NECCO, the New England Confectionery Company, expects to sell more than 8 billion candy conversation hearts this year. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company has been a New England institution since 1847, and they've been making America's best-selling Valentine's Day treat since 1902. But, it was only in the early 1990s that Marshall, the company's "King of Hearts," decided to shake things up by adding new, hip sayings to the mix.

Marshall's impending retirement means that this is the last year he'll have a chance to leave a lasting impression on romance, so NECCO has introduced 12 new sayings that capture the timelessness of love. New sayings include: Amore, Romeo, Angel, Swing Time, In The Mood, and Much Ado, plus two millennium-inspired heart sayings, 2000 Hugs and 2000 Kisses, and the hip new additions, Got Love, Girl Power, and Time Out. And... in a major break from tradition... one new heart has the peace symbol stamped on it instead of a few sweet words.

"Our most romantic heart I think," says Marshall, "is our Marry Me heart." He adds that many have used the heart "when proposing to their intended -- placing the Marry Me heart in with their engagement ring." There'll be a bumper crop of Marry Me hearts produced this year--at Marshall's request. "I want to launch as many of cupid’s arrows as possible before I retire," he says.

I asked Marshall if the truly ga-ga could go one step further and enchant their true loves with custom-printed hearts for the right price. The surprising answer was, "yes." And the right price of $600 for the printing plate and $2 per pound of hearts even seemed quite reasonable at first glance.

But wait--there's a 3,500-pound minimum--about 1.6 million hearts! So, for $7,600, you could not only propose to your sweetie in style, you could spend the rest of your blissful wedded lives eating those words!

And while we're talking about ingesting enormous quantities of conversation hearts, the good news is that they're fat-free and sodium-free and only about 3 calories apiece (6 calories for the larger "Motto" hearts and just 4 calories for the new chocolate variety introduced in 2000).

While NECCO headquarters is here in New England (unfortunately, it is not open for tours), the Massachusetts plant gets help from plants in Wisconsin and Louisiana with production of the billions of hearts that carry Marshall's "short and sweet" prose. NECCO Sweethearts® Conversation Hearts are made between late February and mid-January of the following year to meet demands, and they sell out in just six weeks!

"Adding or deleting sayings on conversation hearts is a fun task," says the outgoing "King of Hearts," whose only advice to someone who might aspire to a similar life calling is to "try being in the candy business for about 40 years."

Walter Marshall is NECCO's resident "King of Hearts."

The Classics

More than 100 sayings were printed on NECCO Sweethearts® Conversation Hearts in 2000, including these original sayings that date to 1902:

Be Mine

Be Good

Be True

Kiss Me

Sweet Talk

New in '00

The 12 new sayings for 2000 are:

Amore

Romeo

Angel

Swing Time

In The Mood

Much Ado

2000 Hugs

2000 Kisses

Got Love

Girl Power

Time Out

Peace Symbol

The Flavors

There are six heart flavors:

White - Wintergreen

Yellow - Banana

Green - Lemon

Pink - Cherry

Purple - Grape

Orange - Orange

New for 2000...

Chocolate!

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