The CARSON Museum

In the beginning, our shelves were void. And darkness and tears were upon the faces of the people. And Scott said, "Let there be a museum!" And there was a museum. And the people saw that it was good; and they smiled. Granted, it took a lot longer than 6 days to create; but why fuss over such a small detail as time when it comes to something as jim-dandy as the CARSON museum? After all, it is the first thing our customers see when they walk in our door. It has to be good.

The sundry and diverse items for the museum have been collected gradually over a period of years and carefully stored in anticipation of the mega remodeling effort that took place over the '07 - '08 winter. Once the renovation was completed, display cases were brought in and strategically arranged. It was then time to sift through the boxes of Hershey memorabilia that had been in systematic accumulation. Everything was labeled, cataloged, dated and described to the best of our ability. When we weren't sure of something, we fabricated suppositions, that is to say: we guessed. Hey, it's our museum.

What's in the museum, you may wonder? It's a real soup-to-nuts mix of every type of Hershey memorabilia we could get our chocolate smeared fingers on. Over the years, Hershey has put out a mind boggling variety of tins in every imaginable shape and size. We have tons of them, and the boggled minds to prove it. We've also got place mats and lip gloss, music boxes and playing cards. We've got hockey pucks, soap boxes and Christmas ornaments. We've got books and pillows and costumes. Our pieces de resistance--dare I say the crown jewels of our collection--are the dresses assembled out of Hershey wrappers (among other things, all Hershey) made on the popular TV show Project Runway.

We're very proud of our little museum; we've put a lot of effort into making it the finest display of Hershey memorabilia this side of Hershey, PA. We have no doubt that our CARSON museum will soon take its rightful place among other noteworthy tourist attractions such as the World's Largest Ball of String and the Upside-down House. Maybe someday, we'll even get our own freeway sign.

Carson Goes Green

On Monday, May 5th CARSON wrappedhersheys.com officially went Green! To do our part for a greener CARSON and a greener home here are a few facts/tips:

1.  Curbside Recycling/Labeled Bins: Now serving half of the U.S. population, these bins provide the most convenient means for households to recycle a variety of materials. The Big Five are: aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, plastic and steel/tin cans.
2.  Electronics: Telephones, radios, televisions, computers and cell phones are items that have revolutionized our daily lifestyle. These items make up the bulk of electronics that pose a threat to the environment. So, next time you upgrade that cell phone, or get the latest video game system, think twice about what happens to the old gadget: 

•     Donate, remember old to you is new to someone else
•     Consider renting or leasing electronics, if you’re going to upgrade sooner than later, why waste money?
•     Buy green!

3.  Garage Garbage:  Did you know that used motor oil can be recycled? How about paint? It turns out that many of the items in your garage are recyclable! So claim your garbage back, learn what to do with the mess and help the planet while you’re at it!       

CARSON’s contribution:

Cardboard:  We recycle between 150-200 pounds of cardboard a day!  That’s 1,225 pounds a week and 9,100 pounds a year!
Cans & Bottles & Glass, Oh My! :  In our café we now have labeled containers for all of our empty delicious drink containers.
Ink:  We recycle all of our used ink cartridges!

By Jane Swensson

Cocoa Belle

Greetings Chocolateers,

I was the fortunate artist selected to assist in the celebration of the newly renovated playground that is CARSON wrappedhersheys.com.

You can't beat a commission that involves eating much chocolate, sketching and designing. Throughout the entire facility are candy colors and Hershey's memorabilia.  It wasn't difficult discovering an inspiration.

While beginning my research over a Hershey's candy bar (the pride of the Carson's operation) I unwrapped the bar and...voila!  I would create the wrapper part of the Carson's experience.  The candy was already represented throughout the space; it needed homage to the delivery system and luckily I work in "wrapper" stuff (aluminum, stainless, and steel).

From this point things evolved fairly rapidly. During many other chocolate breaks (of bars and kisses) much inspiration oozed forth. The kisses became iconic detailing and the "Hershey Bar Geometry" dictated much of the massing and language.

This main design theme can be seen in the set piece "Cocoa Belle": the order processing "Goddess", and other miscellaneous architectonic treatments.

Visit my web site www.earthorchestra.com to view other sculptural work and contact information.

Thank you so much.

Edward Casagrande / Earth Orchestra Inc.

As you review the images look for the kisses, blooms and geometry all lavished on the candy wrapper that is my work.

Over the Pond

If you’ve ever spent any time in the Ohio River valley in winter, you will understand the concept of  “dreary.” Surely meteorological students worldwide swarm to this area to study the true nature of overcast skies. Children of this cheerless winter world grow up with a resilient nature, maintaining a buoyancy of spirit when lesser persons might whither. But even for seasoned veterans, sometimes the bleakness becomes crucible; set to test the mettle of our most hardy souls. 

Wednesday, February 6^th was a typical gloomy day, strung onto the end of a long series of other typical gloomy days. We were gathered around the meeting table discussing new catalog covers, when our attention was arrested by the window view of a large crane wading in our pond. Distracted by its unusual size, we all felt compelled to observe and remark upon this bird at excessive length. Engaged thus, we were soon awestruck when something else appeared; something pregnant with the promise of radiant days and the end of seasonal doldrums. A vast and brilliant rainbow had suddenly materialized over the building next door to ours. CARSON wrappedhersheys.com photographer Pam Bottles was quick on the draw and captured this image from our back patio. Unfortunately, the bustle at the door frightened our fine feathered friend; but he’ll probably be back long before we get another shot at an image like this.

Gail's Gorilla Surprise

Hi, it's me, Gail. I got to spend the Big 6-0 with the CARSON gang.

My work space, and boy do I have a really Big Space, was decked out.  I was amazed with all the decorations when I walked in that morning.  Then just before noon an Eastern Onion singing telegram was delivered by a singing and dancing "Gorilla" by the name of George!  He even had red and black balloons that matched my clothes (not sure how he managed to do that).  George even got me up to dance (a little).  The best part was that my family and friends were there to see me entertain the gorilla.

           

There was cake and cupcakes from Scott and Sharon, carrot cake from Jeff, and a "Yorkie" cake from Dee.  Dee knows how much I love my baby (Yorkshire Terrier).  When I got home there were flowers, a steak dinner, even more cake.  In total I received 6 cakes and 4 sets of flowers.  I probably gained 6 pounds from the treats.  It was all worth it for a Totally Great Birthday!

Carson Candy Jars

This is me, and this is my candy jar.  I fill it with about $15 worth of candy every month.  I try to consider the candy preferences of others and consequently I have lots of visitors.  This is Matt, one of my best customers.  Matt can empty a jar full of Twix bars and Kit Kats in the blink of an eye…

Dee buys 100 Grand bars for me, which I really appreciate.  She keeps her candy dish full with respectable flavors, chocolate candy that everyone loves.  Dee is diabetic and can’t even eat this candy.  How’s that for love?

I have no idea why these girls are smiling.  Kim’s candy jar has a couple of candy canes and some sugar free candy in it (probably that she took from Dee).  The same candy for about 2 months now.  I doubt she gets many visitors. 

Laura’s candy jar has just a couple of old Hershey’s Kisses in it.  Pitiful.

Gail keeps Carson going with a steady supply of peanut M&M’s.  Here is Bob, caught in the act.  Bob really makes the rounds on candy jars and can give Matt a run for his money…

Sylvia bought this Jelly Belly machine at a company garage sale for $1.00.  She used to provide the pennies needed to purchase Jelly Belly beans, which I thought was very generous.  Of late it seems that she is trying to make profit.

Headsets & Innovation

Recently in the call center we were given the privilege of testing out a Plantronics  wireless headset…personally I was eager to give them a whirl.

At first some of the girls in the office were a little hesitant; but upon hearing my rave reviews after an hour of having the stylish modern looking, futuristic headset on my ear, their hesitation turned to envy as they were wired to their phones and I could stroll around the office accomplishing several tasks at once with ease looking fresh from the set of Star Trek.

Over the next few days of course we all got to try the freedom of wireless opposed to wired headsets. And although at first some people were unsure of the feeling of the speaker being in their ear, I broke the happy news I had discovered the same headset that sits outside the ear….the Euphoria in the office raised another level.

It has been around 2 months now since we all got our wireless headsets and as my prediction has been realized that the level of inner ear pain would diminish after several days of use, we wonder how we coped before the new headsets and being tethered to our phone not being able to multi task with such supreme efficiency!

With the company being given a fresh new renovation inside the building, which looks fantastically modern, it was only fitting we made the leap to wireless. Now not a day goes by without Lyn Mason being overjoyed at the fact she can stroll to the filing cabinet and get a customers invoice whilst also telling them our shipping and processing time without having to put the customer on hold; it is truly a sight to behold.

Here at Carson we strive daily to make sure our customers get the most accurate, effective service possible. The Plantronics wireless headsets have helped us help the customers in more ways than one… and I am sure all the customer service agents are as grateful as I am that having these headsets is making our jobs serving our customers easier and more effective.

Human innovation, meets Candy wrapper creation, the outcome equals our customer’s complete celebration!!!!!

Matt Riley
Customer Service Associate

Hitting the Jackpot

Before Christmas Scott told us one Friday that he had a surprise when we returned to work on Monday morning.  He said he thought we would all like it.  So Monday a.m. when I got to work I went to the cafe as usual to put my lunch in the refrigerator.  There in the cafe stood two slot machines ready to play with lights flashing.  I chuckled to myself thinking this is a great surprise because anyone who knows me knows that I like to go to the Indiana gambling boats occasionally. 

One of the machines had candy bar reels, and you know I had to go over and be the first to try it out.  The sound is turned down for obvious reasons and we are allowed to play them on our breaks and lunch.  Just another fun thing we have at Carson.

Now keep in mind that I said I go to the boats, but I may have forgotten to say that I never win.  My husband and the people we go with know the answer before they even ask me if I win, of course, the answer is always NO. 

Well last week the cafe was full at lunch and while my lunch is in the microwave as I always do I walked over to play the candy bar slot.  On the first pull I hit candy bar, 7, candy bar, the coins started falling out, ting, ting, ting, everyone looked around and started laughing.  The payout was four times 240, which was 960 coins.  Let’s just say if it were a quarter machine that would have been $240.  I was thinking to myself, me of all people to win a big jackpot, why can’t I do that at the boat with real quarters? 

I guess my prize was getting my picture taken and having to write this article.  Oh boy! That’s just another fun day at Carson for me.  Like I always say to Sharon “Where else can you go and have this much fun?”

What I Like the Most

The question was recently posed to me what I like the most about working at Carson.  I pondered this for several days and realized my great fortune in having difficulty naming just one thing above all others that are good about the company. 

I love my bosses.  Their modesty would prevent me from carrying on at length extolling their virtues.  Suffice it to say, they are many and varied.  I count myself among the fortunate few to have such high regard for my employers.
My coworkers are nothing short of terrific.  Individually or in clusters, they’re a jolly bunch; and kindness, cooperation and genuine good will flavor every effort and accomplishment within the company.  Could I say this is my favorite part of the job?

But I cannot overlook our customers.  I’ve had the privilege of helping all manner of celebrants, from a new father ordering birth announcements in hushed tones so as not to wake his wife and newborn, to a sweet Tennessee grandmother proudly ordering graduation wrappers for her grandson, to a group of laughing coworkers conjuring a jibing salutation to put on the wrapper of a retiring colleague.  Being even a small part of these happy events enriches me. 

The finished wrappers people have created, with the clever sayings and cute photographs are such a joy to see.  Wrappers with the cutest baby pictures are always hailed and fussed over.  Like bears to honey comb, so go women to baby pictures.  But is even this the best part of my job?

All these lofty attributes, however, are up against one stiff competitor for claiming the prize of “best part of the job”.  For all in all, the simple pleasures amuse us most and I confess my affections are, after all, won by this one competitor: chocolate!

The Englishman and The Ladies

Once upon a time in the land of Hershey’s Chocolate there were 6 beautiful women who worked in the Carson Customer Service Center.  They were happy enough working with each other and delicious chocolate, after all, who wouldn’t be? Each day they talked with customers and made them happy as they helped place orders for beautiful candy bar wrappers celebrating births, weddings, birthdays and other special events. They were happy, they liked each other, they loved their customers.  But something seemed to be missing. What could it be?  Did they need more chocolate?  No that wasn’t it. 

Did they need more extracurricular activities?  No they had the Funshine Committee for that.

They just didn’t know what it was, but something was not right. So they carried on until one day there was a knock on the door and what did they see, but a young man standing there. Not just any young man, this one came from far across the sea from the land of Kings and Queens and handsome Princes.  They asked how they could help him. Did he want to order some candy bars with wonderful wrappers?  “Why no, he said. I heard that you have an opening here in your call center. I have come to give you my application.” The ladies gasped, “Oh my goodness!”  He wanted to come and work with them!!  They could hardly believe it!  They didn’t know what to think, and frankly neither did Matt, once he found out that he would be the only male in the room. What would happen?  How would it all work out? They weren’t really sure, but everyone was excited to find out. 

And so Matt came to work at Carson with the 6 beautiful ladies.  He told them of many strange and unusual tales of plimsoles, nappies, the loo, the telly and what a pram was.  They taught him about bagels, Tootsie Rolls, microwaves and how to work a VCR.  He ate all of their candy.  When the beautiful ladies ordered matching green Carson shirts, he said there was no way he would do it.  When the shirts arrived, he could not resist joining in the fun. 

Now they live happily ever after with lots of laughs and fun.   And the ladies found what was missing.  It was Matt.

The Art of Chocolate Part II

Well, with summer moving at such a rapid pace I would like to take a second to catch my breath and update everyone on the Product Development process.

Since that time I’m happy to announce that the final wrapper designs for the Anniversary, Halloween and Sweetest Day categories have been approved! They will be hitting the website for your viewing pleasure very soon! I think you’ll find that with over 40 NEW WRAPPER DESIGNS the Carson Design Team has created these wrappers to make your special event even that much sweeter!

In saying that, we would like to say thanks to you for your input and ideas, please keep them coming. Well, I hope you enjoy them, I know we all had a blast creating them. Hopefully the rest of the summer will be as fun as the first part. Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers every once in a while either! Thanks again.

-Mike Reuter

Previous article - The Art of Chocolate Part I »

Carsonites - Eighty Sixed

Eighty Sixed is one of the best local hardcore punk rock bands in Hamilton, Ohio.  Since the singer is my " husband-to-be " I am at every show. Of course, at work I talk about it all of the time, trying to get everyone to go with me..

The perfect moment approached......a Thursday night in June, Eighty Sixed was to play at The Third Street Tap and Grill, one of the cleaner bars in Hamilton. I used the old " Come on guys, it'll be fun! " routine.  And the stars must have aligned because finally, I talked some Carson coworkers into going to a show.  Well, I didn't lie, we had a BLAST! All the cold beer and hardcore punk rock one can image! Everyone had a great time. A few of us even went up front by the stage.

The next day at work everybody talked about how good of a time they had  and asked when the next show was going to be. Hopefully, the next time Scott and Sharon Frederick will go too! They were out of town... Bummer!!! Well, until my next blog post, see ya'll!                                                                                            - Tara

FYI: Eighty Sixed is now officially known as C.R.B. (City Rat Boys)

First Annual Ethical Business Award

On June 20th, I proudly represented Carson at the Fairfield Rotary Club and Fairfield Chamber of Commerce luncheon as we were one of seven businesses in the greater Fairfield area nominated to receive the first annual Ethical Business Award for maintaining high ethical standards.

Nominations were based on the following characteristics:  Ethical Leadership, Concern for Customer, Integrity, Respect and Loyalty.  Many of these characteristics mirror our Core Values which as a company we work to uphold daily whether we're dealing with our vendors, customers or our own team mates.

While Carson was not the winner of this year's award, it really is no surprise to me that we would be considered.  I have never worked for a company that believes more strongly in its customers or its people.   We do not just say it is our goal to exceed our customer’s expectations; we work toward that goal every day.  We also put much effort into making sure we provide our team members a rewarding environment, and work to create partnerships with all of our vendors.  It is what makes being part of the Carson team a positive experience.

The Art of Chocolate

When it comes to providing our customers with great looking and tasty products we do our very best to exceed their expectations. One of the more intriguing areas in which we seek to please our customers is with product development. It usually begins by paying close attention to our customer’s ideas, taking our own concepts and molding them together to form a premium product that everyone can be excited about. I can honestly say that this is the coolest part of my job. I can take an idea from within our product development/ brainstorming sessions and put my own twist to it. It really gives each designer an opportunity to let their creativity show. I think there will be a very rewarding feeling knowing that people will be using my artwork to celebrate a special event in their life. I really do take pride in that, because art is my passion and anytime I set about creating something whether it be designing wrappers at work or a painting in my free time I want to be proud of that piece and I want others to enjoy it as well. Ya know I shouldn’t call the aforementioned wrapper design “work” because when you’re doing something you love it’s not really work. Anyways, I can’t wait for the new designs to come out. They will be a great addition to an already awesome collection of wrappers. I’ll keep you posted as to when to check out our new wrappers. Hopefully you will find them as cool as I do. Well, now it’s time to get back to “work.”

-Mike Reuter

Amish Friendship Bread Invasion

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Dianne Beeson and I work at Carson Wrapped Hershey’s Chocolates.  I can be found, depending on the day and the pressures du jour, in the Customer Care Center or in Production. 

A couple weeks ago one of our graphic designers,  Jeff me handed a Ziplock baggie containing white goo of dubious origin and purpose accompanied by an instruction sheet.

The goo in question turned out the be the starter for Amish Friendship Bread.  One nurses it along daily for a period of about 10 days, sometimes adding ingredients, sometimes just squeezing the bag, sometimes unzipping and letting the buildup of gasses escape.  The joke was made that giving the starter to someone is akin to giving them a puppy as a gift: sweet, but requiring care.  Jeff distributed his remaining “puppies” around and I took my charge home with me and followed the care instructions as best I could.   

When it was ready I made two cakes, one for the Frederick’s at home and one for the folks at Carson to enjoy.  I must say, the result was one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever had.  It was a dense cake, rich and flavorful, perfect for breakfast or dessert or just a snack.  Everybody raved over it and it was consumed in record time, gone but for one small piece by lunch time.  (I suppose guilt looms large over the taker of the last piece.)  I brought the remaining 3 servings of starter in to Carson as well, and they were snapped up. 

Dee’s husband was the first to introduce the starters at Carson.  Because I didn’t know exactly what was in the original starter, I looked it up.  Here is everything you need to know about starting an Amish Friendship Bread invasion of your own.  Make it, and everybody will be your friend, at least for as long as the cake lasts!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE STARTER
•    1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
•    1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
•    3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
•    3 cups white sugar, divided
•    3 cups milk

DIRECTIONS
1.    In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart container glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. At this point you can put it in a gallon size plastic ziplock baggie.  It might be wise to leave a section of the top unzipped so accumulated gasses can escape.  DO NOT REFRIGERATE.
2.    On days 2 thru 4; squish the starter in the bag each day.
3.    Day 5; mix in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk, squish well.
4.    Days 6 thru 9; squish the starter in the bag each day.
5.    Day 10; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Remove 1 cup to make your first bread, divide the remainder into 1 cup portions and give to friends along with this recipe. (They’re beginning with step 2).

RECIPE FOR THE CAKE
1.    Pour the starter into a large glass or plastic bowl. 
2.    With a fork, stir in the following ingredients: 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup oil (I used peanut oil), 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla.
3.    Mix well, then stir in 1 cup sugar, stirring till well blended.
4.    Stir in 1 large box of instant vanilla pudding mix.
5.    Combine 2 cups flour with 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon baking soda.  Add to starter batter and stir until blended. 
6.    Stir in a couple handfuls of chopped nuts and/or raisins if desired.  I used walnuts. 
7.    Pour into a well greased and sugared bunt pan or two loaf pans. 
8.    Sprinkle top amply with cinnamon sugar.
9.    Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let’s Get the Blog Started!

I am a designer and they call me Jeff.  What you see before you is one of my “creations.”  I use the term loosely because the blog has evolved by itself going where it wanted defining itself throughout the process.  I can see it evolving in different directions but it needs your help.

As the quote goes “it takes a village to raise a child.”  This blog is in its infancy and you can help it.  Leave comments and tell me how you would like the blog to grow and become better.  A pre-thank you for any ideas you share.