At the event, families had the opportunity to learn about the history of chocolate, its preparation, origin, and consumption. Early New Englanders processed and ground cacao beans to create chocolate-based drinks or cakes with a unique secret ingredient. There were displays and demonstrations of 19th-century chocolate-making techniques. If you are interested in learning more about the process of acquiring and preparing cocoa beans, you can watch this video on the history of chocolate.

Apart from chocolates, Valentine’s Day is also associated with the exchange of valentine cards. At the event, families learned about the history of valentine cards and participated in educational programs and hands-on activities. They were introduced to the Worcester resident who converted his humble handmade card business into a large card-making company, which eventually became the foundation for the huge tradition of exchanging Valentine’s Day cards that we have today. The participants also had the opportunity to make their own valentines inspired by antique cards shared by villages in the 1800s.

By attending this event, families experienced Valentine’s Day in an educational context and gained insight into early American culture.

Did You Know?

Chocolate

• Spanish conquistadors brought chocolate from Central America back to Spain in the 16th century.  From there, it traveled through Europe, to England, and back to America.
• Early versions of “chocolate cake” do not actually contain any chocolate. The name means that the cake was intended to be enjoyed with a cup of chocolate, just as “coffee cake” today is meant to be served with coffee.
• Boston pharmacists advertised chocolate as a medicinal remedy as early as 1712, and by the late 1700s, there were hundreds of chocolate vendors in the city.
• Chocolate was drunk as a medicine during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and by California Gold Rush miners, but later in the 19th century, with the addition of milk and more sugar, chocolate was preferred more as a confection than as a health tonic.
• New manufacturing processes developed during the Industrial Revolution transformed chocolate from an expensive drink into an inexpensive food.  By the late 1800s, chocolate was widely advertised to women and children through colorful posters and trade cards, and its iconic status as the world’s preferred candy was secured.

Valentines

• The best known legend about St. Valentine has that he was a Roman martyr killed for his faith on February 14, 269 A.D. He may have been a priest who married couples in spite of the Emperor’s ban.
• Valentine’s Day, like Christmas and many other Christian holidays, was originally an attempt to Christianize popular pagan festivals.  In pagan Rome, February 14 was dedicated to the goddess Juno (Hera in Greek mythology), wife of Jupiter (Zeus) and patroness of women and marriage.
• Few New Englanders marked Valentine’s Day before its rise in the increasingly sentimental and economically prosperous 1840s.
• As with other holidays, those who made money from Valentine’s Day encouraged its observance. In the 1840s when printing technology improved, sending handwritten notes and printed cards became even more popular. Enterprising shopkeepers encouraged the exchange of gloves, books, candy, and other gifts among a growing middle class.
• Esther Howland, of Worcester, Mass. began designing fancy Valentine cards in 1848, and hired girls to help cut and paste together these small works of art. By 1850 she was advertising her cards in the newspaper, and by 1860 she was selling between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of Valentines annually.

(Source: Old Sturbridge Village)