Love Hearts

Someone brought a package of "Love Hearts" into the office for Valentine's Day and seeing the package took me back to my days as a youth, and I mean way, way back, because I'm an old guy! haha! 

Didn't everybody love these when they were kids?

Yes, Love Hearts have been around for a long time, with production beginning in 1954.  My access to them here in Canada was due to having parents born in Scotland and England, and family who sent us "sweets" in parcels, since this confection is made by Swizzels in the U.K.. Of course, the U.S. equivalent, called Sweethearts, was what most people will remember, in comparison to my own childhood.

I'm sure everyone has a childhood memory of their favourite candy and the two aforementioned brands were very popular, especially around Valentine's Day. I guess the little "love messages" were one way to let that special someone know you cared, and were quite affordable for kids and teens.

It's interesting how the messages have changed over the years though. I don't recall seeing "LOL" or "Text Me" on any of the wafers I chewed back in my day! Something to do with rotary phones I guess! haha. Different times for sure.

One thing unknown to me until the day I wrote this post was that the Sweethearts brand are no longer in production, with confectioner NECCO filing for bankruptcy in 2018. Sad to know, what with stheir long history dating back to 1847, as well as being a long time title holder of being the most popular candy on Valentine's Day.

photo courtesy of Spangler Candy Company

Maybe for those who still ove this candy, the good news might be that the rights and recipe of this confection was purchased by the Spangler Candy Company and the wafer candy apparently will be back in production in 2019, maybe in time for Valentine's Day!