Gallery
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
Why are chocolates such a popular gift on Valentine's Day? Mashed spoke to chocolate expert Michael Laiskonis to learn the origin of chocolate on Valentine's. Who Created the First Valentine's Day Box of Chocolates? By the 1840s, the notion of Valentine’s Day as a holiday to celebrate romantic love had taken over most of the English-speaking world. Chocolate pioneer Milton Hershey started as a caramel maker, but in 1894 began covering his caramels with sweet chocolate. In 1907, Hershey launched production of tear-dropped shaped Cadbury didn’t trademark his heart-shaped boxes, however, and by the 1930s, other companies — including America’s Russell Stover — had followed suit. Chocolate has been an indispensable part of Valentine’s Day ever since; each year, Americans buy about 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates for the special day. It took centuries of myths, marketing, and traditions to write chocolate into Valentine's Day history. The first people to connect love and chocolate were the Mayans. They started brewing Richard Cadbury, of the famed British chocolate family, recognized the holiday as an excellent marketing opportunity for his chocolate; he hand-designed beautifully decorated boxes to house his sweet treats. His forward-thinking idea worked – he could barely keep his Valentine’s Day treats on the shelf, and a holiday tradition was born More than 150 years later, chocolate is perhaps the most emblematic gift for Valentine's Day. Even if this sweet's reasons for this association have a commercial provenance, it also perpetuates a longstanding legacy of chocolate's associations with romance. Boxes of chocolates have become synonymous with Valentine’s Day. In fact, leading up to February 14th, Americans buy about 58 million pounds of chocolates. It’s a classic tradition that has This day was already a feast day of several mysterious early Roman martyred Saint Valentines, but Chaucer described it as a day for people to choose their lovers. He knew that was easier said than done. It was Cadbury that first linked Valentine's Day with those heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates nestled in lace doilies. Here, women work on a production line at Cadbury's in England in Here’s a little history behind the tradition, along with a few other lovely Valentine’s Day fun facts. The History of Valentine’s Day Chocolates. The roots of Valentine’s Day go way back, as far back as Roman times actually. However, back then, the holiday named for Saint Valentine was not associated, even remotely, with love. That Best Chocolate Gift Ideas for Valentine’s Day. With all this in mind, you’re ready to get your loved one the gift of chocolate for Valentine’s Day. But where do you start? At Totally Chocolate, we have you “totally” covered. With a wide selection of chocolate gift ideas, you can truly delight and please your romantic partner. The tradition of giving Valentine's Day flowers dates back to the 17th century. Giving red roses may be an obvious romantic gesture today, but it wasn't always! In the late 1700s, Lady Montagu was Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated every February 14; this year Valentine's Day falls on a Friday. Across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts However, our widespread observance of Valentine’s Day did not start until the 1950s when a Japanese chocolate company began promoting the giving of heart-shaped chocolates. This marketing campaign drastically shaped our cultural approach to the holiday. That’s right — in Japan, Valentine’s Day is all about women giving chocolate to men. It’s a strong tradition that dates back to the 1950s. That doesn’t mean men can sit back and enjoy the sentiment, though. The idea was that the recipient would have a beautifully decorated memento box as a keepsake, long after the chocolate was gone! This led to the idea of giving an artful chocolate box to a loved one on Valentine's Day. For more Valentine's Day inspirations, browse our holiday postcards collection. Resources: Coe, S. D., & Coe, M. D. (1996). This is probably the biggest reason why chocolate and red roses are the second most preferred gifts to give chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Image source : black Friday shopping survey The Beginning of giving the Chocolates on Valentine’s Day an In 1960, Morinaga Seika (Morinaga Co. Ltd.), one of the major confectionery makers in Japan, started pushing the idea of women giving men chocolates on Valentine's Day in a big way via national newspaper ads. The Valentine's Day chocolate 'tradition' became firmly established in the '60s, and by the '70s was a big business. We might typically associate Valentine's Day with romance, roses and chocolate, but the holiday's history has a lot more to it than meets the eye. From a Roman festival and Christian martyrs to a medieval celebration of spring , we explore the origins of Valentine's Day in more detail
Articles and news, personal stories, interviews with experts.
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |