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How a costume maker convinced Hersheypark to ‘chocolatize’ their old‑timey theme park

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article A theme park has to have an identity. If you want to know the two things that Hersheypark does especially well, just approach the entrance. There you will meet a friendly candy mascot – perhaps a Hershey bar, Reese’s […]

An engraving of the surrender of British forces to George Washington at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
Michael Lee/Moment via Getty Images via The Conversation

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Alana Kniefel is the YMCA Executive Director of Innovation and Growth for Child and Family Wellbeing.

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The Crossword Puzzle

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‘Shining knights of the ring’

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The Glenwood-Inglewood Company in 1910. The Glenwood and Inglewood springs were on adjacent property and ran as separate water companies until about 1896. Minnesota Historical Society.

DO DRINK THE WATER

Before a new house is completed today in the Twin Cities, the utilities (sewer, water, natural gas, electricity, etc.) are already in place. The owners take it for granted that their new home will …

The original home of Holcomb-Henry Boom-Purcell when it was just the A.E.Henry Funeral Home. Note the street car tracks in the foreground.

Dearly departed

A “for sale” sign is up at the Holcomb-Henry-Boom-Purcell funeral home, 536 N. Snelling Ave. If property use changes under a new owner, that brings an end to more than a century of …

Did you know about the old Hippodrome?

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The costume maker who convinced Hersheypark to embrace candy mascots and ‘chocolatize’ their old-timey theme park

Hersheypark underwent a total transformation in the 1970s, when candy mascots and thrill rides replaced barn animals and old-timey recreations of Tudor England.

A special Los Angeles preview event for the movie 'Ramayana' on March 30, 2026.

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Michelangelo's 16th-century fresco 'The Last Judgment.' Sistine Chapel collection via Wikimedia Commons

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How a costume maker convinced Hersheypark to ‘chocolatize’ their old‑timey theme park

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The costume maker who convinced Hersheypark to embrace candy mascots and ‘chocolatize’ their old-timey theme park

From ‘A Little Princess’ to ‘Black Panther,’ how Hollywood films have reimagined the South Asian epic ‘Ramayana’