Conversation hearts, Necco hearts, candy hearts, Sweethearts—whatever you choose to call them, they’ve become associated with Valentine’s Day. You either love them or hate them, but there’s no denying that they’re a staple for the holiday. So how did conversation hearts come to be? They’re actually a rich history behind them.
The story starts with Boston pharmacist Oliver Chase, who invented a lozenge cutting machine in 1847 to make it easier to produce lozenges. Chase started making candy instead of lozenges and founded Chase and Company, which later became known as New England Confectionery Company (Necco). Hence, Necco candy was born.
In 1866, Oliver’s brother Daniel came up with a way to press messages directly onto the candies using a felt roller pad moistened with vegetable coloring. These candies didn’t become known as Sweethearts or became heart-shaped until 1902. They were also sold as baseballs, horseshoes, and watches. Before long, other companies started making conversation hearts.
The original flavors include banana, cherry, and wintergreen. In addition to classic Sweethearts, over the years the company has offered sugar-free, chocolate, “color your own”, tart and “dazzled” varieties.
You may remember that for Valentine’s Day 2019, there weren’t any Sweethearts and that’s because Spangler-Company bought Sweethearts producer Necco in late 2018, which was too late for them to be produced in time for Valentine’s Day 2019. They returned in limited quantities in 2020 and are available again this year.
