A Gift of Chocolate on Valentine's Day -

A Gift of Chocolate on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to express your love to your sweetheart, so show your love with a gift of chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Watson’s Candies has a great selection of fine chocolates at a price point sure to meet your budget. Show your loved one you care with our Heart Shape Boxed Chocolates. Our assorted chocolates in a one pound classic heart box starts at $38.95, and we also have many specialty boxes available. While you’re here, try out delectable Mini Valentine Heart Box of Chocolates, Valentine’s Day Nonpareils, Gourmet Truffles, Chocolate Cherubs, Foiled Solid Chocolate Hearts, and so much more.

We have crafted high-quality gourmet chocolates using nothing but the finest ingredients for over 85 years, and continue to do so with the same appreciation and integrity that we always have. In other so-called gourmet chocolates you may find artificial or substitute fats and ingredients added in order to achieve certain shine or consistency. Not with Watson’s Gourmet Chocolates. We never presume to feed our loyal patrons anything that they didn’t sign up for!

Stop in or shop our online store to see our wonderful selection of Valentine’s Day chocolates and candies and to discover why Watson’s Candies is THE source for gourmet chocolates. Say, “I love you”, with a gift of chocolate on Valentine’s Day!

Why do we celebrate Valentine’s Day?

The roots of Valentine’s Day, named for two different Roman saints, goes back to Roman times. One of the namesakes of St. Valentine’s Day, allegedly married couples illegally in Roman times, and the day may also stem from a celebration of spring which took place in mid-February. The tradition of celebrating romance, giving gifts, and saying, “I love you,” with chocolate evolved over the centuries.

The first mention of St. Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday appeared in the 1300’s when the holiday was Christianized. It was celebrated in mid-February because many believed birds started their mating season on February 14. This is why doves are often associated with love. In the 1300’s, knights gave roses to their maidens and celebrated them in song. But sugar was expensive, so gifts of candy were not exchanged. People began to exchange cards and letters sometime around the 17th century.

The Valentine’s Day holiday to celebrate romantic love became prevalent by the 1840’s in most of the English speaking world. Victorians shared elaborate cards and gifts, and mass production of Valentine’s Day cards began.

Where did the tradition of giving sweets to your sweetheart come from?

As for giving gifts of chocolate in heart-shaped boxes? Richard Cadbury, from the British chocolate manufacturing family began that trend. After improving a process of extracting cocoa butter from whole beans for a better drinking chocolate in England, he used the excess cocoa butter to produce many more “eating chocolates”. He created beautifully decorated boxes of his own design to showcase the chocolates and increase sales. He may have been the first to produce the heart shaped box in the 1860’s. Not only were they a beautiful box to receive on Valentine’s Day, they were also used afterwards to store mementos – locks of hair, love letters, and the like. Those famous Necco Sweethearts we all know and love, now known as “conversation hearts”, were invented in 1866 by Daniel Chase.

Today, about 55% of Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day and spend an estimated 1.7 billion dollars on candy alone! Necco produces about 8 billion conversation hearts each year (about 100,00 pounds a day). About 36 million heart-shaped boxes and 58 million pounds of chocolate are sold each year.

Show your love with a gift of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, an on any other special occasion!