In the early 1900s, chocolate shoppes in Europe would produce large window display chocolate pieces. Although too expensive for anyone to buy, these statement pieces helped to draw the attention away from competitive chocolate shoppes. At the end of the day, the shoppes would melt down the large statement piece, often decorated with food coloring, and use the chocolate for customers. The chocolate moulds used for these statement pieces have yielded some of the largest, most decorated and detailed chalkware pieces available on the market today.