February…a month to celebrate love…. here comes Valentines Day!
The History of Conversation Hearts
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Queen Gertrude offers the now-loved sentiment ‘Sweets to the Sweet.’ Perhaps this is the origin of the tradition of giving candy to a loved one. Early American colonists made homemade candies with love notes scratched on the surface for Valentine’s Day.
In 1860, Daniel Chase, invented the process to print motto candies. Originally, the candies were ‘cockles’ – small, crisp, scallop shell-shaped candy wrapped in colored paper with printed sayings. The Sweet Hearts, the name used for candies with mottos inscribed directly on them, were invented in 1900. 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.’ This enabled would-be-lovers to send messages to each other.
As time went on, the sayings became shorter and more to the point. The familiar heart shape was also produced. Original sayings include: be mine, kiss me and my man. Every year new sayings are added.
Today, conversation hearts are a popular Valentine’s Day candies. People all over the country love to give them to their valentines and they are especially popular with school children.
At least 10 new conversation heart sayings are introduced each year. Recent additions include “Yeah Right”, “Call Home” and “Puppy Love”
Daisy Says: “Be Mine”
