How many Conversation Hearts in a box?

How many Conversation Hearts are in a box?

Introduction

Candy is something that is guaranteed to lift your spirits, regardless of your mood.

It is universally recognized and is a treat that can be enjoyed at any time of day, on any occasion.

If you want to show a loved one just how much they mean to you, or a romantic partner for that matter, you simply cannot go wrong with candy, providing you choose the right variety.

This is where conversation hearts enter the picture.

Conversation Hearts are the ultimate novelty sweet treat that are synonymous with love, romance, and Valentine’s Day.

They may not be expensive perfume, a candlelit romantic dinner, or diamond earrings, but Conversation Hearts are still the perfect way to show a loved one just how much you care about them and show them what they mean to you.

Every single Valentine’s Day, around 8 billion of these cute hearts are sold.

This is hardly surprising, considering they make up around 40% of the global Valentine’s candy market.

8 billion is a heck of a lot of conversation heart candies, but how many Conversation Hearts are in a box?

Read on to find out more about these delicious little treats.

A Brief History of Conversation Hearts

We’ll get to how many Conversation Hearts in a box a little later on, don’t worry.

For now, however, we’re going to take a journey back in time to the 1840s, to learn about the history of Conversation Hearts and find out how they found their way into the heart of a nation.

The idea for Brach’s Conversation Hearts actually came from a company known as Necco.

Necco, which is one of the oldest candy companies in the USA, was founded back in 1847.

Necco, or the ‘New England Confectionary Company,’ was founded in Boston by an Englishman by the name of Oliver Chase.

Chase was an innovator, he wanted to revolutionize the confectionary market, and he wasn’t afraid to think outside of the box in order to do so.

Chase invented a device that allowed him to pulverize sugar and cut large sheets of candy into small, bite-sized lozenges.

His business actually first sold candy that was similar to Sweethearts/Conversation Hearts, but which were shaped like small shells like you’d find in the ocean instead.

This candy was especially unique because inside each shell was a hand-written message on a small piece of paper.

Think of fortune cookies, but instead, they were made from sugary candy and cornflour and shaped like scallop shells.

Message in a Candy

Initially, the messages contained within these candies were longer than what we’re accustomed to nowadays, with saying things such as: ‘Married in pink’ and ‘he will take a drink’ and ‘you have chosen right’ and so on.

Around 14 years after Oliver Chase created these shells, his brother Daniel, decided that they should print the messages directly onto the candy, rather than writing them on paper and storing them inside.

This was not only to save on materials (colored paper wasn’t cheap back then), it was also to help create a unique selling point (USP) and to get people talking about the candies.

Up until 1866, these mottos were printed onto the candies by hand.

Unfortunately for the poor souls who were in charge of printing them onto the candy by hand, it took forever and was a very tedious job.

Daniel, just like his brother, showed great initiative and invented a device that would print the message directly onto the candies.

His invention used red beet vegetable dye to print the messages, while also cutting the candies at the same time.

It was a real game-changer, to say the very least.

ALSO READ: How Many Candy Corn In A Jar?

New Shape, New Candy

At the turn of the century, the candy underwent a bit of a change, and the shape was altered from shells to all manner of fun and unique things.

Amongst some of the more popular shapes that were trialed were things such as postcards, baseballs, watches, and horseshoes. As well as this, different varieties were created, such as chocolate, and sugar-free hearts.

Hearts proved to be especially popular, and considering the fact that they came complete with romantic messages, this was hardly surprising.

The hearts back then were much larger and could therefore accommodate much longer messages.

One such example read, ‘please send a lock of your hair by mail.’ Yeah, we agree, it’s a bit creepy, but back then, it was considered romantic.

The hearts became incredibly popular at weddings, as they were quirky, romantic, and made for a fantastic conversational starter.

They were, however, only initially made during Valentine’s Day period.

Not a lot changed in the next century.

In the 1990s, the sayings were updated to sound more modern and trendier.

The hearts were now smaller, and had messages such as: ‘Luv U’ and ‘ Be Mine’ and ‘Call Me.’

By the 1990s, Conversation Hearts were now produced all year long, though in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, as demand surged, the manufacturers were forced to start producing more from September – February.

ALSO READ: How many M&Ms are in a bag?

How Many Conversation Hearts in a Box?

Okay, so we now know the basic history of how Conversation Hearts came to be.

What we don’t know, however, is how many of them are found in a pack.

In a Brach’s Conversation Hearts box, you will find 24 delicious candy hearts as standard.

If you prefer your candy in bags, and in larger portions, you’ll find that a large ‘I Love You’ bag weighs 16 ounces, and contains, on average, a whopping 140 pieces.

Now that’s a lot of different ways to tell somebody that you love them.