An Ode: Valentine’s Day Ode to the Dove Bar

I had my first Dove Bar in 1986 in NYC.  It was June and I was hauling heavy artist’s portfolio cases in and out of cabs. It was humid.  Being from San Francisco, I had no idea what this humidity thing was all about. I was sticky and hot and my panty hose clung to me like Saran Wrap. Yes, we all wore panty hose then. On my last day of meeting with too many, too cool for their own good Art Directors and deranged Art Buyers (all wearing black, may I add), I was trying to hail a cab on Madison Avenue when I noticed that a crowd was forming on the corner behind me.  Apparently, a guy was giving out free frozen food.  A ‘Frozen Novelty’ to be exact.  Every time the guy thrust his hand into the freezer to pull out the novelty all I could think of was how nice it would be to put my head in that freezer. Not for a long time.  Just long enough to cool off, but not long enough for the police to arrive. 

I snapped out of it when I saw what was being given away.  The biggest hunk of chocolate covered something I had ever seen on a stick.  At least three times as big as an Eskimo Pie.  ‘The size of a baseball glove’ is how my husband describes it.  I dragged myself, along with the now detested albatross portfolio cases, over to the line and grabbed one. After I let it set on top of my head for a minute or two (look, I was hot, and after five days in Manhattan I had stopped caring how provincial I looked), I peeled off the white wrapping and bit in.  I cracked through a thick layer of perfect ‘melt on the tongue’ chocolate which coated an even richer creamy vanilla ice cream.  I finished the entire bar, smacked my lips and was ready to find out where to buy my next one. 

It took a while for the Dove Bar to arrive in SF.  The first ones were the same size that I had had in NYC, huge, packaged three to a carton.  Then somewhere along the way the Mars folks figured out that Americans perceive value in quantity so they packed them four to a carton but made the bars at least 25% smaller.  On this Valentine's Day we are having Dove Bars for dessert.  Two bars for each of us.  One for each hand.

Comments

[Cathy Quon]

When in Europe, including Eastern Europe, try the Magnum bar...it is even better than the Dove bar...thick and good tasting chocolate coating. Last time we were in Europe, the bars were being advertised on billboards in a very risque manner--picture bright red lipsticked lips and mouth around a Magnum bar!