Say It From the Heart

Colorful flowers and expensive jewelry are nice. But nothing says true love like heart-warming sentiments conveyed in a fraction of a square-inch on a piece of candy.

This year, when you give your sweetheart a big box of everyone’s favorite chalk-like messaged confections, you can also dazzle him or her with some nifty knowledge of their history thanks to Smithsonian Magazine. Here’s an amusing anecdote about the candy hearts’ early days:

The treats became popular at weddings and were considerably larger than today’s hearts as they could accommodate wordy relationship advice such as “Married in White, you have chosen right” or “Married in Pink, he’ll take to drink.”

According to the article, “more than eight billion (some 13 million pounds) of the little hearts are sold in the six weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day.” And, in case they seem too old fashioned to you, last year the company began producing versions that say “Tweet Me” and “Text Me.”