Sweethearts (also known as conversation hearts) are small heart-shaped

sugar candies Sugar candy is any candy whose primary ingredient is sugar. The main types of sugar candies are hard candies, fondants, caramels, jellies, and nougats. In British English, this broad category of sugar candies is called ''sweets'', and the na ...

sold around

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", "Let's Get Busy", "Miss You", or "I'm Yours". Sweethearts were made by the New England Confectionery Company, or

Necco Necco (or NECCO ) was an American manufacturer of candy created in 1901 as the New England Confectionery Company through the merger of several small confectionery companies located in the Greater Boston area, with ancestral companies dating b ...

, before being purchased by the

Spangler Candy Company The Spangler Candy Company is a privately owned confectioner that has been manufacturing and marketing candy for more than a century. Headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, Spangler's products include lollipops, candy canes, and marshmallow circus peanut ...

in 2018. They were also previously made by the

Stark Candy Company The Stark Candy Company, originally the Howard B. Stark Company, was a candy manufacturer founded in 1939, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was a competitor to Necco and manufactured products including candy hearts, candy raisins, Mary Janes, peanut b ...

. Necco manufactured nearly 8 billion Sweethearts per year. Similar products are available from

Brach's Brach's () is a candy and sweets brand of Ferrara Candy Company. History In 1904, Emil J. Brach invested his $1,000 life savings in a storefront candy store located at the corner of North Avenue and Towne Street in Chicago, Illinois. He named ...

and other companies. A similar type of candy is sold in the UK under the name

Love Hearts Love Hearts are a type of confectionery manufactured by Swizzels Matlow in the United Kingdom. They are hard, tablet-shaped sweets featuring a short, love-related message on one side of the sweet. They are an updated version of Victorian-era c ...

; while similar in formulation to Sweethearts, Love Hearts are round, with the heart design and message embossed on their surface.

History

Oliver R. Chase invented a machine in 1847 to cut lozenges from wafer candy, similar to

Necco Wafers Necco Wafers are a sugar-based candy, sold in rolls of variously-flavored thin disks. First produced in 1847, they became the namesake and core product of the now-defunct New England Confectionery Company ( Necco), which operated near Boston, Ma ...

, and started a candy factory. Daniel Chase, Oliver's brother, began printing sayings on the candy in 1866. He designed a machine that was able to press on the candy similar to a stamp. The candy was often used for weddings since the candies had witty saying such as: "Married in pink, he will take a drink", "Married in White, you have chosen right", and "Married in Satin, Love will not be lasting". The candies were originally in the shape of a

seashell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. Most seashells are made by Mollusca, mollusks, such as snails, clams, and oysters ...

and were large enough to carry a longer message. The heart-shaped conversation candies to be called Sweethearts got their start in 1901. Other shapes formerly produced include lozenges,

horseshoes Horseshoe is a shoe for horses and by analogy is applied to many things with a similar shape. Horseshoes (game), a tossing game played with a horseshoe Horseshoe(s) or Horse Shoe(s) may also refer to: Places Settlements and jurisdictions * Horse ...

, and baseballs.

Line extension A product line extension is the use of an established product brand name for a new item in the same product category. Overview Line extensions occur when a company introduces additional items in the same product category under the same brand n ...

s carrying the Sweethearts brand include chocolates and sugar-free hearts. Candylol

In the 1990s, Necco vice-president Walter Marshall wanted to update some of the sayings and retire others. For example, the outdated "Fax Me" was retired, and the more modern "Text Me" was added. The romantic expressions continue to be revised for young Americans. Necco received hundreds of suggestions a year on new sayings. The most sought-after motto is "Marry Me". Necco produced the hearts year-round, but mixing of colors and packaging were ramped up beginning in September to meet the demand for the product at Valentine's Day. Approximately of hearts were made per day, which sells out in about six weeks.New England Confectionery Comp (2010): Sweethearts
/ref> The company produces 8 billion hearts per year. As a Valentine candy, it is second in popularity only to

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

. The largest market is related to school celebrations on Valentine's Day.

Flavor change

In 2010, the classic pastel candy formula was abandoned. Sweethearts were made softer with vivid colors and new flavors. These new flavors included sour apple and blue raspberry. The changes to the flavors and messages were unpopular with some fans.

Bankruptcy and return

In 2018, Necco declared bankruptcy. The original plant closed and their candy brands were sold off. The rights to Sweethearts were acquired by

. With the purchase of the brand by Spangler, Sweethearts were unavailable for Valentine's Day 2019 as Spangler set up production of the confections in a new plant. Sweethearts returned in 2020 with the original flavors from before Necco's 2010 change, but due to equipment problems, the familiar sayings were largely either incomplete or missing entirely.

Ingredients

The main ingredients are

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, coll ...

, and various types of

food coloring Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...

References

External links