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Let’s Talk Trash! JAN / FEB 2023
candy hearts. Long before texting was a thing, people used another method to send their special someone a sweet message:
Candy hearts have been around so long, they’ve just become a tradition for our Valentine’s Day celebrations. B ut did you ever stop and wonder what genius came up with the idea for these candies and why they continue to be such a major part of Valentine’s Day? they’re Really Old Founded in 1847, one of the oldest candy companies in the United States, Necco, created the original candy hearts, Sweethearts, in 1866. Daniel Chase built a machine that would press food dye letters onto candy lozenges made famous by his brother and Necco founder Oliver Chase. The company has been making Sweethearts since 1902. They’re Still Made the Same Way Since Necco first began manufacturing Sweethearts, the company has used pretty much the same process. First, corn syrup, sugar, gelatin and food coloring are mixed together to make the dough. Then, it gets put on a machine to be stretched and rolled. A print plate with letters on it places the messages on the dough in red ink. They’re then cut into heart shapes and left to dry for two to three days.
So Many Candy Hearts, So Little Time Every year, Necco cranks out 10 to 14 million pounds of Sweethearts, which ends up being about 4.8 billion to 6.7 billion individual hearts. It Was at First a Big Hit at Weddings Before Sweethearts became the treat du jour of elementary school Valentine’s Day celebrations, they first gained popularity at weddings. Back then, the candy hearts were also quite larger than the ones we eat today, so they could handle longer nuptials-themed sentiments like “Married in White, you have chosen right.” People Still Have Marriage on the Brain Even today, Sweethearts have a strong association with marriage. The “Marry Me” message on the hearts is still requested the most among customers. The Hearts, They Are A-Changin’ Perhaps Sweethearts have remained an essential part of American culture for more than 100 years because Necco does an impressive job of adapting the candy hearts to the changing social landscape. The Atlantic’s Megan Garber took a deep dive into this topic and showed that the Sweethearts’ messages reflect changes in how Americans speak and what they talk about. The Internet revolution of the 1990s ushered in messages like “CALL ME,” “EMAIL ME” and “FAX ME.” Necco capitalized on Twilight mania a few years ago with vampire-themed messages like “BITE ME,” “DAZZLE” and “LIVE 4 EVER.” The company even got a little political with an “OCCUPY MY HEART” saying.
This Year’s New Messages Aren’t Just Words Keeping with the changing times, Necco not only has new messages on Sweethearts this year but also new pictures. You’ll notice emoji-like smiley faces and mustaches on your Sweethearts this year, in addition to new phrases that include “PUGS & KITTENS,” “TE AMO” and “GIRL POWER.” Candy Hearts Dominate Valentine’s Day You’re probably going to give your date a box of candy hearts this Valentine’s Day. Sweethearts make up 40 percent of the Valentine’s Day candy market. That’s just behind chocolate. In fact, health app MyFitnessPal found that Americans are 3,777% more likely to eat candy hearts on Valentine’s Day, making conversation hearts “the most Valentine-specific food.” Do This With Your Leftover Candy Hearts When you’ve reached the point where you’ve eaten so many candy hearts that you’re only speaking in the little messages written on them, that probably means it’s time to put them away for the year. However, that also gives you a chance to try this fun little experiment from Scientific American. If you put candy hearts in a glass of soda, they’ll float down to the bottom of the glass and then up again and so on in a kind of “dance.” - See more at: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/32715/20150213/ valentines-day-candy-hearts-facts.htm#sthash.bVUkLUB0.dpuf
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