hand, his formulas, and the “Crystal A” trademark. He also agreed not to make caramels in Lancaster. But he retained the ownership of the Hershey Chocolate Company and he kept all his chocolate making machinery. Stock was issued to a small group of men as part of the legal requirements of incorporation. Milton Hershey owned the majority of the stock. One of the minority stock holders was William. L. Blair, who would become the first president of the American Caramel Company.
After acquiring the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1900, the American Caramel Company became famous by including baseball and other
trading cards including actors and actresses, in
with its caramel candies.
The American Caramel Company shared its part in early baseball card history and left collectors beautiful examples of creativity and design that honored some of the game's greatest players (see attached photos of examples of American Caramel cards, ca. 1910). Packaging their caramels with a baseball card in each box was a huge incentive to their young consumers, and they eventually issued some of the most highly prized cards for today’s vintage baseball card collectors.
The sale of Milton Hershey's Lancaster Caramel Company to American Caramel changed Hershey’s direction. Refocusing his energies on the Hershey Chocolate Company resulted in Milton Hershey developing a new approach to business. He needed a new factory for his booming chocolate business. Instead of building a new factory in an established city, Milton Hershey envisioned building a model town with the money from the Lancaster Caramel Company sale. He chose Derry Township with its rail line, adequate fresh water sources and abundant dairy farms as the location for his chocolate factory. The factory was completed in 1905, and the town of Hershey began to take shape.
Daniel F. Lafean (1861 – 1922) was the secretary-treasurer and then president of American Caramel who was a six-term U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania;
Lafean was also known for introducing the Congressional bill to construct the Lincoln Memorial Highway as a national tribute to Abraham Lincoln (the highway was dedicated in 1913 and ran from New York City to San Francisco). Lafean began his professional career in the candy manufacturing and banking businesses in New York City in the late 1800s. In 1878, Daniel Lafean became a partner of the firm P. C. Wiest & Company when it was organized. When P.C. Wiest retired from the business in 1895, Daniel F. Lafean was named as company president. Lafean was instrumental in establishing the American Caramel Company, which was created in 1898 when the Breisch-Hine Company in Philadelphia merged with P. C. Wiest & Company in York, Pennsylvania. Daniel Lafean was a Congressman in 1900 when he represented the American Caramel Company in negotiations with Milton Hershey to purchase his Lancaster Caramel Company. Lafean would later be appointed Commissioner of Banking of the State of Pennsylvania in 1917.
Condition:  Very Fine++
, two light vertical folds, very minor creasing, no tears, light signs of wear/handling/toning (see photos), punch
cancelled.
Printer:
American Bank Note Company, New York.
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