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An Invention Made for Valentine's Day
Ahh, Valentine's Day: a time for helpless romantics to send flowers, profess their undying love and pass out heart-shaped candy inscribed with coy little missives of devotion. Foodgeeks.com writes, "Those little candy hearts with Valentine quotes could possibly be the greatest thing invented to celebrate Valentine's Day."
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Of course, they are referring to Conversation Hearts (AKA: Sweet Hearts; AKA: candy hearts) produced by New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) that feature a romantically inspired message on each little heart-shaped candy. But how did this curious confection come to be a Valentine's day staple?
The practice of making a gift of candy with a message inscribed on it has been traced back to the American colonies. Colonists would make homemade hard candies and etch messages into the surface to give to a sweetheart. It took Oliver Chase, who founded NECCO and his brother Daniel, who developed the process of printing mottoes on candy in 1860, to turn this tradition into an enterprise.
The original shape of the famous candy, however, was that of a seashell called a "cockle," not a heart, with the message printed on a slip of paper wedged into shell. It wasn't until 1900 that NECCO produced candies called Sweet Hearts with mottoes printed directly on the candy. Still, the candy wasn't shaped to match its name until 1902. Between the cockle and the heart shapes, NECCO developed candy shapes that allowed longer messages. According to the National Confectioners Association Web site (candyusa.org), "The candy was cut into shapes like horseshoes and baseballs. This allowed for longer sayings to be printed on them such as How long shall I have to wait? Pray be considerate."
The passage of time has reduced the length of the message NECCO places on the candy hearts, and in 1990 NECCO started producing annual new sayings to match contemporary sensibilities. According to candyusa.org, "Walter Marshall, who is responsible for developing the sayings on NECCO candy hearts, gets suggestions from his nine grandchildren to reflect the attitude young people have toward love. Recent additions include You Go Girl and Yeah Right."
They still make some original sayings, such as Be Mine and Kiss Me, but have discontinued old sayings that hold little relevance to today's consumer. Other new sayings include IM me ("Instant Message Me"), New Love and 3 Wishes.
One thing that never changed is the method of the candy's production. NECCO continues to use the original recipe, process and machines used at the turn of the century. It takes about 11 months, producing approximately 100,000 pounds a day to produce the 8 billion hearts that will be shipped during the six weeks around Valentine's Day.
NECCO is the longest continuously operating candy company in the United States and their Sweet Heart Conversation Heart has achieved iconic status. InventHelp® believes the original founder's inventive ingenuity is a prime example of how invention can have historical and continual impact on the world. We applaud NECCO for keeping this creative tradition going. You go Necco!
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