VALENTINE’S DAY & A BOX OF CHOCOLATES

Conversation hearts, truffles of all kinds, and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are the symbols of Valentine’s Day for us. But where did this tradition come from? While the roots of Valentine’s Day go all the way back to Roman times and the springtime fertility festival called Lupercalia, candy-giving isn’t nearly that old.

Valentine’s Day is believed to be named for two different Roman saints, both called Valentine. Neither had anything to do with romantic love. The first mention of St. Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday appeared in 1382 in the writings of Geoffrey Chaucer. With the medieval period came a new focus on illicit but chaste courtly love, and a couple of the familiar images of the day begin to appear—knights giving roses to their maidens and celebrating their beauty in songs from afar. But sugar was still a rare item in Europe, so no chocolates. Yet.

The 1840s was Cupid’s heyday. In the Victorian period, the idea of giving elaborate cards and gifts fit their notion of courtly love. Into the fray came Richard Cadbury, of the British chocolate makers. Cadbury had recently improved its technique of extracting pure cocoa butter from whole beans, producing a much better drinking chocolate, the craze of the day.

But this process resulted in a lot of excess cocoa butter. Richard recognized a great marketing opportunity for eating chocolates made from all that cocoa butter, so he began selling them in beautifully decorated boxes that he himself designed.

It didn’t take long for the idea of adding Valentine’s Day images of cupids and roses to the boxes and marketing them as keepsakes. The boxes grew more and more elaborate until the rationing of sugar in World War II forced the making of chocolates to be scaled back.

Victorian-era Cadbury boxes are treasured heirlooms in many families to this day.

Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tracy