The Colorful and Tasty History of Candy Hearts

Valentine’s Day is looming on the horizon and we’ll soon start seeing the ubiquitous candy heart appear in every candy shop and drugstore. With such endearingly sweet sayings as “True Love” and “Kiss Me”, these sugary sweet little candies have warmed and soothed the hearts of men and women since earlier times.

If you take a closer look at candy heart history, you’ll be surprised to learn that about eight billion candy hearts are sold each February in preparation for Valentine’s Day. The company that produces these candies is the well known NECCO candy company, the company that manufactures the popular multi-flavored NECCO wafers. They call their version of the candy heart, appropriately enough, Sweethearts.

When did these little candies first appear on the American scene? The candy heart has been in existence since the mid 1800’s when the brother of NECCO’s founder, Olive Chase, devised a method for printing cute sayings onto the surface of candy. Originally these printed candies were used as novelty items at parties and weddings and weren’t specifically designed with Valentine’s Day in mind. In the early 1900’s, candy heart history was forever changed when the Sweetheart candy heart made its debut, capturing the minds (and hearts) of candy lovers everywhere.

As you might imagine, candy heart messages have changed considerably over the past 150 years, although some of the original sayings are still being used today. These include the classics such as “Be Mine” and “True Love”. As might be expected, in today’s modern age, candy heart sayings have become more diversified and even a bit racy with such messages as “Hairy Chest” and “Let’s Sin” being seen on candy hearts, although these may not have been manufactured by the NECCO Company who has kept their sayings more family appropriate.

If you don’t like the taste of candy hearts, you can still enjoy them by using them as candy heart décor to decorate photo frames, candy heart wreaths, and fill clear glass jars during the month of February. They also look pretty perched on top of cakes and cupcakes. You don’t even have to feel guilty if you pop one in your mouth since they have only three calories per heart.

When it comes to candy heart history, it’s nice to know that some things never change. The NECCO Company has been using the same sweet recipe to produce their candy hearts as they did over a hundred years ago. And candy hearts are still being handed out as expressions of love just as they were in the early 1900’s.