There are two types of people: those who relish Valentine’s Day and those only interested in chocolate. And while the holiday now seems inseparable from heart-shaped boxes, there was a time when Valentine’s Day had nothing to do with chocolate.
Valentine’s Day as a celebration of love has roots in Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem “The Parliament of Fowls.” But the actual tradition of gifting chocolates for the holiday didn’t arise until the Victorian era – and it took several hundred years for chocolate to make its way to Europe.
Chocolate originated in present-day Mexico around 4,000 years ago, first consumed as a beverage. This very distant cousin of hot chocolate called xocōlātl saw cocoa seeds ground into a thick paste, then mixed with water, cornmeal, and chili peppers.
When chocolate finally arrived in Europe in the 1500s via conquistadores and colonization, only the elite could afford to enjoy it.
Beginning in 1816, according to Tufts European Center, chocolate was initially produced as a recreational drug. It’s also around this time when chocolate started becoming popular and inspired a wave of experimentation.
Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate in 1875, now the world’s most common form of chocolate. Supposedly, he wanted to impress a woman. And, thanks to technological innovations (otherwise known as the Industrial Revolution), businesses could not only produce chocolate but widely distribute it.
Meanwhile, Valentine’s Day as a commercial holiday was picking up steam. By the end of the 19th century, chocolate as a confection had become its own industry. While boxed specialty chocolates had existed for a while, chocolatier Richard Cadbury debuted the first heart-shaped chocolate box in 1868.
Clearly, Cadbury was onto something because those heart-shaped chocolate boxes have endured. Modern-day chocolate moldings also mean you can enjoy chocolate-shaped anything these days, including steak or those roses you forgot to pick up for your sweetheart.
