♥Quirky Little Hearts♥

Moving on with the 'love' theme, we continue the count down toward Valentine's Day. During my own childhood days, strong remembrances linger playfully in my mind of the cutest Valentine candy ever: the Conversation Hearts. The soft candies spoke very loud having a lot to say, quirky sayings with just a few words. Making the decisions of who should receive what was just as much fun as eating the candy. The wrong one to the right person made for a very taunting day.
  

How many times have you spelled love with tiny candy hearts? Do you know how the sweet morsels of love got started – when, where and by whom? What were they like in the beginning? You know there must be a story from the past to the present. Well, on Valentine's morning awaken those you love to a little trivia. Share newly found knowledge with your family and friends about the all-ages emblem of Valentine's candy to make the day a little more interesting.

Embrace the Past...

1847

Oliver R. Chase of Boston invents and patents the first American candy machine, a lozenge cutter. This marks the founding of the nation's candy industry, the beginning of commercial manufacture. With his brother, Silas Edwin, he founds Chase and Company, the pioneer member of the NECCO family.

1866

Conversation hearts were invented by Daniel Chase, brother of NECCO's founder. These first hearts had printed paper notes tucked inside. The lengthy, old-fashioned sayings included such wistful thoughts as "Please send a lock of your hair by return mail."

Present Day

Every Valentine's Day the company presents new messages on the tiny colored hearts that have been a holiday tradition since the Civil War. NECCO must produce about 100,000 pounds of the candy hearts every day in order to meet the Valentine demand, when about 8 billion hearts are sold in six weeks. In the 21st century, the messages are quite different with some unusual mated pairs, such as, Be Mine, 4 the Weekend; Kiss Me, Just Not in Public; Too Sweet, Need Some Space; I <3 You, Not Ready to Use the L Word yet.

What was/is your favorite Conversation Heart? Each tiny heart in the poem below offers a quick refresher of some original sayings...

Conversation Candy

 (Those quirky little hearts!)

February brings expressions of love
Stamped on tiny candy hearts

Which ones to eat, which ones to share?

Questions arise before sending starts

Valentine, Be Mine, the ones of first choice
Add up to more than just a few
Intended for those very special friends
Some of whom even receive two

 

Next in line, a choice of mine
White with pink letters, Cutie Pie
Sweet and cute as a button
The ones nobody would deny

Let me see, the next ones I’ll eat

Kiss Me, the blue one, quickly disappears

My lips alone enjoy this treat

As a sly grin instantly appears

Then there lay the perfect pair
Best Friends they both represent
Expressly set aside for buddies
With whom the best times I spent 

What's left? Sweetheart, True Love,
Love You Forever, all meant for just one
Gathered, bagged, tied with a string
Stored in a box 'til time to be undone

©Remembering
Sharla Lee Shults