Photo by Joanna Stołowicz on Unsplash
Jan/Feb 2026
Everything Old
Making Valentine’s Day extra sweet
by Corbin Crable
Here at Discover Vintage America, we’ve covered the history of Valentine’s Day, the history of Valentine’s Day cards, and even the story of how those chalk-like candy conversation hearts became synonymous with the holiday. But let’s be honest – the real star of the show every Valentine’s Day is chocolate!
One box for sweets…
Although Valentine’s Day was first observed as a romantic holiday in the late 14th century, chocolate was scarce in Europe, and, like so many of our modern-day holiday traditions, it wouldn’t be associated with the holiday until the Victorian Era. That was when a little English company called Cadbury stepped up its chocolate-making game. It improved the taste of chocolate by extracting pure cocoa butter from the cocoa bean, making it sweeter, more palatable, – and much more popular.
Demand for Cadbury’s chocolate increased, and it’s said that Richard Cadbury first had the idea of decorating heart-shaped boxes with images of hearts and Cupid and filled them with chocolates and truffles.
Though he never patented the design, the heart-shaped, chocolate-filled boxes soon became a Valentine’s Day staple. In fact, he marketed the boxes as not only being an ideal gift for your sweetheart; the boxes also could be used to store trinkets from the holiday, including love letters and even locks of hair.
According to History.com, the boxes became more elaborate until World War II, when production was greatly decreased due to the rationing of sugar. Many original Victorian Era candy boxes still exist, however, and are sold on online auction sites, some for as little as $20 and others for more than $100 if in excellent condition.
…And another for salutations
Getting chocolate on Valentine’s Day at any age is a delight, but you might remember the excitement that surrounded holiday parties in elementary school.
Usually, you’d put your textbooks away during the last couple hours of the school day, chow down on sugary sweets and play games related to the holiday. But the best part was decorating and displaying the cardboard box (usually a shoebox) in which you’d collect valentines from your classmates. You might have enjoyed spending the entire night before meticulously decorating your Valentine’s Day mailbox with red and pink hearts made of construction paper, stickers, and glitter.
Actually filling out the valentines themselves, however, was a different story. You had to give each classmate one, and they had to give you one – if you harbored only lukewarm feelings toward the recipient or even disliked them, you viewed the act of giving them a card as merely a duty to be endured, and you might only sign your name or a tepid wish of “Happy Valentine’s Day.” If the recipient was a good friend or even a potential romantic interest, obviously more thought had to go into your greeting. I remember receiving a valentine from a pretty girl in my second-grade class who wrote that she “loved” my Ghostbusters lunchbox. I think that one message made my entire school year.
It’s important to note that from the mid-20th century onward, these boxes and the valentines they held were usually adorned with images of characters from pop culture. When I was a kid, you still had classic characters like Mickey Mouse, Snoopy, and Batman featured prominently on Valentine’s Day cards, but even more cards reflected the popular movies and TV shows of the day. For a kid like me who grew up in the ‘80s, it was characters from The Smurfs, ALF, Pee-Wee Herman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Star Wars.
These two symbols of Valentine’s Days of yesteryear live on in our memories – and maybe even our closets or attics. May yours this year be filled with love, laughter, and plenty of sweets.