In this second installation of a three-part series for Valentine’s Day, we’re continuing our look at distinct aspects of the annual celebration of love and romance.
The first written record of Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday actually comes from the writer of the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, but during those days in medieval Europe, sugar and sweets were luxuries. Chocolate didn’t become a Valentine’s Day staple until the mid-1800s when Richard Cadbury was in charge of sales for his family’s candy empire, sharing the same name as his surname. According to History.com, Cadbury had recently perfected its recipes and processes for making drinking chocolate, which left the company with a surplus of cocoa butter. In turn, that extra cocoa butter was used to create the modern day candy bars we all know today.
However, Richard came up with a new way to market the “eating chocolate” to the public: create a box to place them in, decorated with images associated with love, including Cupids and roses. The box of chocolates were sold with the idea of them serving a dual purpose: the chocolates would be enjoyed by intended consumers, and then the box could be reused to hold various culturally significant household items at the time, ranging from love letters to pieces of hair from spouses and children.
The original boxes were more ornate in appearance than the classic red box people are used to seeing in today’s day and age. The boxes were meant to last, so they were often made of different materials, ranging from wood to metal and some were even covered in velvet. Other versions had floral designs or were made into heart shapes, and then there were those that had metallic trim and hammered textures. Some still exist today in the form of family heirlooms or in museums.
While it’s unclear if Richard was the one who created the iconic heart-shaped box, many historians credit him as the first to sell one.
