Happy Valentine’s Day
February 14, 2026
Burro-ito Jack galloped by our place this morning to wish y’all a Happy Valentine’s Day! And then he excitedly ‘brayed’ — in Conversation Heart 💜 style — BE MINE! …. KOOL KAT! … MARRY ME! … CRAZY 4 U! … BUY N BULK! … QT PIE! … U ROCK! … XOXO! … SAY YES! … HEE HAW! …… (knowing what a sweet tooth he has, I finally offered him a box full of those sugary hearts just to hush him up)
Since Jack brought up such a sweet subject, did you know ………………….
Conversation Candies got their start as medical lozenges?
Weirdly enough, the story began in 1847 when a Boston pharmacist named Oliver Chase invented a machine that simplified the way sore throat lozenges could be made. Then Ollie had another great idea. Instead of making lozenges, why not use the machine to make candy? Why not, indeed! And just like that, his invention became America’s first candy-making machine. Soon after, Oliver founded the New England Confectionery Company, or NECCO, and the candy ‘lozenges’ soon became what we know today as NECCO wafers. (I didn’t know that’s what NECCO stands for! Did you?)
But that’s not the end of the story.
Conversation Candies get sentimental!
For almost 20 years, the pharmacist-turned-candymaker kept cranking out sweet NECCO wafers. But when 1866 rolled around, and fascination with those lozenge-shaped candies waned, it was Oliver’s brother, Daniel Chase who had a brilliant idea. “Let’s print sentimental messages on each wafer!” And that’s what he did. Because the candies were larger than today’s versions, printed sayings and phrases could be long. While Dan was busy creating witty messages that could stoke the flames of love or warn off flaky suitors, big brother Ollie redesigned his candy-making machine to “pretty up” the wafers. So sayings like “Married in white you have chosen right” and “How long shall I have to wait? Please be considerate” were now emblazoned on a pastel, scalloped NECCOs. It seemed everyone had fallen in love with these redesigned Conversation Candies.
Conversation Candies Evolve
Sales skyrocketed over the next 36 years, but before long, the brothers Chase decided one more key innovation was needed. In the winter of early 1902, just in time for Valentine’s Day, they transformed those pretty pastel colored, scalloped wafers into heart-shapes. Perfect!
Conversation Hearts Today
More than 8 billion Conversation Hearts are manufactured each year by NECCO. Their size may be smaller, and the sentiments much shorter, but each packed-full box has approximately 45 sayings like “True Love,” “Hug Me” and “You Rock.” NECCO even let’s you can personalize your own sayings, too. And in case you need to know …. that secret supply of Conversation Hearts you stashed away last year are still “fresh” as they have a shelf life of five years. Oh goody!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you enjoy your box of Conversation Hearts (but don’t forget to make a dentist appointment!).
As always, thanks for stopping by!
a curious nature 
So sweet! Happy Valentines Day to you!
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Thanks Susan! Happy Valentine’s to you and big hug to Sativa!
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Those sweets are a blast from the past! Your little donkey is adorable. Hope you have a Sweet Day!!!
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Thanks so much, Karen! Yup, aren’t Necco wafers a ‘trip’ down memory lane! Who knew!? Hope you’re sweetheart is treating you today!
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Dear, delightful Barb!!!! OMG, Burro-ito Jack is just the best, BEST, Valentine in the whole world, and by far the best Iâve ever received. âAdorableâ is an understatement. Iâm also intrigued by the âconversation candyâ history, which brought back memories of my allowance (10¢ per week) when I was about 9 years old. I ALWAYS bought NECCOs, the chocolate ones, savoring them slowly, one at a time, letting them melt on my tongue, trying to make a package last all day. I think a package cost 5¢ then. Those Chase brothers certainly made a great contribution to history!!! Thank you, as always for the bright color you bring to my day when a post arrives in my inbox! Love you, Robin
PS. Thanks for listing the tangle patterns. Iâm going to learn each of them!
PSS. Jackâs front legs are awesome!
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Dear wonderful Robin! Oh how I love your comments; they always bring huge smiles! Super appreciate you taking time to read about Burro-ito and the brothers Ollie and Dan! I think history about nearly anything is fascinating, and I had fun taking a ho-hum narrative and turning it into a mini romp into a candy I definitely adored as a kid! But oh wait! Chocolate Necco’s? How did I ever miss knowing about them! Your description absolutely made my mouth water! Maybe they stopped making the chocolate kind by the time I was 9yo? Can’t remember anything in the candy isle of our Big Top convenience store costing 5cents! Hey, your allowance of 10cents/week would’ve bought 2 packages, if you didn’t spend the spare change after 1 pkg on something else! Hope the rest of your Valentine’s Day is yummy fun! And enjoy those zentangle patterns. You can make your very own Valentine’s greeting too! Stay in touch, my dear friend. Xoxo
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Thanks, Barb! Yes, Chocolate NECCO wafers are still available (see photo), but WAY more than 5 cents a pkg. Hereâs what Amazon offers for $38 (if I recall correctly). Probably arenât as good now as they were back then⦠artificial flavor? Xoxo R
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Barb –
What a delightful post! I never knew the history of those beloved candy hearts that I used to exchange with to my friends so, so many years ago as a child. I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!
Dee
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Thanks Dee! Right! Who knew the Necco story?! It was news to me as well! A fun bit of trivia to enrich my childhood memories as well. Have an awesome week!
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