Why Chocolate for Valentine’s Day

Chocolate and Valentine’s Day just go together. Throw in a bouquet of flowers, a candlelight dinner and you have hit the Valentine’s jackpot. But did you ever wonder how chocolate came to be associated with Valentine’s Day?

As far back as the Aztecs chocolate was thought to be an aphrodisiac, and valuable enough that they used cacao beans as currency. There is some dispute as to when and how chocolate came to Europe but no dispute that it landed first in Spain. By the late 1500s chocolate was a much loved indulgence at court and by the 1840s Europe was enamored by the notion of Valentine’s Day as a holiday to celebrate romantic love. The Victorians fully embraced the holiday with elaborate cards and gifts. But where did chocolate come into play? Legend goes that we can thank Richard Cadbury.

Cadbury had recently improved his family’s chocolate making technique so as to extract pure cacao butter from whole beans, producing a more palatable drinking chocolate than most Britons had ever tasted. This process resulted in an excess amount of cocoa butter which Cadbury then used to produce many more varieties of what was then called ‘eating chocolate’. Cadbury recognized a great marketing opportunity for the new chocolates and started selling them in beautifully decorated boxes he himself designed. It is believed that he created the first heart shaped box for chocolate, a box so pretty that it could be used to hold mementos of a loved one.

So when you select that special heart shaped box of chocolates you are part of a tradition hundreds of years old. Why not start a new tradition and spend Valentine’s Day here at Hilton Head Lakes? Bring that box of chocolates, enjoy our wonderful weather, fabulous hospitality, and stroll with that special person along the beaches of the Lowcountry.

Take a virtual tour explore our available floor plans online, check out the amenities our community has to offer and give us a call to schedule your Discovery Visit for later this year or even early next, trips start at $199 and include accommodations and area attractions. Call today to book yours: 866-396-3230

Sources: History.com

Hilton Head Lakes is a debt free community in South Carolina, and one of the best places to retire. It’s the perfect balance between gated community and world-class resort. Schedule a Discovery Visit today and experience Hilton Head Lakes for yourself.