Surprise — Chocolates Are Not the Number One Valentines Candy

If you're planning on giving chocolates for Valentines Day, that's good. But even more important is making sure you also have some of the most popular Valentines candy.

The best selling Valentines Day candy isn't chocolate, but Sweethearts, also called conversation hearts.

Conversation Hearts date back to 1866 when the Necco confection company figured out how to print sayings on lozenges cut from wafer candy.

The original conversation candy was used for weddings and other special occasions. In 1901 the lozenges were cut into heart shapes and Sweethearts were born.

So how many Sweetharts are sold each year? Necco produces about 100,000 pounds of the candy a day from the end of February through mid-January with all of it sold in a six week period around Valentines Day each year.