According to Google, more than eight billion conversation hearts are manufactured and sold during February.
Three thousand of the heart-shaped sweets are produced each minute, making up 40% of the non-chocolate Valentine’s Day candy.
Although they are a well-known candy during the love season, their history is not so much.
So, what is the conversation behind the sweet, pastel candy hearts better known as Sweethearts?
In 1847, lozenges were in high demand from apothecaries. To help with production, Oliver Chase invented a medicine cutting machine, reducing production time.
Chase began producing lozenges, a mixture of sugar and medication that soothed sore throats and reduced bad breath. He later transitioned to candy production.
Through collaboration with his brother Silas Edwin, they created Chase and Company, later to be renamed as the New England Confectionary Company, better known as NECCO, which gained popularity during the Civil War.
“Necco Wafers continued to be a popular candy for decades,” Bailey Fink in Allrecipes writes. “Because they were portable and wouldn’t melt, they were often shipped overseas.”
So, how exactly did the idea of conversation hearts come about?
Friends and families were sending love letters to soldiers. Since they were already receiving Necco Wafers in the mail, loved ones thought that instead of sending the letter and candy separately, they should combine them.
However, this wasn’t an original idea’
Fink writes, “The idea for conversation hearts came from the candy’s predecessor, a scalloped candy that had a message written on colored paper tucked inside like a fortune cookie.”
To appease the consumers, Chase’s brother Daniel invented a machine that stamped messages on the Necco Wafers in the 1860s using a red vegetable dye.
Daniel expanded his candy range by printing messages on candy of all shapes including horseshoes, baseballs and watches.
Instead of the short, sweet phrases that are imprinted on the candy hearts, Daniel’s candy had longer phrases such as, “How long shall I have to wait? Please be considerate,” “Please send a lock of your hair by return mail” and “Married in satin, love will not be lasting.”
In 1901, the heart shape was introduced and the Sweethearts became a staple Valentine’s Day candy with sweet and short one-liners like, “Be Mine,” “Me + you,” “Kiss me” and “True love.”
While NECCO produced Sweethearts for years, Fink writes, “NECCO declared bankruptcy and shut its doors in 2018, with Spangler Candy acquiring the rights to the candy in 2019. Because of this, Necco Wafers and Sweethearts were not produced for two years, but both were brought back in 2020 due to popular demand.”
Since their re-introduction, Sweethearts has continued to be the most popular Valentines Day candy outside of chocolate with new heart themes and phrases being introduced each year.
This year’s Sweetheart theme is “Love is in the Economy.” The theme is targeted towards modern daters and acknowledges how financial troubles can affect relationships.
Some phrases include, “Split Rent,” “Share Login,” “Car Pool,” “Buy N Bulk” and “Cook For Two.”
While Necco Wafers kicked off the candy message trend, Sweethearts sweet messages continue to be a Valentine’s Day staple, perfect for lovers or even a friend.