http://www.boston.com/dailynews/231/nation/Hershey_bar_returns_to_the_Uni:.shtml

Hershey bar returns to the United States after 60 years buried in South Pole ice

By Associated Press, 8/19/2001 16:27

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) A Hershey chocolate bar buried 60 years ago in 2 1/2 feet of South Pole ice by Adm. Richard Byrd's third expedition is headed back to the candy company for display.

And while chocolate that old probably isn't good to eat, it was only designed to taste just a little better than a boiled potato in the first place.

The Hershey Chocolate Corp. 1937 Field Ration Bar was buried by Byrd's team somewhere between 1939 to 1941. It was found by an explorer in January.

The bars were manufactured in June 1937 as a test for the military before production began on the Field Ration D Bar more familiar to veterans.

The Army specified the bar weigh 4 ounces and be melt-resistant and rich in energy. Above all, it should taste ''just a little better than a boiled potato'' so soldiers would not eat it frivolously.

In January, explorer Douglas Stoup discovered the bar while checking on a modern cache of food and supplies buried near the runway at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. He gave it to the Hershey Museum when he returned to the United States.

Museum spokeswoman Amy Taber said it was possible that Byrd's expedition members buried the bar with other food items along the route while going out on a field trip, intending to dig it up on the return trip to the base.

''If it was not needed, it was not dug up,'' she said.

The 1937 Ration Bar, featured in an exhibit that includes information about Byrd's exploration, will remain on public view through Jan. 31.

On the Net:

http://www.hersheymuseum.org/

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2001