Valentine's Day Candies

Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14, traditionally in honor of a saint killed in Roman times. It was a popular holiday in medieval Europe. Precisely when candy became the traditional gift given on Valentine’s Day is unclear. In the 1860s, Richard Cadbury introduced the first Valentine’s Day box of chocolates in England. One of the earliest American Valentine’s Day candies was invented by the one of the predecessors of the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO), which began manufacturing Conversation Hearts in the 1860s. These heart-shaped candies were renamed Sweethearts in 1902. By the twenty-first century, NECCO produces about 8 billion Sweethearts each year, virtually all within six weeks before Valentine’s Day, and they are the best-selling Valentine’s Day candy in the world.
By tradition, males give chocolates to their sweethearts, mothers, or wives on Valentine’s Day. It is promoted as a day of Cupid and love, and candies have reflected this dimension. Chemicals found in small amounts in chocolate are anandamide, serotonin, endorphins, and phenylethylamine (PEA); in the human brain these chemicals create positive feelings. The aphrodisial effect of chocolate has been greatly exaggerated in advertisement imagery in order to increase sales.
According to the National Confectioners Association Americans annually spend just over $1 billion for Valentine’s Day.