Valentine's Day: Explanation of Why Chocolate Being Important Gift

VIVA – Every February 14 is celebrating as the day of love or Valentine’s Day. It is getting close when someone gives chocolate, flowers, or even jewelry to the lovely one. As we know, chocolate is a popular way to show someone special.

Heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates are a relatively recent tradition, but the bond between chocolate and love goes back thousands of years. But why is chocolate being the most important gift for Valentine’s Day? Here’s the explanation.

The Mayans very clearly appreciated the magic of chocolate as they drank it, first roasting cacao beans and then grinding them into a paste that was mixed with chiles, cornmeal, and water.

In addition to using chocolate in religious ceremonies and savoring it at the end of feasts, they were the first culture to make the connection between chocolate and love. Some Mayan wedding ceremonies included a ritual where the bride and groom ceremonially sipped chocolate.

The Aztecs also prized chocolate and traded it with their Mayan neighbors to obtain it in vast quantities. Sixteenth-century ruler Montezuma II allegedly consumed chocolate in vast quantities to stoke his libido.

Spanish explorers were quick to realize the appeal of chocolate though, and mixed cacao paste with cinnamon and cane sugar to cut the bitterness.

Although chocolate became popular throughout Western Europe after its introduction by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, it was so expensive that it was mostly consumed by the wealthy.

It wasn't until the mid-19th century that British company J.S. Fry & Sons created the first-ever chocolate bar by combining cacao powder and sugar with cacao butter. Within a few years, filled chocolates became wildly popular, with Fry & Sons competitor Cadbury introducing the first box of chocolates—dubbed the "Fancy Box"—in England in 1861.

Just seven years later, the company produced its first heart-shaped box of fruit, ganache, and nut-filled chocolates in time for Valentine's Day gifting. Because the decorative boxes could be used to store love letters and other mementos long after the chocolates inside had been eaten, they proved to be thoughtful as well as toothsome gifts.

Giving chocolate on Valentine's Day proved just as popular in the United States as it was in Britain. Hershey's introduced it is petite, romantically named Hershey's Kisses in 1907, and the iconic yellow Whitman's Sampler debuted in 1912. Whitman even turned to movie stars like Jeanne Crain and Elizabeth Taylor to promote their sweet treats.

Meanwhile, chocolatier Russell Stover began marketing their distinctive line of heart-shaped boxes, which to this day include the petite "Red Foil Heart" and the lace-covered "Secret Lace Heart” across the Midwest in the 1920s before expanding to be the number-one boxed-chocolate brand in the United States.

If history is any predictor, chocolate will outperform cards and flowers this Valentine's Day, as it always does. According to data collected by Nielsen, Valentine's Day sweets generated sales of $695 million in 2017 and chocolate played a major role. In fact, Americans spend $11 billion on chocolate throughout the year.

So, when it comes time to show those people who make you feel warm and fuzzy how much they mean to you, there's a good chance you'll say it with chocolate. And if anything, you're just honoring a very sweet, ancient tradition.

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13 November 2024