It was always a box of Millionaires. Sometimes, for Valentine’s Day, the box was heart-shaped.
But if it was closer to her birthday or maybe Mother’s Day, it was just a regular rectangular box. But the candy was always the same. Pangburn’s Millionaires Candy. In a shiny gold box. Buttery pecans and creamy caramel covered with milk chocolate. My mother’s favorite. I’m not sure if they still make Millionaires (I think they may have morphed into the candy known as Turtles), but I hope so.
Growing up my Dad would always manage to show up with a box of my mother’s favorite candy, but I distinctly remember the year when my younger brother had saved his money and rode his bicycle up the street to Northside Pharmacy and bought a heart-shaped box of Millionaires to give his own valentine gift to our mother. He was thoughtful like that. He truly was.
A google search reveals that Millionaires candy was created by a drugstore chemist (H.T. Pangburn) in his Ft. Worth drugstore in 1914. Eventually, Russell Stover bought Pangburn’s of Texas in 1999.
Over 58 million pounds of chocolate are purchased in the seven days leading up to Valentine’s Day. And here is my favorite fact of all: it is perfectly acceptable to buy yourself a heart-shaped box of candy. A survey by The Candystore.com shares that 43% of Americans will buy themselves candy for Valentine’s Day. And why not? Life is short.
A number of years ago Tom and I took our grandchildren to the Denver Natural History Museum to see an excellent exhibit about the history of chocolate. There was a great photo-op in front of a gigantic box of chocolates. Alas, they were not real but a quite spectacular backdrop.
My husband remembers that his grandmother adored Whitman’s Samplers and she could identify each chocolate by the unique little swirl on the top of each piece of candy. Later Whitman’s would place a “key” to the candies on the inside of the box top.
Perhaps you have memories of buying or receiving a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day. Perhaps you have a candy you love as much as my mother loved her Millionaires.
If you are looking for a good movie to stream for Valentine’s Day, there are plenty of romantic choices but if you want to go a different direction, why not watch Forest Gump as you enjoy your box of chocolates.
I leave you with this final thought:
I am a lover of candy from way back but I must confess I had never heard fo Millionaires. My Grandmother also love candy and chocolate and I guess I inherited my love from her. I am not sure what my favorite one is but maybe a Baby Ruth or a good red licorice. So many candies and so much time!!!!
I love the dog comments!