“Let’s Read” And 8 Other Retired Sayings Your Sweetheart Candies Won’t Say Today Image courtesy of Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie
While we’re unsure if anyone has secured a promise of love or even a date by way of candy heart in the 147 years since Sweetheart candies have been around, we are pretty darn certain that such a thing has never been accomplished via fax. Which is why the makers of the iconic heart candies, Necco, has retired plenty of sayings in the past. Somehow “FAX ME,” “LET’S READ” and “YOU ARE GAY” failed to inspire romantic ardor, it seems.
The Atlantic procured a list of 20 of the company’s most notable retired sayings, and we’ve picked a few of our favorites:
- DIG ME
- SAUCY BOY
- OH YOU KID
- COOL DUDE
- MY, SUCH EYES
- FAX ME
- YOU ARE LATE
- LET’S READ
- YOU ARE GAY
Sweethearts have been on the love scene since 1866 according to Necco’s site, when Daniel Chase devised a machine that would press food dye letters onto the candy wafers his brother Oliver Chase had already popularized.
The company makes about 100,000 pounds of the candy hearts every day between mid-February to January and sells about six million pounds of them in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day.
As the times have changed, so have the sayings on Sweethearts. Whereas at one point it seems reading was a romantic shared activity or berating someone over their lack of punctuality, now Sweethearts bear messages imploring recipients to tweet, email and otherwise connect electronically.
I prefer the old-fashioned “YOU’RE PRETTY AND SMELL NICE” but I doubt that’s on a candy heart.
‘You Are Gay,’ ‘Fax Me,’ ‘Let’s Read,’ and 17 More Amazing Retired Sweetheart Candy Sayings [The Atlantic]
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