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.