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conversation hearts

Would It Be Valentine’s Day Without Colorful Candy Hearts?

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How Did Candy Conversation Hearts Get To Be A Symbol Of Valentine’s Day?

Cupid would have loved candy hearts — romantic American colonists certainly did. They had their own form of text messages hundreds of years ago, no internet required. Instead, they used candy messages — they would give gifts of homemade hard candy with messages etched into the surface to their sweethearts.

Years later the founder of NECCO and his brother, who developed the process of printing red vegetable dye mottos on candy, turned this tradition into a business.

The candy’s original shape wasn’t a heart, but a seashell shape called a “cockle,” with a message written on a colored slip of paper wedged into the cockle’s shell. NECCO started producing candy with mottos stamped on them in 1900, but the candy was in shapes like horseshoes and baseballs that allowed for longer printed sayings like “How long shall I have to wait?” and “Pray be considerate.” The candy called Sweethearts wasn’t shaped as a heart until 1902.

Sweethearts And Motto Hearts

NECCO still uses their original recipe, process, and machines they used at the turn of the century. Putting out approximately 100,000 pounds of candy a day, it takes about 11 months to produce the

more than eight billion pieces — or about 13 million pounds – of colorful candy sweethearts that are sold in the six weeks before Valentine’s Day. The little hearts with messages account for 40% of the Valentine candy market, just behind – you guessed it – chocolate!

Don’t You Love The Messages – and They’re Low in Calories, Too

“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk.” The brightly colored hearts with the familiar sayings stamped in red are also known as conversation hearts and sweethearts. The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”

The sayings and flavors have been updated over the years and periodically new ones are added. Some of the newer flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

The candy is quite popular — NECCO sells out of their hearts, 100,000 pounds a day, in six weeks.

Although you’d be hard pressed to call candy conversation hearts nutritious, they are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts. If only chocolate was as low in calories!

Cupid Would Have Loved Candy Hearts

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Candy hearts

Romantic American colonists certainly did. They had their own form of text messages hundreds of years ago, no internet required. Instead, they used candy messages — they would give gifts of homemade hard candy with messages etched into the surface to their sweethearts.

Years later the founder NECCO and his brother, who developed the process of printing red vegetable dye mottos on candy, turned this tradition into a business.

The candy’s original shape wasn’t a heart, but a seashell shape called a “cockle,” with a message written on a colored slip of paper wedged into the cockle’s shell. NECCO started producing candy with mottos stamped on them in 1900, but the candy was in shapes like horseshoes and baseballs that allowed for longer printed sayings like “How long shall I have to wait?” and “Pray be considerate.” The candy called Sweethearts wasn’t shaped as a heart until 1902.

Sweethearts, Conversation Hearts, and Motto Hearts

NECCO still uses their original recipe, process, and machines they used at the turn of the century. Putting out approximately 100,000 pounds of candy a day, it takes about 11 months to produce the more than eight billion pieces — or about 13 million pounds – of colorful candy sweethearts that are sold in the six weeks before Valentine’s Day. The little hearts with messages account for 40% of the Valentine candy market, just behind – you guessed it – chocolate!

Don’t You Love The Messages – and They’re Low in Calories, Too

“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk.” The brightly colored hearts with the familiar sayings stamped in red are also known as conversation hearts and sweethearts. The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”

The sayings and flavors have been updated over the years and periodically new ones are added. Some of the newer flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

The candy is quite popular — NECCO sells out of their hearts, 100,000 pounds a day, in six weeks.

Although you’d be hard pressed to call candy conversation hearts nutritious, they are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts.

How Did Candy Conversation Hearts Get To Be A Symbol Of Valentine’s Day?

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Converstaion Heart Favorite Saying

Oh those romantic American colonists! They would give gifts of homemade hard candy with messages etched into the surface to their sweethearts.

Years later the founder of NECCO and his brother, who developed the process of printing red vegetable dye mottos on candy, turned this tradition into a business.

The candy’s original shape wasn’t a heart, but a seashell shape called a “cockle,” with a message written on a colored slip of paper wedged into the cockle’s shell. NECCO started producing candy with mottos stamped on them in 1900, but the candy was in shapes like horseshoes and baseballs that allowed for longer printed sayings like “How long shall I have to wait?” and “Pray be considerate.” The candy called Sweethearts wasn’t shaped as a heart until 1902.

Sweethearts And Motto Hearts

NECCO still uses their original recipe, process, and machines they used at the turn of the century. Putting out approximately 100,000 pounds of candy a day, it takes about 11 months to produce the more than eight billion pieces — or about 13 million pounds – of colorful candy sweethearts that are sold in the six weeks before Valentine’s Day. The little hearts with messages account for 40% of the Valentine candy market, just behind – you guessed it – chocolate!

Don’t You Love The Messages – and They’re Low in Calories, Too

“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk.” The brightly colored hearts with the familiar sayings stamped in red are also known as conversation hearts and sweethearts. The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”

The sayings and flavors have been updated over the years and periodically new ones are added. Some of the newer flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

The candy is quite popular — NECCO sells out of their hearts, 100,000 pounds a day, in six weeks.

Although you’d be hard pressed to call candy conversation hearts nutritious, they are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts.

Memories Of Childhood: Heart-Shaped Candy With A Special Message

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Conversation-Hearts-remember-theseDo you remember getting — or giving – those pastel candy hearts and secretly hoping that you’d get one with a special message?  Maybe you still share them with those special to you – or help your kids pick the ones they want to share.

“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “XOXO”

The brightly colored hearts with familiar sayings — known as conversation hearts, motto hearts, and sweethearts — have been a Valentine’s Day treat since 1902. Their manufacturer, NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company in business since 1847, sells more than 8 billion candy conversation hearts a year.

How Did Candy Conversation Hearts Get To Be A Symbol Of Valentine’s Day?

Giving a gift of candy with an inscribed message can be traced back to the American colonists who shared homemade hard candy with messages etched into the surface with their sweethearts.

Years later after developing the process of printing red vegetable dye mottos on candy, the founder of NECCO and his brother turned this tradition into a business.

The candy’s original shape wasn’t a heart, but a seashell shape called a “cockle.” A message was written on a colored slip of paper that was wedged into the cockle’s shell.

NECCO started producing candy with mottos stamped on them in 1900, but the candy was shaped like horseshoes and baseballs that allowed for longer printed sayings like “How long shall I have to wait?” and  “Pray be considerate.” The candy called Sweethearts wasn’t shaped as a heart until 1902.

The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”  The sayings and flavors have been updated over the years with new ones added periodically. Some of the newer flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

Candy Heart Facts

NECCO still uses the original recipe, process, and machines they used at the turn of the century to make the candy, producing 100,000 pounds a day. It takes about 11 months to produce the more than eight billion pieces — or about 13 million pounds – of colorful candy sweethearts that are sold in the six weeks before Valentine’s Day.  The little hearts with messages account for 40% of the Valentine candy market, just behind – you guessed it – chocolate!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although you’d be hard pressed to call them nutritious, the candy hearts are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories for each small heart and about 6 calories for each larger “Motto” heart.

 

Are You Ready For Some Conversation (Hearts)?

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“Be Mine,” “Kiss me,”  “Sweet Talk, ” “Tweet Me.”

Candy hearts, originally called motto hearts, the brightly colored heart shaped candy with the stamped red sayings, have been iconic Valentine’s Day treats since 1902.

Also known as conversation hearts, motto hearts, and sweethearts, they’re manufactured by NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company, which has been in business since 1847.

How Did Candy Conversation Hearts Get To Be A Symbol Of Valentine’s Day?

Giving a gift of candy with a message inscribed on it can be traced back to the American colonists who gave homemade hard candy with messages etched into the surface to their sweethearts.

Years later, Oliver Chase, the founder NECCO and his brother Daniel, who developed the process of printing red vegetable dye mottos on the candy, turned this tradition into a business.

The candy’s original shape wasn’t a heart, but a seashell shape called a “cockle.” A message was written on a colored slip of paper that was wedged into the cockle’s shell. NECCO started producing candy with mottos stamped on them in 1900, but the candy was in shapes like horseshoes and baseballs that allowed for longer printed sayings like “How long shall I have to wait?” and  “Pray be considerate.” The candy called Sweethearts wasn’t shaped as a heart until 1902.

Sweethearts And Motto Hearts

The original candies with printed sayings were called “motto hearts.”  The sayings and flavors have been updated over the years with new ones added periodically. Some of the newer flavors are strawberry, green apple, lemon, grape, orange, and blue raspberry and new sayings include “Tweet Me,” “Text Me,” “You Rock,” “Soul Mate,” “Love Bug,” and “Me + You.”

NECCO still uses their original recipe, process, and machines they used at the turn of the century. Putting out approximately 100,000 pounds of candy a day, it takes about 11 months to produce the more than eight billion pieces — or about 13 million pounds – of colorful candy sweethearts that are sold in the six weeks before Valentine’s Day.  The little hearts with messages account for 40% of the Valentine candy market, just behind – you guessed it – chocolate!

Although you’d be hard pressed to call them nutritious, they are fat free, sodium free, and a caloric bargain at about 3 calories apiece for the small hearts and about 6 calories apiece for the larger “Motto” hearts.