Conversation hearts — also known as Necco hearts, candy hearts, or Sweethearts — are considered Valentine’s Day iconography, but their origins are far from romantic. In fact, they were originally created by a pharmacist who got his start making medical lozenges.
In 1847, pharmacist Oliver Chase was working on building his lozenge business after making his way from England to Boston. The production process was slow: Chase hand-rolled ropes of dough made from peppermint, brown sugar, and gum arabic and cut them into individual tablets; he then sold them to apothecaries where customers sought them out for sore throats, coughs, and other minor ailments. To speed things up, the enterprising Chase invented a machine that cut the lozenges mechanically. Recognizing the potential, he shifted focus from medicine to confections, founding what became the New England Confectionery Company, or Necco, and introducing its namesake Necco wafers.
It was still a while before the colorful, chalky candy became heart-shaped and adorned with their trademark messages, though. In 1866, Oliver's brother Daniel Chase devised a way to press words onto the round candy wafers using a felt roller pad and red vegetable dye. The conversation candies — or motto lozenges, as they were known — were shaped into baseballs, horseshoes, and kites, and featured much more elaborate messages than those we see today, including “Married in white, you have chosen right,” and “How long shall I have to wait? Please be considerate.” In 1902, the candies took on their now-famous heart shape, and the phrases evolved into classics such as “Be Mine” and “Kiss Me.” Each year, about 80 different sayings circulate, including around 20 that are new for that holiday season.
Popular sodas began as medicines
n the 19th century, carbonated water was considered a medicinal aid. Pharmacists began mixing it with various herbs, extracts, and syrups to create drinks marketed as remedies for a range of ailments. One of the most famous examples is Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton. The now-ubiquitous soft drink was originally marketed as a cure for headaches, fatigue, and other common ailments. It contained small amounts of cocaine, extracted from coca leaves, which was legal at the time and common in medicine. (It was later removed from the beverage around the turn of the 20th century.)
Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and 7Up also started out as medicinal drinks, the latter of which was formulated to treat depression. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 placed more regulations on ingredients used at soda fountains, and by the 1950s, soft drinks were no longer marketed as “miracle elixirs,” but remained popular as bottled and canned treats.
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