Retired Candy Heart Messages That Time (Thankfully) Left Behind 💘

Published February 11, 2026

Some Valentine’s traditions refuse to die. Chocolate boxes, awkward dinner reservations, and those tiny chalky candy hearts that somehow taste like nostalgia and drywall at the same time.

Conversation hearts have been a seasonal staple forever, known as much for their messages as their questionable texture.

Classics like “Be Mine” and “XOXO” still do the romantic heavy lifting, but over the years, plenty of phrases have quietly been retired… and honestly, some of them deserved it.

At their peak, candy maker Necco was reportedly producing billions of Sweethearts each year. The company eventually went bankrupt, proving that even iconic Valentine’s candy isn’t immune to real-world drama.

Still, the hearts themselves survived, and they keep reappearing every February like glitter after a craft night.

What’s changed most isn’t the candy. It’s the language stamped on it. Pop culture moves fast, and what felt trendy once can age like a flip phone in a drawer.

Take “Love Shak,” clearly riding the wave of The B-52’s era. Cute then. Confusing now. The same goes for a pile of phrases that feel frozen in time or oddly specific.

Among the retired messages:
Swing Time
Summr Levin
Vogue
Saucy Boy
Go Fly a Kite
Fax Me
Beez Neez
Dig Me
Page Me
1-800 Cupid
On Fleek
Pen Pal
Girl Power
Moon Beam
Excuse My Dust
Web Site
Luv Me Tender
Goat
Tweet Me

Some feel charmingly vintage. Others feel like they were approved during a meeting where someone said, “This’ll be huge with the youths,” and nobody stopped them.

Candy hearts may be small, chalky, and slightly confusing, but they’ve always doubled as a time capsule. One bite and suddenly you’re transported to whatever era thought “Page Me” was peak romance. And honestly, that’s half the fun.

Five candy heart messages, Barrie edition: