The first Hersheypark advertisement in newsprint

The first advertisement in newspapers around central Pennsylvania appeared between August 29, 1907 and August 31, 1907. An example of the advert is below, which was published in The Patriot-News on August 30, 1907. The ad was the same in all papers, but formatted differently based on the paper it appeared in.

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Newspaper appearances

This advertisement appeared in the following newspapers:

Harrisburg:

• Harrisburg Daily Independent:
  • August 29 – August 31
• The Patriot-News:
  • August 30 – August 31
• Harrisburg Telegraph:
  • August 30 – August 31

Lebanon:

• Lebanon Daily News:
  • August 30 – August 31

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Sticky fingers led to this advertisement

From 1906 to this point in 1907, Hersheypark was promoted through small articles (effectively, press releases) instead of advertisements. An example of such an advertisement is below. This was promoting the times visitors would be able to take train cars to the park for the Fourth of July holiday.

This was the second year Hersheypark was celebrating Labor Day.

In 1906, the first Labor Day event was managed by the Hershey Band. At the time, the park did not have formal management. As a result, performers usually managed the food stand in the park. During the 1906 Labor Day event, company managers, such as William Lebkicher, realized the park lost money due to certain band members having ‘sticky fingers.’

As a result, management hired Joseph R. Snavely to be the park’s first manager in 1907. This led the park to start formally advertising the park in central Pennsylvania for the first time in August 1907.

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