My Virtual Reading Room

It’s Fun fact Friday!

A chocolate bar most of us are not old enough to know about with a taste few cared for and was even called “Hitler’s Secret Weapon” by many infantrymen.

“The D ration bar”.

Developed by Hershey in 1937 at the request of the Army Quartermasters office had four requirements: a bar weighing about 4 ounces, able to withstand high temperatures, be high in food energy value, and with a taste that was just a little better than a boiled potato.

The reasoning for the latter was to prevent them from being eaten as snack so they would be kept and used as an emergency food source. The blend of chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk powder and oat flour was so thick that it did not flow like conventional chocolate and had to be hand packed into each mold.

Most who ate it said they would have rather eaten the boiled potato. Because the bar was designed to withstand high temperatures, it was nearly impossible to bite into, requiring the men to shave off slices before they could chew it, and the sugar did little to mask the bitter taste of the dark chocolate.

Despite this, Hershey produced about 3 billion (yes with a B) of these bars between 1940 and 1945 receiving numerous awards for their outstanding war effort. Until next Friday – Have a sweet week.

(from the Old Town Candy shop on FB, May 5th)