American Heritage Chocolate Boxed Gift Set

An assortment of delicious American Heritage Chocolate comes in a new wooden box with a lid that has an image taken from first company to make chocolate in America, Walter Baker & Co. in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

The gift sets come in two sizes. The larger gift set includes an option history of the Baker Chocolate Company (limited supply)

American Heritage chocolate assortment

The American Heritage chocolate we offered for Valentine's Day was extremely popular, and so we brought back the tasting squares and added pouches of baking chocolate and coca.

Here's what people said about the squares:

If you're a chocolate lover, you're in for a treat. 

The chocolate is unlike any you've had. The dark chocolate squares, for example, include cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, and other flavors that accent the chocolate.

A note to clarify the history: The American Heritage Chocolate is not from the Walter Baker Co. or its present day corporate owner. Instead, we thought it would be fun to pair the delicious modern day chocolate with original items from the oldest chocolate maker in America (1780).

The boxed gift sets come in two sizes

Small

• Two 12 oz packs of chocolate: One American Heritage finely grated baking chocolate and one American Heritage gourmet hot cocoa, or two of either.
• 10 pcs American Heritage chocolate tasting squares
• Wooden box with a lid with an image taken from some of the early Walter Baker & Co. packaging. Size: 8" x 8" x 3 1/8"

Large

• Four 12 oz packs of chocolate: Two American Heritage finely grated baking chocolate and Two American Heritage gourmet hot cocoa, or four of either.
• 10 pcs American Heritage chocolate tasting squares
• Boston Tea Party tea towel, made in America of 100% unbleached cotton and printed with our original design celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
• Wooden box with a lid with an image taken from some of the early Walter Baker & Co. packaging. Size: 10" x 10" x 5"
• Optional: The book, The Baker Chocolate Company: A Sweet History, which tells of the founding and rise of the Walter Baker Chocolate Company, the first company to make chocolate in America. Paperback. 136 pages.

Shipping: $5.95 for the small gift set and $8.95 for the large.

If you are giving this as a gift, you can have it sent directly by selecting the gift option at check out, where you can also add a gift message. The packing slip will not show the price.

No returns: There are no returns on these gift sets.

See our complete American Heritage Chocolate selections here.

Historical background

"The company was established when a physician named Dr. James Baker met John Hannon on the banks of the Neponset River. Irishman John Hannon was penniless but was a skilled chocolatier, a craft he had learned in England and which was, until that point, exclusive to Europe. With Baker's help, Hannon set up a business where he produced "Hannon's Best Chocolate" for 15 years. In 1779, Hannon went to the West Indies and never returned. His wife sold the company in 1780 to Dr. Baker, who changed the name to Baker Chocolate Company.

"Dr. James Baker's son, Edmund (1770–1846), and his son, Colonel Walter (1792–1852), successfully carried on the business. The chocolate was marketed with a guaranteed money-back policy if the customers were not one hundred percent satisfied with their purchase. Colonel Walter Baker had studied law at Harvard College and thus had the name "Baker's" legally protected for future generations of this family business."

Source: Wikipedia

James Baker

James Baker was born September 5, 1739, and owing to the gentleness of his disposition, his parents were induced to fit him for the ministry.  With this in view he went through Harvard college, graduating in 1760, and then began to study theology with the Rev. Jonathan Bowman, the minister of Dorchester, whose son-in-law he afterwards became.  While fitting for his profession, Mr. Baker taught school, and this delayed him in getting started in the ministry. 

It soon became apparent that his extreme diffidence would prevent him from performing the duties of a minister; so he voluntarily gave up the idea, and began to study medicine, teaching school at intervals during this period. 

The profession of medicine, however, proved distasteful to him; and he laid in a stock of merchandise, and opened a store.  In  1780, he saw that there were great possibilities in the chocolate business; so he closed his store, and began to manufacture chocolate. 

The success of this undertaking as remarkable, and “Baker’s Chocolate” has been manufactured ever since, now being known in all parts of the world.  By careful attention to his business, and fortunate investments, Mr. Baker became a rich man, and retired on his wealth.  The latter part of his life was devoted to reading and study in his library.  He died January 2, 1825.

Source: Good Old Dorchester: A Narrative History of the Town, 1630-1893. By William Dana Orcutt. 

German chocolate

"In 1852 Sam German developed a dark sweet baking chocolate for the Baker Chocolate Company. One hundred five years later Mrs. George Clay of Dallas, Texas, submitted her recipe for German’s Chocolate Cake to the “Recipe of the Day” column at The Dallas Morning News. Published on June 3, 1957, the recipe is a chocolate layer cake, filled and topped with a coconut-pecan frosting. General Foods, which owned the Baker brand at that time, publicized the recipe across the country."

Source: Dorchester Atheneum 2