Thrill Ride

The Transformation of Hersheypark

John R. Haddad (Penn State University - Harrisburg)

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Paperback

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English

Pennsylvania State University Press
28 October 2025

History of the Americas; Social & cultural history; Theme parks & funfairs

Series: Keystone Books

More than an amusement park linked to a chocolate empire, Hershey Park in its early years was an extension of industrialist Milton Hershey’s paternalistic capitalism. Hershey sought to avoid the labor strife seen in other industries by giving his workers a better deal. He provided employees with affordable homes, free schools, utility subsidies, and municipal services as well as amenities including a theater, library, and amusement park. In exchange, he expected hard work, loyalty, and no strikes.

Eventually the Hershey Company faced intense market pressure from its competitor Mars and discontinued the services and amenities the community had come to expect. By the 1960s, the park had become so run-down that Hershey officials decided it needed a redesign, and they refashioned it into a Disney-style theme park. What had been an old-fashioned, pay-as-you-go amusement park for chocolate workers, their families, and the community would become a major mid-Atlantic attraction.

Haddad’s engaging and accessible social history explores how this remodel of the park strategically used symbols of the past and future to help the Hershey community cope with change. The new park guided patrons from depictions of the Old World through subsequent eras, culminating in a space exemplifying modernity, with colossal steel structures and sophisticated thrill rides.

Drawing on deep archival work and personal interviews, Haddad charts how memory and feelings are tied to locations and how people respond when change threatens those locations.

By: John R. Haddad (Penn State University - Harrisburg)
Imprint: Pennsylvania State University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 386g
ISBN: 9780271099927
ISBN 10: 0271099925
Series: Keystone Books
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 28 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

John R. Haddad is Professor of American Studies and Popular Culture at Penn State Harrisburg. He is the author of America’s First Adventure in China: Trade, Treaties, Opium, and Salvation and Cultures Colliding: American Missionaries, Chinese Resistance, and the Rise of Modern Institutions in China.

Reviews for Thrill Ride: The Transformation of Hersheypark

“Combining delightful storytelling and writing with engaging research, Thrill Ride takes us on an intimate and sweeping journey through Hershey’s factory town to early Hersheypark.” —Gary Cross, coauthor of The Playful Crowd: Pleasure Places in the Twentieth Century “Finally, a comprehensive account of how America’s favorite chocolate-themed park—flavored by the global candy giant—not only survived turbulent times but ultimately transformed into a world-class destination.” —Barry R. Hill, author of Imagineering an American Dreamscape: Genesis, Evolution, and Redemption of the Regional Theme Park