Pastel Candy Hearts Bring Sweet Recollections

To think that a tiny, powdery candy heart with nonsensical words stamped on it could evoke such nostalgia!

I remember rolling them around in my mouth until the words were sucked off. I remember chewing them up all at once - not too hard, not too sweet and innocently pastel enough for even Mom not to mind me eating them by the handfuls.

But the best part was when you’d render them inedible by gluing them down on a piece of paper, forming the sentences of a note to be passed on to Mom (“Smile, Be Happy, I Love You, Hug Me”); your best pal (“Hot Mama, Let’s Go, Crazy, Wild, Stay Loose”); the class bully (“Buzz Off, Bad Boy, Not Now, Goodbye”); or that cute boy on the playground (“Try Me, Dream Boat, Say Yes, Let’s Dance”).

Manufactured by the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO) in Cambridge, Mass., they are as much of a part of American candy history as lemon drops and rock candy. Turning one that read, “Small Talk,” around in the palm of my hand I suddenly thought, who writes these, anyway?

It came as no surprise that he turned out to be a delightful 60-year-old, slightly balding, pleasantly flirtatious fellow named Walter Marshall, who holds the title of “King of Hearts.”

“Near as we can figure, they’ve been around since 1902,” Marshall told me. “The original seven conversation hearts read: “Be Mine,” “Be Good,” “Be True,” “Say Yes,” “My Man,” “Kiss Me” and “Sweet Talk.”

Ones that are getting bumped are “Crazy,” “Far Out,” “Buzz Off,” “Wild One,” “Dig Me” and “Solid.”

Oh, and “You Are Gay.” That was an old-fashioned expression that people these days interpret differently.

Times change, so conversation hearts change. The newer ones include “Love Ya” and “My Girl.” “We already had `My Man’ and I sure didn’t want a bunch of women mad at me,” Marshall says.

Marshall also told me about a new series of conversation hearts that hit the market last year called “Love Around the World.” Stamped on the hearts is the word “love” in 25 different languages. “This will be a great teaching tool for kids … and teachers can play word games with them … and to think we can teach children something through little conversation hearts.”

Among the other tidbits he shared:

NECCO is responsible for 80 percent of all the conversation hearts manufactured.

It produces 8 billion pieces annually, enough to make a line from Boston to San Francisco, back to Boston, back to San Francisco, and, Marshall boasts: “This year we should make it back to Boston … In comparison, 13 billion pieces of candy corn are manufactured annually. We’re slowly catching up.”

There are about 100 different sayings stamped on the hearts.

They have zero fat, zero sodium and about 3 calories each. The bigger hearts are about 6 calories.

Flavors include lemon, cherry, orange, lime, grape, wintergreen (the white ones) and chocolate.

Other than simply popping them in your mouth, they make terrific decorations for roofs of gingerbread houses, unique sweeteners for hot coffee and colorful garnishes for cupcakes and other goodies.

Does NECCO ever do custom jobs?

“Once, for a doctor’s organization, we stamped the hearts with `Don’t Smoke’ and `Less Stress,”’ Marshall recalls. “And we made `I Spy’ hearts for Spy magazine. For some reason, we get a lot of naughty requests, but, of course, we would never do that because conversation hearts should never be controversial.

“We get about 250 letters a year, usually right after Valentine’s Day, from people offering suggestions. One of my favorites was when a fellow from Wisconsin wrote to us, telling us he was going to propose to his girlfriend using one of our `Marry Me’ hearts. I immediately sent him a handful of `I Do’ hearts.

“Then there was a 10-year-old boy who wanted `Sweet 16’ and `Bodacious’; a lady who requested My Cup of Tea; and we’ve had ideas sent in like `Get A Life,’ `Dope is No Hope,’ `Cool Beans,’ `Cholo,’ `High Postage’ and `Phat.”’

“`Cholo’? What does `Cholo’ mean?” I ask.

“Where have you been? It means macho,” he replies, making me feel about as hip as Buddy Hackett in a thong.

Then he says, “You know what `High Postage’ means, don’t you?”

“Well, sure I do,” I lie. “It means, well, er, well, I forget exactly.”

“`High Postage’ is a conceited female,” he says with a laugh, pleased to have the upper hand. “And I may as well tell you, because you probably won’t know this one, either. `Phat’ means very cool.”

“Well then, Walter,” I say, concluding the conversation about conversation hearts, “I think you’re extremely `phat”’

“Thanks,” he says. “You’re pretty `phat’ yourself.”

So anyway, don’t tell Walter that I once sandpapered his words off, wrote a bunch of swear words on the hearts and gave them to a good friend for laughs.

He’d probably think I was a `high postage’ kind of a gal.