Sweets for My Sweet by Jo-Ann Roberts

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The after-Christmas sales had barely started when store clerks filled the shelves with conversation hearts, truffles galore, and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates—symbols of the next worldwide holiday: Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is actually named for two different Roman saints, both called Valentine and both unconnected to romantic love. Though legend persists the original St. Valentine was a priest who performed illegal marriages for the emperor’s soldiers, there is no evidence to suggest this ever happened. The first mention of St. Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday appeared in writing in 1382. In medieval times, knights would give roses to their maidens and celebrate their beauty in songs.

But sugar was still a precious commodity in Europe, so there was no talk of exchanging candy gifts.

Fast forward five hundred years. By the 1840s, the notion of Valentine’s Day as a holiday to celebrate romantic love had taken over most of the English-speaking world. The Victorians adored the notion of chase courtly love and showered each other with elaborate cards and gifts.

The First Valentine’s Day Box of Chocolates

Into this love-crazed fray came Richard Cadbury, son of a British chocolate manufacturing family who was responsible for sales at a crucial point in his company’s history. He had recently improved its chocolate-making process by extracting pure cocoa butter from whole beans, thus producing a more palatable drinking chocolate than most Britons had ever tasted. This resulted in an overabundance of cocoa butter which he called “eating chocolate.” Quickly, Cadbury recognized a great marketing opportunity for the new chocolates and began selling them in beautifully decorated boxes that he designed.

From that point, it was a quick jump to taking the familiar images of cupids and roses and putting them on heart-shaped boxes. While Cadbury didn’t actually patent the heart-shaped box, it is widely believed that he was the first to produce one. His boxes had a dual purpose. When the chocolates had all been eaten, the pretty boxes could be used to store mementos, from locks of hair to love letters. The boxes grew increasingly elaborate until the outbreak of World War II when sugar was rationed, and Valentine’s Day celebrations were scaled back. But Victorian-era Cadbury boxes still exist, and many are treasured family heirlooms or valuable items prized by collectors.

Conversation Hearts

The story of conversation hearts, also known as Sweethearts, began in 1847, when a Boston pharmacist named Oliver Chase longed for a way to get in on the apothecary lozenge craze. Lozenges were quickly gaining steam as the medicine conveyance of choice and were also popular remedies for sore throats and bad breath. But making them was complicated and time-consuming—the process involved a mortar and pestle, kneading dough, rolling it out, and cutting it into discs that would eventually become lozenges.

There had to be a better way, and Oliver came up with it. Inspired by the new wave of gadgets and tools that hit America as it industrialized, he invented a machine that rolled lozenge dough and pressed wafers into perfect discs. Oliver had inadvertently created America’s first candy-making machine, and before long, he had abandoned his pharmacy business to crank out miles of what would become New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) wafers.

Legend has it that Oliver’s NECCO wafers were carried by Civil War soldiers, and some speculate that the tradition of sending loving greetings to the troops morphed into the conversation heart, but those claims are difficult to verify. What is clear is that as Oliver built his candy empire, his brother Daniel decided he wanted a piece of the action.

Inspired by the growing market for Valentine’s cards (which were popularized in the United States by Esther Howland, also a resident of Boston at the time), Daniel wondered if it would be possible to print sentimental messages on candy. In 1866, he figured out a way to print words on candy with vegetable dye during the cutting process.

People loved conversation candies (they weren’t available in heart shapes until 1902) and their witty messages, which could stoke the flames of love or warn off flaky suitors. Daniel’s candies were bigger than today’s version and had phrases like “MARRIED IN WHITE YOU HAVE CHOSEN RIGHT” and “HOW LONG SHALL I HAVE TO WAIT? PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE” emblazoned on a pastel, scalloped wafer.

By the turn of the century, the conversation heart was a Valentine’s cliché. Here’s how they were used at a Boston party in 1911:

“Partners for the evening were found by means of candy “motto” hearts. These were broken in two, and each young lady was given a piece, but the men were obliged to hunt for theirs. As they were carefully hidden, this took some length of time and proved an excellent ‘ice breaker.’ The silly mottoes were read with laughter as the couples chose their tables.”

Over the years, conversation hearts lost size but gained many more phrases. In 2016, NECCO estimated it made 8 billion conversation hearts a year. Now, the Spangler Candy Company produces the cheeky confections.

Hershey’s Kisses

First introduced in 1907, it is not known exactly how the kisses got their name. But one theory suggests they were named for the kissing sound the chocolate made while being deposited on the manufacturing line. It wasn’t until 1962 that Hershey Kisses were first wrapped in red and green foil to celebrate Christmas. Today, to celebrate Valentine’s Day, kisses are wrapped in red foil.

What is your favorite Valentine’s Day candy?

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Author at JMV Creative Enterprise | jrobertsauthor@yahoo.com | Website |  + posts

Born and raised in western Massachusetts, Jo-Ann Roberts was fascinated by America’s Old West and always felt she was destined to travel on a wagon train following the Oregon Trail. With her love of history and reading, she began reading historical romance during high school and college. Victoria Holt, Jude Deveraux, and Roseanne Bittner were among her favorites. Influenced by her father, she fell in love with John Wayne, James Garner, and her all-time favorite, James Stewart and grew up watching Wagon Train, Bonanza and Rawhide.
A firm believer in HEA with a healthy dose of realism, Jo-Ann strives to give her readers a sweet historical romance while imparting carefully researched historical facts, personalities, and experiences relative to the time period. Her romances take her readers back to a simpler time to escape the stress of modern life by living in a small town where families and friends help one another find love and happiness.
When she isn’t creating believable plots and relatable heroes and heroines, Jo-Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandson. She also enjoys baking, quilting and eating way too much chocolate.
After 38 years in public education in Connecticut and Maryland, she’s now calls North Carolina home.

36 thoughts on “Sweets for My Sweet by Jo-Ann Roberts”

  5. Hello Jo-Ann! Thanks for the history article today! I was thinking of the small cards we used to hand out to our classmates in school! Too funny. Guess it was a thing back then too. I think red, pink, and silver covered kisses is my favorite! I’ll need to get some and give to my grandson. My husband loves Turtles!

    Many blessings!

    • Welcome, Tracy. I love Hershey’s kisses, too, no matter the color! I always had a jar in my desk when I was teaching. They were my go-to afternoon boost to get through the school day. Happy Valentine’s Day.

  9. Anything that is chocolate is a favorite of mine, but right now I am really like the Lindor Truffles

  10. Good morning, I loved this post, Thank you. My favorite candy are the Peanut M&M’s or the Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Have a great day and a Very Happy Valentines Day.

    • Welcome, Alicia. Oh, yes! Plain or peanut M&Ms are always a good choice. They are easy to transport and easy to pop into your mouth when no one is looking! Ha! Ha! Ha! Happy Valentine’s Day.
      P.S. So pleased you enjoyed the post.

  13. WOW I knew some of that but learned more about Valentine’s and it’s candies. Thank you for that.
    I’m a milk chocolate gal and if it has caramel inside all the better. haha

    • Welcome, Carrie! I’m pleased you found the information interesting. I so enjoy discovering little tidbits about the history of everyday items. Milk chocolate & caramel? What a great combination! Happy Valentine’s Day.

  17. While I do enjoy the Hershey kisses, I also like the gummy cherry hearts and the conversation hearts. The NECCO wafers were always favorites and I would buy several bags of their conversation hearts every year. I still get them, but think the NECCO brand hearts were better. A box of Whitman or Russel Stover chocolates certainly wouldn’t be refused.

  18. Such an interesting article about Valentines and candy. One of my favorite candies as a child were Necco’s. Still love them when I can find them. Cracker Barrel used to carry them but not sure if they still do. My favorite Valentine candy was the kind made from the same candy as Halloween pumpkins and corn candy. They were kind of a firm cream candy that came in red, white and pink. Shapes included hearts and cupids. Not sure why they quit making them. At one time they also made Christmas candy like this with trees, snowmen, Santas, etc. I also miss the candy Easter eggs that were hard on outside with marshmallow cream inside. Can’t find them anymore either. At one time they came individually wrapped and were called Hide and Seek eggs. Sorry to get sidetracked. lol Must be hungry for candy.

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