Valentine's Day candy, specifically the popular Valentine's Day Candy Hearts, had its origin several hundred years ago in the Thirteen Colonies, when on Valentine's Day, English colonists would give Valentine's Day candies to each other which had love notes that were "inscribed" on the surface of the candy. Examples of these notes included: "Be Mine", "Sweet Talk", and "Kiss Me". I imagine those early Valentine's Day candies were big enough to "write" a message on by scratching it onto the candy, otherwise, those colonies must have had great eyesight!
In 1847, the oldest multiline candy company in the U.S. was founded in Revere, Massachusetts. It was named the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO for short). In 1886, Daniel Chase, who was the brother of NECCO's founder, Oliver Chase, invented a special process which enabled a saying of one's choice to be printed on the candy and so Valentines Day candy in the shape of a heart would henceforth become candy with a personal message printed on it. In fact, since 1900, over 250 billion Valentine candy hearts and candy hearts in general have been produced by NECCO. That's a lot of people with lots of inner messages and inner heart in them!
In fact, the process developed by Daniel Chase to inscribe sayings on Valentine's Day candies meant that Valentine's Day candies from NECCO would come in various sizes and shapes so as to fit longer messages on them. Shapes such as a u-shaped horseshoe (symbolizing good luck), the roundness of baseballs, and square/shaped or rectangular-shaped postcards were used to fit sizable messages which appealed to those who wanted to express their feelings with more than a simple word or two. However, Valentine's Day candies today must have messages which are quickly to the point, as NECCO's website states that "each saying can be no longer than two lines of four letters on the small hearts and two lines of six letters on the large hearts".
Now that you know about the origin of Valentine's Day candy hearts, it's time to get thinking on a great personal message to put on whatever Valentine's Day candy you decide to purchase.
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