| Valentine ’ s Day |
Origins of the heart-shaped chocolate box
Hearts abound on February 14 , and few symbols ( and gifts ) are more widely associated with a holiday than heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are with Valentine ’ s Day .
Chocolates became trendy in the mid-19th century when the first chocolate bar was made by British company J . S . Fry & Sons by combining cacao powder with sugar and cacao butter to make a rich , melt-in-yourmouth treat that was markedly different than the gritty and greasy drinking chocolate that was losing popularity in Europe . Within a few years , competitor Cadbury introduced the first box of chocolates . It was called the “ Fancy Box ” and it didn ’ t take long to become wildly popular .
The marriage of chocolate and heart-shaped boxes seemed a natural progression , but the National Valentine Collectors Association says that heart-shaped boxes actually predate chocolate boxes . Various heart-shaped vessels , including “ betrothal pendants ” and silver boxes in the shape of hearts , were popularized a century earlier . There even were heart-shaped porcelain boxes as well as ones for sewing .
Having already introduced a chocolate box , Richard Cadbury marketed the first Valentine ’ s Day box in 1861 . It was filled with delicious chocolates , and later could be saved as a keepsake to store special notes or other mementos , according to the North American Packaging Association . Furthermore , the gift fit with
Victorian sensibilities in that it was demurely suggestive , NPR reports . Its introduction coincided perfectly with Valentine ’ s Day , which also soared in popularity around the same time .
Giving chocolate on Valentine ’ s Day also proved popular in North America . The American chocolate company Hershey ’ s introduced its Hershey ’ s Kisses in 1907 , and in 1912 the Whitman ’ s Sampler arrived . In the 1920s , Russell Stover unveiled their own heart-shaped boxes , which today still include the “ Red Foil Heart ” and the “ Secret Lace Heart .” Russell Stover has since become the No . 1 boxed chocolate brand in the United States .
Today , more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes holding 58 million pounds of chocolate are sold each year , reports the education resource SoftSchools . They have become a quintessential symbol of Valentine ’ s Day celebrations .
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