Everything You Need to Know About This Valentine’s Day Candy

Everyone who celebrates Valentine’s day knows that conversation hearts are a must-have at any Galentine’s or Valentine’s party. But where did these little candies with romantic sayings come from? What are they made of? We had so many questions, and we found the answers just in time for Valentine’s day. Here is everything you need to know about conversation hearts in order to impress at your upcoming Valentine’s get-together.  

First, these candies are old. Like old, old. Conversation hearts were invented in the mid-1800s, making them over 100 years old. The idea to produce these candies started when the brother of Oliver R. Chase, who invented the machine that makes the candy, wanted to put sayings on the candy that the machine produced. His name was Daniel Chase, and he pursued this idea by making another machine that would stamp the saying onto the candy. Little did he know that his idea would be so successful, and would go on for decades to come. How cool, right?

The real question is, what are we really eating on Valentine’s day when we crack open a bag of these hearts? The answer is simple really. The ingredients include sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, gums, coloring, and flavoring. I am going to voluntarily ignore this information because they are too good to worry about how bad they may be for you. 

While what the candy is made of might not have changed over the years, the sayings have. The original candy used to have sayings referring to marriage, which made them a common item to have at your wedding. The hearts said things like “Married in pink, he will take a drink”. Which sounds a little cheesy if you ask me. But the cringe doesn’t go away with time. Today, the hearts have evolved from sayings regarding marriage, and now regard love in more general terms. Some of the most common sayings that are seen today are things like “be mine” and “tweet me”. See, told you they still came with some cringe sayings even today. But, they are a classic, so we will give them a pass. 

Now for the most interesting part, the amount of conversation hearts that are produced today is actually insane. According to Better Homes & Gardens (Linked Here), conversation hearts are produced from late February to January of the next year, which results in more than 8 billion hearts. 8 billion hearts people. And this isn’t even the most shocking part, all 8 billion-plus of these hearts sell out in a short time period of six weeks. So you better grab them while they are there because apparently they sell fast. 

Now that you are an expert on conversation hearts, go and buy some for this Valentine’s day and show off. Not only will you look like you know your stuff but you might score a new Valentine off of it too if you don’t already have one.

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