Who first sold Chocolate on Valentine's Day?

When you are a chocoholic, every day is Valentine's Day, and Christmas day, and Halloween day, and Easter day. Every single day is a good occasion to receive and consume chocolate. Of course, Valentine's Day is special because having your lover giving you chocolate makes it even better. I love my mom, but it won't be the same if she had to give me a box of chocolates in the place of the hot Sicilian guy I am dating now. I am sure you know what I mean.I used not to like Valentine's Day since you should spread your love every single day, and not just once a year. Honestly, now I think that if there is an annual occasion to remind everyone to show their affection, why not? If it can help put a genuine smile on a person's face, I am cool with that. The consumerism behind the celebration is then another matter. There is who protests and refuses to buy any gift, and there is who buys the most expensive ones. It doesn't really matter in the end; if it is true love, one single chocolate would do, if it is a fake one, a $200 chocolate box won't be of help. But now enough with chatting, let's get to our primary concern here: Who first started selling chocolate boxes on Valentine's Day?After doing appropriate research, I found out that the very first Valentine's Day heart-shaped box of chocolates was sold in England by Cadbury in 1868.Having treasured the book Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury for more than two years now, I went straight to the source looking for certain facts to support this theory.During the 1850s the chocolate company Cadbury was ruled by Richard and George Cadbury, the two British brothers from Birmingham that turned Cadbury into an international success. At that time, they were thinking about launching on the market a superior quality of chocolate, obtained by mixing cocoa butter with sugar and then folding cocoa liquor back into the mix. They aimed to equal the exotic qualities of the French chocolatiers, and confirm themselves as the lead of the British market. Richard came up with the idea of the FANCY BOX.This treasure was filled up with chocolate indulgences that released the most intriguing scents. Responsible for sales, Richard was also a remarkable artistic talent. He would use his own children as models, and scenes from holiday journeys as scenarios. So, they decided to use his paintings as the boxes' covers. The very first one was in fact a chocolate box representing Richard's own blond blue-eyed daughter holding a kitten and smiling sweetly.  Moreover, children could cut out the small picture on the box and stick it into their scrapbooks. These boxes were such luxury items that, when the chocolates were over, customers would keep them as precious boxes for gloves, jewelry and more. They were the very first one to come up with a heart-shaped Chocolate Box on Valentine's Day.The Fancy Box was a huge success that led Cadbury Family to the road of international recognition, and led us instead to pamper our loved ones with even more sweetness.Do you have more details to add to this story? Or do you know a different version? Share it!I did NOT get paid and did NOT receive any kind of favor for writing this article. These are my honest opinions at your service.