Valentine's Day rolls around and suddenly they’re everywhere. Those pastel, chalky little discs scattered across office desks and stuffed into grade-school cubbies. You know the ones. Conversation hearts are the undisputed, slightly divisive king of seasonal candy. Honestly, some people treat them like a sugary relic that should’ve stayed in the 19th century, while others can’t imagine February 14th without a box of Sweethearts.
It’s weirdly fascinating how a candy that tastes like flavored drywall has survived for over 150 years.
Most people think these things are just generic sugar drops, but there is a surprisingly deep—and occasionally litigious—history behind those tiny stamped phrases. From the invention of the lozenge cutter to the modern-day struggle of Spangler Candy Company to keep the tradition alive, the story of candy hearts with words is a saga of industrial ingenuity and marketing survival. It’s not just about "KISS ME" or "BE MINE." It’s about how a pharmaceutical machine accidentally birthed a cultural phenomenon.
The Weird Pharmaceutical Roots of Your Favorite Valentine Candy
Let's go back to 1847. Oliver Chase, an English pharmacist living in Boston, wasn't trying to revolutionize romance. He was trying to make it easier to swallow medicine. Back then, pharmacists rolled out medicinal paste by hand and cut it into rounds—apothecary lozenges. It was slow. It was tedious.
Chase invented a machine. It was basically the first American candy-making machine, a crank-operated device that pressed dough into perfect little circles. He quickly realized that people liked the "medicine" a lot more if he took out the drugs and added sugar and fruit flavoring. This led to the creation of the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO.
But they weren't hearts yet.
They were "cockles." They were shaped like scallop shells and contained a rolled-up slip of paper with a printed message inside, sort of like a Victorian fortune cookie. It wasn't until 1866 that Oliver’s brother, Daniel Chase, figured out how to print words directly onto the candy using vegetable dye. These were called "Motto Hearts" or "Conversation Hearts" because the idea was to use them as icebreakers at social gatherings. They were huge. Seriously.
The original messages were long. We're talking "Please send a lock of your hair by return mail" or "How long shall I have to wait? Please be considerate." You can’t fit that on a tiny heart today. The move to the heart shape didn't even happen until 1901. Before that, you could get them in shapes like baseballs, horseshoes, and watches.
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The Sweethearts Collapse and the Spangler Rescue
For over a century, NECCO was the gold standard. If you bought candy hearts with words, you were likely buying Sweethearts. But in 2018, everything almost died.
NECCO went bankrupt.
The factory in Revere, Massachusetts, shut down. Fans panicked. For the first time in over a hundred years, there were no Sweethearts on the shelves for Valentine's Day 2019. It was a legitimate crisis for traditionalists.
The Spangler Candy Company—the folks who make Dum Dums and those orange circus peanuts—stepped in. They bought the brand at auction, but they didn't get the equipment in time to produce for the next season. It took them years to move the massive, vintage machines and calibrate the recipe. Fans are picky. If the crunch is off or the wintergreen flavor is too strong, people notice.
Why Do They Taste Like That?
Let's be real. Nobody is buying conversation hearts for a gourmet culinary experience.
The texture is "compressed sugar." It’s basically a mixture of sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, and flavors that gets pressed together under immense pressure. There’s no baking involved. They just dry out.
The flavor profile is a throwback. You have the staples:
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- Yellow: Banana (formerly lemon, and people still argue about this).
- Pink: Cherry (the universal favorite).
- Purple: Grape.
- Orange: Orange.
- White: Wintergreen (the most controversial flavor in candy history).
- Green: Lime (or sometimes apple, depending on the year).
Spangler actually had to do a bunch of "flavor forensics" to get the taste back to what people remembered from the 90s. They even brought back the signature "fuzzy" print because people complained when the letters looked too perfect. There is something comforting about a slightly illegible "HUG ME" stamped in red ink.
Updating the Vocabulary for a New Generation
The phrases are the most important part. They change constantly. Or they did, until the 2018 bankruptcy froze things for a bit.
Every year, the team at the candy factory would sit down and look at what was "in." In the 90s, we got "FAX ME" and "CALL ME." By the 2000s, it shifted to "EMAIL ME" and "TEXT ME." Lately, it’s been about "GOAT," "BAE," and "YOLO."
But there’s a delicate balance. If you go too "trendy," the candy feels dated by the time it hits the shelf, since these things are manufactured months in advance. If you stay too traditional, you’re stuck with "THEE IS MINE," which hasn't been cool since the Lincoln administration.
The printing process is still surprisingly low-tech. It’s a felt roller that acts like a stamp. This is why you often find "blanks" in the box—the little hearts that escaped the ink. Some people think these are bad luck; others think they’re "write your own" opportunities.
The Logistics of a Seasonal Giant
You might think these are made in January. Nope.
Production for Valentine’s Day usually starts in the summer. Spangler produces roughly 8 billion conversation hearts a year. That is enough to stretch from Rome, Italy, to Valentine, Arizona, and back again twenty times.
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It’s a massive logistical dance. They have to produce them, box them, and get them into warehouses by November so they can hit the shelves the second the Christmas decorations come down. If they miss that window, they lose their entire annual revenue for that product. It's a high-stakes game for a candy that costs two bucks a box.
How to Tell if Your Hearts are Actually Fresh
Because these candies are basically sugar rocks, they have a shelf life that rivals honey found in Egyptian tombs. Technically, they're "best by" within 24 months, but honestly, they’re safe to eat long after that. They just get harder.
If you want to know if you're eating "fresh" stock:
- Check the brand. Brach’s and Sweethearts (Spangler) are the big players. If you find a box of NECCO Sweethearts today, you are looking at a museum piece from 2018. Do not eat it.
- Look at the colors. Over time, the vegetable dyes used for the phrases will bleed or fade into the pastel base. If the "BE MINE" is crisp, it's likely from this year's batch.
- The Snap Test. A fresh heart should have a slightly chalky "give" when you bite it. If it feels like you're trying to chew a pebble, it’s been sitting in a warehouse too long.
Making Use of the Extras
Let's face it: you’re going to have leftovers. Nobody eats the whole bag of white wintergreen ones unless they're a sociopath.
Don't throw them away. People use these for more than just snacking. They are a staple in "sensory bins" for toddlers (as long as they’re old enough not to choke). Teachers use them for "estimation jars" in math class. They’re great for decorating cupcakes because they don’t melt easily.
I’ve even seen people use them as "tokens" for board games.
Real Insights for the Candy Heart Enthusiast
If you’re looking to maximize your conversation heart experience this year, here is what the experts (and the obsessed) suggest:
- Pairing is everything. Believe it or not, some people pair these with tart sparkling wines. The sugar in the candy cuts through the acidity. It’s a "low-brow meets high-brow" move that actually works.
- The DIY "Update." If the phrases are too boring, you can buy edible ink markers. Buy a bag of "blanks" or turn the hearts over and write your own hyper-specific inside jokes. It's way more personal than a generic card.
- Storage Matters. Keep them in a cool, dry place. Humidity is the enemy. If they get damp, the ink bleeds, and you end up with a box of purple-stained sugar mush.
- Check the Bag Weight. Different brands have wildly different densities. Brach’s tends to be a bit thicker and harder, while Sweethearts are slightly more aerated and "crunchable."
Conversation hearts aren't just candy. They are a weird, sugary time capsule. Every time you open a box, you're looking at a tradition that survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the death of its founding company. They’re small, they’re cheap, and they’re kind of a mess. But Valentine's Day without them would just feel empty.
Go grab a box. Even if you hate the taste, reading the messages is half the fun. Just maybe skip the wintergreen ones if you value your taste buds.
Next Steps for Your Valentine Strategy
- Audit your stash: Check the brand on your box to ensure you're getting the classic Sweethearts flavor profile if that's what you're after.
- Get creative: Use the "blanks" in the bag for personalized messages using a food-grade ink pen.
- Compare brands: Buy a bag of Brach's and a box of Sweethearts to do a side-by-side taste test—the texture difference is more significant than you'd think.