Favorite Valentine's Day Candy HistoryFavorite Valentine's Day Candy History

Ah, Valentine's Day. The day that couples celebrate their love, and singles celebrate ... chocolate too. The day has been linked to love for eons, and this year is no different. We decided to see what's behind the OG candy, and most popular candy, of all time with some history behind the brands that make the tasty chocolate and chalky goodness we have grown to love.

From the infamous heart-shaped box filled with milk and dark chocolates and various fillings, to the conversation hearts that now come in gummy, SweetTart and the ever-loving popular Sweethearts, the sayings are what draw consumers in. Here are a few of the all-time favorites:

Conversation Hearts

Called Sweethearts, they were originally medical lozenges (think: Halls) in 1847, originally created by New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) founder Oliver Chase. His brother Daniel developed a machine that pressed the food dye letters onto the hearts. Spangler Candy Co. bought the candy-heart brand Sweethearts from Necco in 2018. They are still the staple of Valentine’s Day candy. For 2025, Sweethearts added new phrases such as “Move in?” “Marry Me,” and “4Ever Ever?”

Other companies also manufacture conversation hearts — Brach’s and SweeTarts (both owned by Ferrara), and even Trader Joe’s. Each year new sayings are added to these cute little hearts; this year Brach’s included love attributes in different languages, such as “Amore,”, “Caio,” and “Oui.”

Related:Colgate-Palmolive to Acquire Fresh Pet Food Brand

Image: Brach's

Cadbury

Victorian England in 1822, John Cadbury opened a tea and coffee shop in Birmingham. He soon expanded into chocolate manufacturing, and in 1861 his son Richard greatly increased sales by packaging Cadbury chocolates in the world's first heart-shaped candy box for Valentine's Day. Each box had a small picture on the front, made so children could cut them out and preserve them in scrapbooks. The heart-shaped box was designed to increase sales, which it did.

Russell Stover

Though Cadbury might have been the first to create the heart-shaped box, Russell Stover came out with its own heart-shaped box which still include the specialty “red foil heart” and “secret lace heart.” Russell Stover has become the No. 1 boxed chocolate brand in the US.

This year, Russell Stover partnered with star athlete couple, Zach and Julie Ertz to encourage couples to "Tackle Valentine's Day" with Russell Stover Chocolates for the chance to win a romantic trip to celebrate the Super Bowl in 2026.

Image: Russell Stover

Whitman's

Founded in 1842, Whitman’s came out with its famous Sampler box, which now also comes in a heart-shaped box. and in 1993, the brand was sold to Russell Stover Candies. And in 2014, Russell Stover (with Whitman’s) was acquired by Italian company, Lindt & Sprüngli, which also owns LINDOR and Ghirardelli.

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Hershey

Hershey’s Kisses were first produced in 1907 by The Hershey Chocolate Company.  In 1921, a machine was used so the Kisses would be wrapped automatically. This machinery also added the paper plume or paper strip flag to the aluminum foil wrapper to identify Hershey's Kisses. In 1986, they got their pink and red Valentine’s wrappers to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Today, there are a variety of flavors such as milk chocolate white crème swirl, peppermint, milk chocolate almond, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and cookies ‘n’ crème. A couple stories circle around why they are named “Kisses” but neither has been verified.

Reese's

H.B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and an employee of The Hershey Company, created Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in his basement in 1928. Hershey supplied Reese with the chocolate coating for his candies, which also included chocolate covered nuts, chocolate covered raisins, and mints. Hershey eventually purchased Reese’s business in 1963. Reese’s launched its peanut butter hearts in 1997. They are only available usually in January and February, and they are packaged in red, also available in an individual larger heart shape.

Related:FDA's Head of Foods Program Jim Jones Resigns

M&Ms

Produced by Mars Inc., M&Ms were first produced in 1941 by Forrest E. Mars, Sr., son of Mars founder Frank C. Mars, and Bruce Murrie, the son of William F.R. Murrie, the president of Hershey Chocolate. Hence, the name M&M. Mars got the idea for M&Ms during the Spanish Civil War when he saw British soldiers eating chocolate pellets. 

M&Ms has a special heart-shaped plastic box filled with red, dark pink, and light pink M&Ms, in white chocolate strawberry crème flavors. They even have a Valentine’s Day bundle that include a tube filled with them and a red heart top, Life Savers Gummies heart-shaped box with X and O-shaped gummies, and a smaller plastic container with a red heart topper and red, pink and white hearts inside with XOXO and sayings on the back of the M&Ms.

In 1976, Mars eliminated red-colored M&M's because of health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and replaced them with orange M&M's. Mars said the change was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; it was done to satisfy worried consumers. Interestingly, M&M'S Fruit Chewies were launched in the 1960s and later developed into the beloved STARBURST.

Here is the Google Doodle for Valentine's Day 2024. It's an interactive game that matches the user with a chemical element:

https://doodles.google/doodle/valentines-day-2024/