Where Have All the Candygrams Gone?

Valentine's Day plans? Sure, there'll be dinner, maybe a little dancing. And every Walgreen's and Albertson's this side of Hell is decked with pink and red and little naked dudes pimping waxy chocolate. Central Market even wants you to learn how to make chocolate. There are flower deliveries and flowers in boxes that arrive via UPS. There are even [horrified gasp]...pajamagrams.

But hey, Aters, whatever happened to the good ol' candygram? Now, a quick Google search will tell anyone that Candygram.com is in existence like some tooth-rotting ProFlowers, but where's the personality in that? You can get a glorified Russell-Stover heart box without shipping, typing in all the info that goes with online shopping, or a short drive to Terrell (if you're also looking for a factory tour and free chocolate bricks), so there's no need for all that hassle. No, it seems that the only way to get good, local sweet treats is to pick them up yourself, or, when a chocolatier offers, have them shipped. Lame.

Otherwise, we're left to add on candies to flower orders (also lame, not to mention expensive), or go with a not-usually-Valentine-associated item like cookies (not lame, but also not in the confines of "candy").

So, Dallas, has it come to this? Are candygrams just a thing of Days Gone Bite as consumers (in both senses) depend on the automated world of online orders or store-bought samplers? Are we relegated to opening shipping packages instead of getting a charge when a random "grammer" hands you a glorious box of jealousy-inducing chocolates in front of the entire office? Or is there some cocoa-tempering soldier that will deliver a box of fresh truffles to the door of a deserving Valentine...and it doesn't cost upwards of $150? ...Oh, and isn't a land shark, either?