For generations, Valentine’s Day has not been complete without at least one box of Conversation Hearts. You know them when you see them. Also known as Sweethearts, they’re the super sweet, heart-shaped treats with phrases like, ‘Be Mine’ and ‘Kiss Me’ emblazoned on the front. A staple of school parties and a beloved addition to candy drawers everywhere, Conversation Hearts have truly been a cornerstone of the sweetest holiday of the year for generations.
Unfortunately, all those days spent loving (or loving to hate) Conversation Hearts will soon become just a memory. NECCO, the original manufacturer of Conversation Hearts went out of business last year, leaving fans of the candy wondering what would happen to this time-tested favorite.
This news has left a bitter taste in the candy world. While the fate of this treat hangs in the balance, we are all left wondering how to get our fill of our favorite sweets this February 14th. Whether Conversation Hearts were always your first pick, or if they were the candy you ended up eating after your chocolate stash ran out, they were always there, consistently sweetening up even the dreariest February days.
Spangler Candy Company currently owns the Sweethearts brand, but, having only acquired the brand in September, the company has reported that they did not have time to produce this perennial treat in time for Valentine’s Day. Although Spangler has intentions of bringing the candy back in 2020, there’s no guarantee that we’ll get our beloved Conversation Hearts next year either.
Have any special Sweethearts memories you’d like to share? We’d love to hear! WANT TO WIN OUR LAST 1 POUND BAG OF NECCO CONVERSATION HEARTS? Simply tell us your most memorable Sweethearts moments in the comments below to enter. Keep the spirit of the Conversation Heart alive as we wait to see what next year will bring.
And while you may try to fill the void with other seasonal favorites, there is truly nothing else quite as special as a Conversation Heart.
As Valentine’s Day is a day of love and candy, I decided to do a little research as to why. We all know that the big Hallmark holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day are all about candy, but have you ever thought about why you are stuffing chocolates into your mouth? Ancient Romans were the first ones to start the Valentine’s Day tradition. There were two different Saint Valentines that the holiday was named after. Every year around mid February, the Romans held an enormous festival called Lupercalia. This contained a feast in which the single young adults ate treats, drank alcohol, got to know each other, and would get married if everything went how the adults hoped it would. But his year to prepare for Valentine’s Day I gave out some surveys to find out what kinds of candies are everyone’s favorites for the lovely holiday.
A classic example of a chocolate sampler box is the Whitman’s Sampler. Around 1915 it was the best selling box of chocolates in America. Whitman knew a lot about marketing which allowed his company to greatly prosper straight through the Great Depression and World War II. His most memorable (and highly sexist) ad campaign “ 
M&Ms have been around since 1941 and were created by the Mars candy company. For a long time, consumers had been searching for a chocolate that wouldn’t melt before they got around to eating it and M&Ms were the answer to this problem. In 1954, their famous slogan, “melts in your mouth, not in your hands” was introduced causing their already great chocolate to be even greater. The company slowly put out different colors and flavors of M&Ms, eventually making them America’s favorite candies.
Valentine’s Day is kind of a polarizing holiday. Young lovers love it, and lonely curmudgeons hate it. And so do a lot of normal people. The legendary stories that inspired the celebration vary widely, and the only really clear thing is that people have been getting romantic once a year for centuries. But a holiday about love in the middle of winter makes sense. Celebrating loved ones might be the best thing to do when you’ve been stuck inside with them for months. Just imagine what it would be like if you shared a hovel with them. Or a Conestoga wagon. These days, we’ve got it easy, so let’s stop grumbling and focus on showing people some love.
