February 1, 2010

Richard Armitage & Valentine's Thoughts

The season of love is almost upon us, which triggers special childhood memories.  The strongest is of a certain traditional candy that I've learned in the past hour has been mfr'd for a century. WOW!  Moments ago, when relating that '100yrs old valentine candy' fact to DH his response was "it must really be stale by now." :)

Which reminds me - we watched Spooks 8, Ep 1 over the wkend and after Lucas North met Sarah Caulfield for the first time, hubby asked "does Gisborne get involved with her?" hahaha...apparently RA will remain 'Gisborne' forever in my DH's mind no matter what role he plays.  Many of GoG's fans out there no doubt find that a heart-warming thought--you know who you are:)  My reply to his question about Lucas & Sarah getting 'involved' was "definitely!"  Which is a perfect lead into the following Valentine's trivia...

Valentine's Day Candy Hearts  -  Sweethearts® are a Century Old American Tradition
Tiny pastel candy hearts imprinted with short phrases are a timeless Valentine's Day tradition. For a century, America has been in love with candy Sweethearts®. The New England Confectionery Company, better known as NECCO®, is America’s oldest multi-line candy company. NECCO is the creator of the beloved Sweethearts "conversation hearts," which are a century long Valentine’s Day tradition.
http://www.necco.com/SweetheartMiniSite/Default.asp?Section=history

Following from Necco’s website---Today's best-selling Valentine candy -- Sweethearts Conversation Hearts--the pastel sugar hearts with the quirky sayings, were as much a part of your childhood as they are for today's kids. New England Confectionery Company manufactures over 8 billion hearts each year to keep up with demand for this American icon.

Still it's hard to believe that the concept behind today's Conversation Hearts got its start when Abraham Lincoln was still President. Mottoes seemed to have come into prominence with cockles, a small crisp candy made of sugar and flour formed in the shape of a cockle or scallop shell. The early cockles contained mottoes, which were printed on thin colored paper and rolled up inside.

In the 1860's, when Daniel Chase, the brother of New England Confectionery Company's founder, Oliver Chase, began printing sayings on the candy. He experimented first with hand tools, and then devised a machine in which the cloth was replaced with a felt roller pad, moistened with vegetable coloring, usually red, which pressed against the die. The die printed the words on the lozenge paste and the double purpose machine cut the lozenges.

Grown-ups were entertained and passed the hearts around at parties. For weddings, there were wedding-day lozenges with humorously foreboding prophecies such as: "Married in satin, Love will not be lasting" "Married in Pink, He will take to drink" and "Married in white, You have chosen right."
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While searching for a typical card sent by grade-school children came across a funny gift idea for your special someone.  following item really has become somewhat of a tradition for significant others to give their love interest on Valentine's Day--it's usually meant as a devilish joke.
                     Typical childrens'
exchange card:
Look At The History of Postcards and Greeting Cards (including the fact Americans imported them from England for at least 30 years in the 19thC)
http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/history.html
From that website---Sending greeting cards to friends and family is a tradition that goes back about 200 years. They were mostly sent by the elite and wealthy in the early to mid 1800's. Most of the early greeting cards were hand delivered and many were quite expensive, but they soon gained mass popularity with the introduction of the world's first postage stamp issued in 1840 and a few ambitious printer's and manufacturer's perfecting printing methods, hiring artists and designed both elaborate expensive cards as well as simple affordable ones by the 1850's.The oldest known greeting card in existence is a Valentine made in the 1400's and is in the British Museum.

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