The Story of Chocolate

Wednesday, February 5, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Contact:   Charlotte M. Patterson, Education Curator

 Phone:  252-335-1453

Elizabeth City, N.C. – The Story of Chocolate will be presented in the lobby of the Museum of the Albemarle on Wednesday, February 5 beginning at 10 a.m.  The thirty-minute presentation will begin at 10 a.m. The same program will be presented on the hour.

February is the month for Valentine’s Day, and we were thinking about how Americans love chocolate. Do you wonder just how chocolate got started? What role did chocolate play in the lives of early Americans? How did the original recipes taste?  Answers to these and other questions will be answered with help from the American Heritage Chocolate educational section, a division of Mars, Inc. The popular chocolate making company has developed an authentic, historic chocolate that was fashioned off an ingredient list from 1750. Learn the role chocolate played in the lives of Americans during the18th century, a time when a lady was judged by the height of the froth on her chocolate. Historic methods of processing chocolate will be demonstrated allowing visitors to smell the spices and try their hand at the grinding nibs on a heated stone Mexican metate. Have a taste of chocolate as our ancestors enjoyed it. Fast forward to 2020 when the chocolate industry’s sales worldwide is expected to hit more than $140 billion. The demand for premium dark chocolate is increasing by leaps and bounds, making it a hot commodity.

Free and open to the public.  For more info call (252) 331-4032.

About the Museum of the Albemarle

The Museum of the Albemarle is located at 501 S. Water Street, Elizabeth City, NC. (252) 335-1453. www.museumofthealbemarle.com. Find us on Facebook! Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Sundays and State Holidays. Serving Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties, the museum is the northeast regional history museum of the North Carolina Division of State History Museums within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina’s social, cultural and economic future. Information is available 24/7 at www.ncdcr.gov.   

About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary Susi Hamilton, NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries

and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.

NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C.  Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.